NeeL
2012-12-18, 04:37 AM
I know, there are 55,400 hits when googling only this forum on grapple. But I've searched and read for weeks now to understand grappling and I think I've nearly mastered all possible core situations. A few questions remain however, mainly about monsters, therefore I turn to you, the almighty wise internet.
Hypothetical: A monster with 1 attack in full round and a BAB of +6
Let's say I am a druid with a Monitor Lizard as an animal companion.
When I'm level 9, the Lizard has 6 extra HD's to a total of 9HD. The Lizard has Avarage BAB, so it's BAB comes to +6. It has only 1 attack in full round: Bite. As an animal, it does not gain extra attacks for BAB, that's for wielders of manufactured weapons.
But now my Lizard is in grapple.
1 In Grapple rules, it gets 2 'attacks' to spent on grappling, in a full round. It could try to damage the opponent by grapple twice, for instance. Could it also do that once, and then as grapple rules say, use the other attack as an attack?
2 Let's say my Lizard has Improved Grab (MM 310). With it's Bite attack it can (if successful) grab (opposed grapple check) to establish a hold. It used his full round with the Bite, but is he because of the BAB entitled to a grapple action?
Real situation and a real bugger to me: Squid with zero damage Arms, in grapple
3 I am a druid in an aquatic campaign. I have a squid as an animal companion. My squid has a primary attack: Arms +4 (0 dmg)
And he has a secundary attack: Bite -1 (1d6+1 dmg)
Also, Improvred Grab: hit with Arms, grab, do automatic Bite damage.
Rules for Improved Grab state: If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well.
It's clear to me that however it says each successful grapple check, this is only meant for the Damage Opponent option in the grappling options and that the damage is instead of the normal unarmed damage.
However, the attack my squid used to establish the hold, is the zero damage Arms attack.
The option of attacking the opponent with a light or natural weapon, gives a -4. To Bite his opponent in grapple, my squid has a -5 on the attack roll and the opponent only loses dex (if I remember correctly) to other attackers, not my squid.
Is a Squid not meant to grapple? It has racial grapple bonus of +4. The best way to attack seems to hit with arms, grab, do automatic bite, then do NOT pull opponent in your square (Imp. grab does that), and next round repeat. But I can't imagine this is the way it's supposed to be, especially when the flavourtext says about the squid: These free-swimming mollusks are fairly aggressive. They are more feared than sharks in some locales.
How should I and my DM deal with this? For the moment we are unsure and just use that the damage opponent option does Bite damage instead of unarmed or Arms.
Hypothetical: A monster with 1 attack in full round and a BAB of +6
Let's say I am a druid with a Monitor Lizard as an animal companion.
When I'm level 9, the Lizard has 6 extra HD's to a total of 9HD. The Lizard has Avarage BAB, so it's BAB comes to +6. It has only 1 attack in full round: Bite. As an animal, it does not gain extra attacks for BAB, that's for wielders of manufactured weapons.
But now my Lizard is in grapple.
1 In Grapple rules, it gets 2 'attacks' to spent on grappling, in a full round. It could try to damage the opponent by grapple twice, for instance. Could it also do that once, and then as grapple rules say, use the other attack as an attack?
2 Let's say my Lizard has Improved Grab (MM 310). With it's Bite attack it can (if successful) grab (opposed grapple check) to establish a hold. It used his full round with the Bite, but is he because of the BAB entitled to a grapple action?
Real situation and a real bugger to me: Squid with zero damage Arms, in grapple
3 I am a druid in an aquatic campaign. I have a squid as an animal companion. My squid has a primary attack: Arms +4 (0 dmg)
And he has a secundary attack: Bite -1 (1d6+1 dmg)
Also, Improvred Grab: hit with Arms, grab, do automatic Bite damage.
Rules for Improved Grab state: If the creature does not constrict, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage indicated for the attack that established the hold. Otherwise, it deals constriction damage as well.
It's clear to me that however it says each successful grapple check, this is only meant for the Damage Opponent option in the grappling options and that the damage is instead of the normal unarmed damage.
However, the attack my squid used to establish the hold, is the zero damage Arms attack.
The option of attacking the opponent with a light or natural weapon, gives a -4. To Bite his opponent in grapple, my squid has a -5 on the attack roll and the opponent only loses dex (if I remember correctly) to other attackers, not my squid.
Is a Squid not meant to grapple? It has racial grapple bonus of +4. The best way to attack seems to hit with arms, grab, do automatic bite, then do NOT pull opponent in your square (Imp. grab does that), and next round repeat. But I can't imagine this is the way it's supposed to be, especially when the flavourtext says about the squid: These free-swimming mollusks are fairly aggressive. They are more feared than sharks in some locales.
How should I and my DM deal with this? For the moment we are unsure and just use that the damage opponent option does Bite damage instead of unarmed or Arms.