Improved Grab and Grapple question

[Kafana]

I'm finding the whole grapple rule very annoying, complex and confusing.

I have a question regarding the improved grab many monsters and animals tend to have.

Let's say we have a brown bear. The bear claws a PC and attempts a grapple attempt. It wins the attempt. Now what?

Does the bear have to pin the grappled target or release it from the grapple before doing anything else? I can imagine pinning the PC and then only having the bite attack (since it's on him). Does he get any damage from being crushed by a large bear that's lying on top of him?

Can someone please explain, in great detail, all the outcomes of fighting a creature with improved grab, in regards to grapple?

[supervillan]

From d20 SRD:

Improved Grab
If a creature with this special attack hits with a melee weapon (usually a claw or bite attack), it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. No initial touch attack is required.

Unless otherwise noted, improved grab works only against opponents at least one size category smaller than the creature. The creature has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use the part of its body it used in the improved grab to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a -20 penalty on grapple checks, but is not considered grappled itself; the creature does not lose its Dexterity bonus to AC, still threatens an area, and can use its remaining attacks against other opponents.

A successful hold does not deal any extra damage unless the creature also has the constrict special attack. 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 (the amount is given in the creature’s descriptive text).

When a creature gets a hold after an improved grab attack, it pulls the opponent into its space. This act does not provoke attacks of opportunity. It can even move (possibly carrying away the opponent), provided it can drag the opponent’s weight.

Improved Grab is like grapple, except that when Improved Grab results in a hold it results in the grabbed opponent being dragged into the grabber's space. Ordinarily if you grapple successfully you move into the opponents space.

A monster or animal that successfully grabs an opponent would have the option of pinning, but generally is just going to hold onto whatever it's grappling, doing damage with each successful grapple check, until the opponent is dead. This is pretty much what real bears do when they kill by "bear hug". They pull their enemy into their body and crush, possibly also biting whatever they're crushing. In D&D this is an effective combat tactic, but you won't generally need to play "improved grabbers" with much sophistication. There are exceptions like mind flayers though.

[Kafana]

So the bear gives you a bear hug and in the next round it claws your back twice and bites you. What does the hugged player do? If he doesn't have a light weapon is his only option to roll an opposed grapple check and if that fails (which it most always does considering that creatures with improved grab have ridiculous grapple modifiers) he can't do a thing?

[Saintheart]

So the bear gives you a bear hug and in the next round it claws your back twice and bites you. What does the hugged player do? If he doesn't have a light weapon is his only option to roll an opposed grapple check and if that fails (which it most always does considering that creatures with improved grab have ridiculous grapple modifiers) he can't do a thing?

Scream for his friends to make charge attacks without any fear of an AoO -- since a grappling combatant threatens no squares.

[GlorinSteampike]

So the bear gives you a bear hug and in the next round it claws your back twice and bites you. What does the hugged player do? If he doesn't have a light weapon is his only option to roll an opposed grapple check and if that fails (which it most always does considering that creatures with improved grab have ridiculous grapple modifiers) he can't do a thing?

Escape Artist checks?

[eggynack]

How about freedom of movement/heart of water? Casters can access that ability as soon as they hit level five, and non-casters can access that ability as soon as they can purchase an expensive ring. It's a perfect grapple defense, and pretty easy to get, though it's a bit expensive if you don't have it natively.

[rexx1888]

being grappled in any system is invariably the quickest way to die, thats just how it goes. thats why individualist campaigns always run the gamit of being great or being awful, depending on whether you got grabbed or your mate did. if it was you, they probably wont help you, if they got grabbed, you get to walk away an feel like a bad ass.... thus, never play individualist :P

[Gwendol]

Correction; after establishing a hold the animal will typically pin or damage by doing grapple checks, not by doing a full attack routine. Not that quite a few also do constrict damage on top of their ordinary grapple damage. This is the damage of the attack used to establish the hold.
Also note that improved grab only works on creatures smaller than the monster, so simply growing to large will solve the problem of getting grabbed in the first place.

[eggynack]

being grappled in any system is invariably the quickest way to die, thats just how it goes. thats why individualist campaigns always run the gamit of being great or being awful, depending on whether you got grabbed or your mate did. if it was you, they probably wont help you, if they got grabbed, you get to walk away an feel like a bad ass.... thus, never play individualist :P
Well, it's the quickest way to die that isn't very fast when it comes to killing people. I mean, realistically you could classify anything you want in that group, by setting your method as the bridge between not fast and fast, but that's getting outside the point. Grappling just doesn't do that much on its own, and there are many ways to get out of one. I mentioned freedom of movement effects, but there's also being good at escaping grapples, dimension door, or just taking way too long to die, and having a party member kill your enemy. It's just not a very action efficient use of resources, though a bear is better at it than most. If you're a bear already, and you're grappling freely, go ahead and grapple the guy. You're not really trading anything for the privilege, and it's a thing you're good at. If you're facing an enemy who lacks allies, and can't really escape a grapple once you've gotten him into it, that's about as good as the situation gets. I honestly don't think it's too common of a situation though. It's a strategy which only really works for druids, and maybe barbarians if they specialize in it.