On being grappled while wild-shaped

[Lemonblu]

Morning all, just have a couple of questions re: being grappled while wildshaped, hoping someone can clear up for me.

I'm the party druid, level 8, and the first major combat saw me wildshaping into a tiger to take on an oversized crocodile of sorts.
I ended up being hit with Bite, followed by Grab, and spent the remainder of the encounter trapped in its jaws feeling somewhat sorry for myself. It went down following a volley of arrows from the remaining party, and some backup from my animal companion.

I went home feeling I was missing something, and sure enough I found a couple of things that could have made life easier.
A: natural weapons are classed as light weapons (a fact I had once read, but immediately forgotten).
B: a grappled creature can make a full attack with light weapons, albeit at a -2 penalty.

My questions are:
1: Was I entitled to a full attack with a bite and 2 claws each round I was stuck in a grapple?
2: If so, does the tiger's Rake ability come into play, allowing a further 2 claw attacks while grappled?
And for future combats;
3: Had the enemy been the same size or smaller, would hitting with the bite/claw attacks allow a Grab attempt, hence possibly reversing the situation?
4: On a scale of 1-10, how silly was it to get in its face in the first place?

[Malacandra]

My $0.02-worth.

1. Yes, inarguably (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/combat#TOC-Grapple). "A grappled creature can still make a full attack"
2. Since grappling means you and the opponent both have the grappled condition, I'd strongly contend that you could rake. (It passes the "sniff test" too - what do you think is going to happen when you grapple a tiger and don't pin it straight away?)
3. Since you can normally, as the grappled combatant, make a grapple attempt (https://200e02f3-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/pathfinderogc/images/grapple_flow_chart-01.png?attachauth=ANoY7crbcAIiPmdJBIabcSGXwc5ZjiXR ZF-JrqOGMssoekjEBWgqEUbJxKnC8TN75rBVhlhWlXGLAxEux9asi Zv28ySqwVnYcci0LvZPvOYVjEe8UqyHAR8Tuqo0ptBHntg0fiD vBhj5Q6af6EdJoiibfQc8saYEgsTwTWXUGohoV_viku5FFDpr9 lwe6-i_48gsfVXGZlIhXAiL_9eC3-Mj9GJJ0NckCmUQH2ZxgX3_OFIviwX8KcU%3D&attredirects=1) to become the "controlling grappler", I'd also argue "yes" to this, as a creature with natural weapons that automatically activate a grapple attempt on hitting.
4. 0, it seems like an eminently sensible thing to do and if you'd been aware of your full capabilities you'd probably have made a significant contribution if you're at all optimised for Wild Shape.

[Psyren]

When a creature grapples you, you're both grappled, and so can do all the things under "if you're grappled." The only inherent advantage to being the "grappler" as opposed to the "grapplee" is you can choose to end the grapple whenever.

[Crake]

When a creature grapples you, you're both grappled, and so can do all the things under "if you're grappled." The only inherent advantage to being the "grappler" as opposed to the "grapplee" is you can choose to end the grapple whenever.

The grappler must also spend an action each round maintaining the grapple, wheras the grappled does not, so in that sense, the grappled has the advantage in that they can full attack while the grappler cannot (not really a problem if the grappler only has a single attack which they use as part of the grapple action anyway)

[Psyren]

The grappler must also spend an action each round maintaining the grapple, wheras the grappled does not, so in that sense, the grappled has the advantage in that they can full attack while the grappler cannot (not really a problem if the grappler only has a single attack which they use as part of the grapple action anyway)

Which is why, generally, you shouldn't grapple things that work well in a grapple (like tigers.)

[Lemonblu]

Thanks everyone, makes a lot of sense.


The grappler must also spend an action each round maintaining the grapple, wheras the grappled does not, so in that sense, the grappled has the advantage in that they can full attack while the grappler cannot (not really a problem if the grappler only has a single attack which they use as part of the grapple action anyway)

That's what crossed my mind as I was running through potential options. I felt better off (damage-wise) being 'stuck' in the grapple as opposed to controlling it. Which makes sense being a tiger I suppose; as noted by Psyren, animals with teeth, claws and rake attacks should be dangerous to restrain by hand.

I suspect a couple of combats in the future will see the DM breaking out the animal catcher poles.