Bingo. I find the 4E grapple rules fairly simple in complexity but utterly useless in utility. There is little point in wasting actions on something like grapple. The solution to grappling was brilliant. Make it so useless that no one wants to bother. Problem solved.
Well thats the thing... there is no longer an action called "grapple." Grab isn't grapple. It's litterally just grabbing your opponent. Fairly silly unless you have some other action ready to go.
Instead of ful blown grapple rules, 4e takes a different approach. First you grab the enemy, then you layer on other actions with powers and feats and such. Stuff like:
Garrote Grip Rogue Attack 15
The more your enemy struggles, the less you want to let him go.
Daily * Martial, Reliable, Weapon
Standard Action (Special) Melee weapon
Special: You can use this power as a minor action if you have already grabbed a creature. Doing so requires no attack roll. Requirement: You must be wielding a light blade.
Target: One creature
Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: 2[W] + Dexterity modifier damage, and you grab the target. Until the target escapes, you have cover, and any melee attack or ranged attack that misses you hits the target instead.
Sustain Minor: Sustain the grab for another round. The third time you sustain the grab after using this power, the target falls unconscious. If an unconscious target takes any damage, it is no longer unconscious.
So the idea of grabbing someone gets slightly more usefull, and slightly more complex, but only to the people involved. Which I think is brilliant because it alows the core game to stay easy, but allows new elements to be added on.
