grappling.

[krupintupple]

yeah, that thing...

i've read and re-read the tables and charts and am pretty sure i've 'gotten it' but i would appreciate one rule cleared up:

while a mook and i grapple, do we both deal damage to one another round per round, or is the only one who gets to deal damage the winner of the grapple check for that round?

ie: if my grapple modifier is +2 and my enemies is +23, am i completely boned, until i die or allies manage to get him off me?

i, for the life of me, couldn't really figure this out from the rules.

 

[Vegepygmy]

while a mook and i grapple, do we both deal damage to one another round per round, or is the only one who gets to deal damage the winner of the grapple check for that round?

ie: if my grapple modifier is +2 and my enemies is +23, am i completely boned, until i die or allies manage to get him off me?

You're boned, but not because only one of you gets to deal damage in a round; it's because you can't win an opposed grapple check. Even if you roll a 20 and your enemy rolls a 1, his 1+23=24 will beat your 20+2=22.

If your grapple modifiers were closer together (say, +10 each), on your turn, you could attempt to deal damage by making an opposed grapple check. If you rolled a 15 and your enemy rolled an 8, your 15+10=25 would beat his 8+10=18, and you would deal damage to him.

On his turn that same round, he could try to deal damage to you. If he rolled a 4 and you rolled a 2, his 4+10=14 would beat your 2+10=12, and he would deal damage to you.

So in that round, both of you would successfully deal damage to each other.

 

[Noumenon]

I house ruled that the defender doesn't get his BAB on the grapple check. This makes it possible for you to take turns whaling on each other, or try actions like using their own weapon against them with some hope of success. It also means no one ever has an impossible +24 advantage against you permanently.

 

[frankthedm]

ie: if my grapple modifier is +2 and my enemies is +23, am i completely boned, until i die or allies manage to get him off me?

If a mook has a +23 grapple check when you have +2, you are all completely boned.

 

[MichaelK]

You're boned, but not because only one of you gets to deal damage in a round; it's because you can't win an opposed grapple check. Even if you roll a 20 and your enemy rolls a 1, his 1+23=24 will beat your 20+2=22.

I've been houseruling natural 20s as automatic successes on grapple checks so long that I forgot it's not an official rule. (unless you really want to stretch the phrase "Like a melee attack roll").

 

[Vegepygmy]

I've been houseruling natural 20s as automatic successes on grapple checks so long that I forgot it's not an official rule. (unless you really want to stretch the phrase "Like a melee attack roll").

Out of curiosity, what do you do if both opponents roll a natural 20 (or 1)?

 

[Noumenon]

Out of curiosity, what do you do if both opponents roll a natural 20 (or 1)?

Here.

 

[MichaelK]

Out of curiosity, what do you do if both opponents roll a natural 20 (or 1)?

Reroll, just like you normally do with a tie on a grapple check. Two natural twenties (or ones) we consider a tie no matter how good (or bad) the grapple modifier.