Kelpstrand and improved grapple

[Hiro Quester]

If I have the improved grapple feat, does it affect kelpstrand?


Make a ranged touch attack at each target. If you hit a creature, you immediately make an opposed grapple check against the creature as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. You add your caster level and your Wisdom bonus to the result of your grapple check rather than your Strength bonus and size bonus. If you succeed, the target becomes entangled in the thick strands of kelp and is grappled.

The bold parts make it sound like you are making the grapple, using the strand, rather than the spell making the grapple using your caster level and wis modifier. Thus you should also get the bonus for having improved grapple feat.

Edit: you also use your BAB too, right?

Is that how it should work?

[eggynack]

Looks like a yes on both counts. For improved grapple, who's doing the grappling is irrelevant, even if it looks like it's you which would support the position. You're making a grapple check, and improved grapple gives a bonus to those, and that's the end of it. Amusingly, that claim is somewhat supported by the fact that improved grapple says that it doesn't matter who started the grapple. Thus, while the intent was likely that that text was meant to remove differentiation between you and the other grappler, here one could theoretically argue that it also makes the argument that the kelp is the grappling party even more irrelevant. Not too important, but interesting. For BAB, it seems to be a rather simple case, as kelpstrand explicitly replaces two aspects of a grapple check with two others, and does nothing to the BAB aspect. Thus, it applies.

[Hiro Quester]

Good point Eggynack. Thanks! I hadn't considered the implication for kelpstrand of "regardless of whether you started the grapple".

[eggynack]

Good point Eggynack. Thanks! I hadn't considered the implication for kelpstrand of "regardless of whether you started the grapple".
Well, it is an interesting implication, but as I noted, it's not a particularly relevant one. You're making a grapple check, and improved grapple gives a bonus to those. The text about how who started the grapple is irrelevant is as much a piece of clarification text here as it was when we were just dealing with two bodies.