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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3757508" data-attributes="member: 4937">Indeed.Let me propose a rule:Celebrim's Theorem of the Inherit Complexity of Grappling Rules: Unlike most sorts of attacks in an abstract system, grappling imposes a tangible condition on the attacker and defender.  While still in combat, they are now in the 'grappled' state.  The complexity of describing that state is directly proportional to the number of combat options available to the player because for each of these options you need a clause that answers the question, "What happens when I try to do that when grappled?"  If you read the current grapple rules, you'll see that the overwhelming amount of words is spent answering questions like, "What happens when I try to attack/cast a spell/bull rush/move/trip/disarm in a grapple?"  This is inherent to any set of grappling rules, and the only way to avoid it is to give the player either fewer options in combat or loss detail.  For example, you can not answer the question, "What happens when I try to X when grappled?", but then being 'grappled' will - usually counterintuitively - not have an effect on that action.  Hense, any set of grappling rules which is sufficient to be intuitive will also be somewhat complex.  Any simplified set of grappling rules will, no matter how good it looks at first blush, prove unsatisfactory the first time someone asks, "Can I do this when grappled?" and the rules have no answer.</blockquote>

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