Stirges

I'm about to use some Stirges in my game for the first time and I want to make sure that I get it right.

[sblock=Stirge Stats]Stirge: CR 1/2; LA —; Tiny magical beast; HD 1d10; hp 5; Init +4; Spd 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average); AC 16 (+2 size,
+4 Dex), touch 16, flat-footed 12; Base Atk +1; Grp –11 (+1 when attached); Atk (Touch +7 melee (attach); Full
Atk (same); Space/Reach 2–1/2 ft./0 ft.; SA attach, blood drain; SQ darkvision 60 ft., low–light vision; AL (Always)
N; SV Fort +2, Ref +6, Will +1; Str 3, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 6.
Skills and Feats: Hide +14, Listen +4, Spot +4; Alertness, Weapon Finesse B. B = Bonus Feat.
Attach (Ex): If a stirge hits with a touch attack, it uses its eight pincers to latch onto the opponent’s body. An
attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey. The stirge loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of 12,
but holds on with great tenacity. Stirges have a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks (already figured into the Base
Attack/Grapple entry above).
An attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached stirge through
grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the stirge.
Blood Drain (Ex): A stirge drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage in any round when it
begins its turn attached to a victim. Once it has dealt 4 points of Constitution damage, it detaches and flies off to
digest the meal. If its victim dies before the stirge’s appetite has been sated, the stirge detaches and seeks a new
target.
Description/Combat: A stirge’s coloration ranges from rust–red to reddish–brown, with a dirty yellow
underside. The proboscis is pink at the tip, fading to gray at its base. A stirge’s body is about 1 foot long, with a
wingspan of about 2 feet. It weighs about 1 pound. A stirge attacks by landing on a victim, finding a vulnerable
spot, and plunging its proboscis into the flesh. This is a touch attack and can target only Small or larger creatures.
Environment: Warm marshes
Organization: Colony (2–4), flock (5–8), or storm (9–14)
Treasure: None
Advancement: —[/sblock]

Here is how I think the rules should work. Please correct me if anything I say is incorrect.

Since Stirges are Tiny and have 0ft reach they have to enter their opponent's square in order to attack. This grants their opponents an AoO. If the AoO hits but does not kill the Stirge they still get to attack.

It attacks with a touch attack. If successful it has attached itself to its victim and is effectively grappling him/her. If it is still attached to its victim at the start of its next turn it drains 1d4 Constitution. Once it has done 4 points Con damage it flies off.

In order to detach a Stirge, the victim can attack it normally. The Stirge's AC is 12 for this purpose. The victim and anyone else attacking the Stirge (or the victim for that matter) does not have any negative to-hit modiifiers while the Stirge is attached.

The other way to detach a Stirge is to pull it off. This can be done by "pinning" the Stirge. This requires the victim to win 2 grapple checks.

I think most of that is correct. I'm not to sure on whether the victim or an ally attacking an attached Stirge has a chance of hitting himself/his ally or whether there is a negative to-hit modifier. I don't think there is but I'm not 100% sure.

The other thing I'm a little unsure about is whether it requires 1 or 2 successful grapple checks to pull an attached Stirge off.

Olaf the Stout

Olaf the Stout said:

Since Stirges are Tiny and have 0ft reach they have to enter their opponent's square in order to attack. This grants their opponents an AoO. If the AoO hits but does not kill the Stirge they still get to attack.

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Correct.

Olaf the Stout said:

It attacks with a touch attack. If successful it has attached itself to its victim and is effectively grappling him/her. If it is still attached to its victim at the start of its next turn it drains 1d4 Constitution. Once it has done 4 points Con damage it flies off.

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Correct. However, does a Stirge need to win a grapple check in order to 'escape from grapple'?

Olaf the Stout said:

In order to detach a Stirge, the victim can attack it normally. The Stirge's AC is 12 for this purpose. The victim and anyone else attacking the Stirge (or the victim for that matter) does not have any negative to-hit modiifiers while the Stirge is attached.

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Correct. Although I have known DMs to apply a circumstance modifier for non-light weapons or even apply some damage to the person the stirge was attached to - it's not supported by the rules though.

Olaf the Stout said:

The other way to detach a Stirge is to pull it off. This can be done by "pinning" the Stirge. This requires the victim to win 2 grapple checks.

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Yes, you require a 'pin' to remove. Note that this only requires one grapple check. From the SRD 'If You're Grappling': "When you are grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), you can perform any of the following actions...... Pin Your Opponent: You can hold your opponent immobile for 1 round by winning an opposed grapple check (made in place of an attack)."

Olaf the Stout said:

I think most of that is correct. I'm not to sure on whether the victim or an ally attacking an attached Stirge has a chance of hitting himself/his ally or whether there is a negative to-hit modifier. I don't think there is but I'm not 100% sure.

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Only if using a ranged weapon as per the standard grappling rules.

Olaf the Stout said:

The other thing I'm a little unsure about is whether it requires 1 or 2 successful grapple checks to pull an attached Stirge off.

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One check (see above). Which is lucky, as otherwise a handful of these CR 1/2 creatures would cause an awful lot of character deaths.

Legildur said:

Yes, you require a 'pin' to remove. Note that this only requires one grapple check. From the SRD 'If You're Grappling': "When you are grappling (regardless of who started the grapple), you can perform any of the following actions...... Pin Your Opponent: You can hold your opponent immobile for 1 round by winning an opposed grapple check (made in place of an attack)."

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Though you must win a grapple check to get a hold first- or rather, somebody must.

the Jester said:

Though you must win a grapple check to get a hold first- or rather, somebody must.

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And this is what the Stirge does when it hits with its touch attack, correct?

Olaf the Stout

Olaf the Stout said:

And this is what the Stirge does when it hits with its touch attack, correct?

Olaf the Stout

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Only if having a tiny stirge attached costs someone thier dex bonus upon attachment.

frankthedm said:

Only if having a tiny stirge attached costs someone thier dex bonus upon attachment.

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Right. A hold is never established. Though "an attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey," it isn't quite the same as a standard grapple, as the victim doesn't lose his dex bonus and can still freely use weapons against the stirge. Indeed, "an attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached stirge through
grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the stirge." (Emphasis added.) I require two grapple checks to be rid of a stirge. It's usually easier just to pop them with a weapon.

Agreed. I was inadvertently ignoring the 'effectively' qualification on the stirge's grapple. Does that mean the stirge is considered grappled, but the creature to which the stirge is attached is not?

My DM screwed us by not giving us a listen check and my dice kept screwing me by rolling low on initiative. His stirges attacked when we were sleeping. Even though I was awake on watch duty, they charged in from outside of our vision range and hit my character while surprised. Which means no AoO and their touch attack vs flat-footed humanoids hits AC 10 pretty easy and it drains some CON. Ok, after surprise round they get a full action where they drain some more CON then fly away past our vision range. And I don't get an attack of opportunity because I'm still flat footed. When it finally comes to my turn, I'm down near death in CON damage and I'm not even allowed the dignity of striking back. And they kept coming EVERY NIGHT AND DOING THE SAME THING! Stirges are adventurer rapists when run optimally.

Whimsical said:

Which means no AoO and their touch attack vs flat-footed humanoids hits AC 10 pretty easy and it drains some CON. Ok, after surprise round they get a full action where they drain some more CON then fly away past our vision range.

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That's a mistake on the DM's part -- they do not drain Con upon attaching.
Surprise round: partial charge to attack and attach.
First round: FIRST Con drain on their initiative, then you counter-attack

But, yes, they are extremely dangerous in large numbers. Best person to take watch against it would be a dwarf or half-orc (with Darkvision equal to the stirges' and of great enough range that they can't partial charge and attach) or a wizard's familiar (Tiny size, cannot be targeted by their attack).

The trauma of the experience keeps me from accurately remembering if the DM had CON drained at or after the surprise round. He may have done it correctly.

Since that experience, I now only play the My Little Pony RPG.