Attacking into a Grapple

[godfear]

Does the same 25% chance to accidentally hit the wrong person exist, as with a bull rush? Where is this rule? I could swear I've read something about this, but I cannot find it anymore.

 

[Jeremy]

Nope. 25% percent only applies to Bull Rush (which is where you read it). The only other time you stand a chance of hitting the wrong person is when someone is providing cover.

The reasoning is something along the lines of, I grab your partner from behind so you can sucker punch him. Except, in a D&D grapple both parties are able to be sucker punched. Which actually does kinda make sense.

Both parties lose their Dex bonus to AC vs. outside attacks. Missile attacks suffer the usual -4 penalty to hit engaged creatures. <shrugs>

 

[Jeremy]

Sure are a lot of Texas gamers on this board.

 

[godfear]

Hmm... Alright, well considering there is no facing, would your friendly grappler be providing the standard 50% cover bonus as if he were between you and your target, or do we just waive that possibility as overly complex?

Heh... A couple Texans, yea.

 

[kreynolds]

Heh... A couple Texans, yea.

Well hell, boy! Looks like we got us a whole spit bowl full of 'em!

 

[AGGEMAM]

You have to roll randomly to see which combatant you hit.

It is in the PHB, page 132, table 8-8.

 

[godfear]

Ahh, thanks AGG. Will check it when I get home.

 

[AGGEMAM]

No worries, here it is:

From the SRD

Table: Attack Roll Modifiers
Circumstance Melee Ranged
------------ ----- ------
Attacker flanking defender* +2
Attacker on higher ground +1 +0
Attacker prone -4 **
Attacker invisible +2*** +2***
Defender sitting or kneeling +2 -2
Defender prone +4 -4
Defender stunned, cowering,
or off balance +2*** +2***
Defender climbing
(cannot use shield) +2*** +2***
Defender surprised or
flat-footed +0*** +0***
Defender running +0*** -2***
Defender grappling
(attacker not) +0*** +0****
Defender pinned +4*** -4***
Defender has cover —–— See Cover —–—
Defender concealed or
invisible — See Concealment —
Defender helpless See Helpless Defenders
*A character flanks a defender when the character has an ally on the opposite side of the defender and that ally threatens the defender
**Most ranged weapons can't be used while the attacker is prone, but a character can use a crossbow while prone.
***The defender loses any Dexterity bonus to AC.
****Roll randomly to see which grappling character is struck when an attack is made against two or more grappling characters. The character attacked also loses any Dexterity bonus to AC.

 

[Jeremy]

Boy they pick interesting places to put rules like that.

The actual text in the grappling section just says on page 138, no threatened area, and no dex bonus. Says nothing about and I quote, "Roll randomly to see which grappling combatant you strike. That defender loses any Dexterity bonus to AC".

Crazy.

That's like the only place it mentions a stunned person drops what he's holding is in the PHB glossary.

 

[godfear]

Cool. Yea, that's interesting that they wouldn't even flag it under the grappling section of chapter 8. By randomly, I assume they mean 50% chance if there are two grapplers, 1/3 chance if three and so on?

What about grapplers that are larger (or smaller) than medium-size? Is it reasonable to assume that you have a higher (or lower) percentage chance to hit them than medium-size creatures?

I used these assumptions when running the first encounter of Nightfang Spire, and even considering the large size of the creature, four characters (two PCs, two NPCs) wound up dying, partly because they kept hitting their own party members. It was brutal.