Lvl 11 Paladin who is constantly grappled by huge non-evil monsters needs help.

[Concrete]

Despite the fact that we fight grotesque undead most of the time, who are technically more dangerous in most numerical way, my character has only gone down to very large, not evil monsters who tend to grapple him, tie him up in a little bow with his own appendages, and then, either swallowing him, or squeezing him to death,

Sometimes, this is solved by our cleric having freedom of movement prepared, but more often than not, that simply isn't the case.

Is there any reliable fixes to this situation? Any items or feats that can help? One issue is that while he is pretty damn strong himself, he is also about as agile as the average fridge, so anything like escape artist really isn't an option.

Edit: We're restricted to Core, Advanced Players, Advanced Races, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Campaign, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Wilderness and Advanced Class guide.

[Kurald Galain]

Let's see,
Wanderer's Fortune feat
Corset of the Vishkanya item or Slick armor enchantment or cheap alchemical grease
Talisman of Freedom
Boots of Escape
Ring of Serene Contortions, because of its truestrike ability
Potion of Gaseous Form
Have the cleric prepare Liberating Command, surely he can spare a first-level slot


I'm sure there's a few other ways.

[Eldonauran]

Level 11, you say? You have access to 3rd level Paladin spells: Litany of Escape (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/litany-of-escape/). Learn it and use it. Pump your ability to concentrate on spells while grappled.

If you can't cast spells due to some archetype, get some spiked gauntlets enchanted with as much damage as you can and full attack the beasties before they get a chance to pin you. You don't have to try to escape.

[gijoemike]

The bonuses that monsters, especially larger than you with multiple arms, get will vastly outshine your check. As you mentioned get Freedom of Movement cast on you and you instant win. There is a ring of Free Movement.

The other thing you can do is to have spells that increase your size to get flat bonuses to your check. That isn't foolproof but it does help. Size increases ones strength, and also grants a size bonus to the roll. So, enlarge person is the simplest and earliest way to increase one's size. On the flip side, if you can reduce the grappler via one of the shrink/reduce spells that will work. In all honesty using both is the best course of action but that will tie up a spell caster for several rounds and the could do something much better with their time.

What could they do better? Cast polymorph on either you to make you a huge grapple based creature or on them to turn them into a turtle.

If you take improved grapple and combat reflexes you may be able to get a AoO on them as they initiate a grapple. The damage you deal would become a bonus on the next check. It varies wildly on how the opponent attempts the grapple.

[Concrete]

Let's see,
Wanderer's Fortune feat
Corset of the Vishkanya item or Slick armor enchantment or cheap alchemical grease
Talisman of Freedom
Boots of Escape
Ring of Serene Contortions, because of its truestrike ability
Potion of Gaseous Form
Have the cleric prepare Liberating Command, surely he can spare a first-level slot


I'm sure there's a few other ways.
Well, I'm not sure the bonuses to escape artist would be super useful seeing as his escape artist bonus can't get that high anyway. And some of that stuff is from books I neglected to mention aren't allowed for our campaign. But that alchemical grease would do some good. Thank you.



Level 11, you say? You have access to 3rd level Paladin spells: Litany of Escape (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/litany-of-escape/). Learn it and use it. Pump your ability to concentrate on spells while grappled.

If you can't cast spells due to some archetype, get some spiked gauntlets enchanted with as much damage as you can and full attack the beasties before they get a chance to pin you. You don't have to try to escape.

Hmm. Didn't realize I could use litany of escape on myself. That would certainly help a lot.
And my weapon bond would certainly help out getting a pair of spiked gauntlets up to a pretty dangerous level.
That's certainly pretty useful. Thank you.



The bonuses that monsters, especially larger than you with multiple arms, get will vastly outshine your check. As you mentioned get Freedom of Movement cast on you and you instant win. There is a ring of Free Movement.

The other thing you can do is to have spells that increase your size to get flat bonuses to your check. That isn't foolproof but it does help. Size increases ones strength, and also grants a size bonus to the roll. So, enlarge person is the simplest and earliest way to increase one's size. On the flip side, if you can reduce the grappler via one of the shrink/reduce spells that will work. In all honesty using both is the best course of action but that will tie up a spell caster for several rounds and the could do something much better with their time.

What could they do better? Cast polymorph on either you to make you a huge grapple based creature or on them to turn them into a turtle.

If you take improved grapple and combat reflexes you may be able to get a AoO on them as they initiate a grapple. The damage you deal would become a bonus on the next check. It varies wildly on how the opponent attempts the grapple.


Well, I'm nowhere near affording a ring like that, but that's all stuff I should consider. Maybe I should just hassle my cleric friend for more freedoms of movement from time to time.

[Biggus]

There are several fairly cheap items in the MIC which can help:

Crystal of Glancing Blows (p.25): +2/5/10 to checks to avoid a grapple being initiated, constant, 500/3000/5000GP

Anklet of Translocation (p.71): teleport 10ft as a swift action 2/day, 1,400GP

Third Eye Freedom (p.141): Freedom of Movement for 1 round as an immediate action, 2,600GP

Edit: sorry, just noticed the PF tag. They would have been good solutions...

[Calthropstu]

Set yourself on fire.

Get armor spikes.

Get an ability that secretes acid or poison.

In short, get abilities and items that damage your opponent when your opponent damages you. Few monsters are going to willingly grapple someone oozing acid or on fire.

[Khedrac]

If 3.5 feats are allowed, the Closse Quarters Fighting sounds like a must for your next feat.

Complete Warrior p 97 - any attempt to grapple you provokes an AoO (OK doesn't work if you don't threaten them) and you then add the damage you do to your grapple check modifier (so in Pathfinder it would boost your CMD).

[Calthropstu]

If 3.5 feats are allowed, the Closse Quarters Fighting sounds like a must for your next feat.

Complete Warrior p 97 - any attempt to grapple you provokes an AoO (OK doesn't work if you don't threaten them) and you then add the damage you do to your grapple check modifier (so in Pathfinder it would boost your CMD).

Getting into a cmb vs cmd race is something you want to avoid. Big guys just win grapple checks. Exiting the grapple without a roll is far preferable.

[Raven777]

And some of that stuff is from books I neglected to mention aren't allowed for our campaign.

What is? Core only? Long Term, a Ring of Freedom of Movement (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-freedom-of-movement/) is probably your best bet, as others have said. It's a bit too costly to be realistic at 11th level, however.

Short term, Alchemical Grease (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipmenT/goods-and-services/herbs-oils-other-substances/#TOC-Grease-Alchemical) is really good, but it isn't Core; it's from the Advanced Player's Guide. On the other hand, the Slick armor enchantment is core and has the +5 Escape Artist bonus to escape an ongoing Grapple, but does not have the direct CMB or CMD bonus to avoid the Grapple in the first place.

[Concrete]

What is? Core only? Long Term, a Ring of Freedom of Movement (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/rings/ring-of-freedom-of-movement/) is probably your best bet, as others have said. It's a bit too costly to be realistic at 11th level, however.

Short term, Alchemical Grease (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipmenT/goods-and-services/herbs-oils-other-substances/#TOC-Grease-Alchemical) is really good, but it isn't Core; it's from the Advanced Player's Guide. On the other hand, the Slick armor enchantment is core and has the +5 Escape Artist bonus to escape an ongoing Grapple, but does not have the direct CMB or CMD bonus to avoid the Grapple in the first place.

We're restricted to Core, Advanced Players, Advanced Races, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Campaign, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Wilderness and Advanced Class guide.

[Eldonauran]

Hmm. Didn't realize I could use litany of escape on myself. That would certainly help a lot.
And my weapon bond would certainly help out getting a pair of spiked gauntlets up to a pretty dangerous level.
That's certainly pretty useful. Thank you.You can absolutely use it on yourself. You are your own ally (except in situations where the spell/abilities specifically details that you cannot use it on yourself, or when choosing yourself is patently absurd/wouldn't make sense). The only problem is that concentration check. Swift actions won't provoke an attack of opportunity but you will still need to concentrate to get the spell off if you are in a grapple.

[Raven777]

If Ultimate Combat is allowed, then you can ask your Cleric to prepare Liberating Command (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/liberating-command/) (the spell can be cast as an immediate action, so it can be cast out of turn as soon as you get grappled, and you can try to escape immediately). It also stacks with the alchemical grease, since the former bestows a Competence bonus and the latter, an Alchemical bonus (two different bonus types can stack).