Grapple Check Question

[Elephant]

It's worthy of note that a "Rules of the Game" article was written on grappling:

http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20050301a

In part 1, it says that miscellaneous modifiers apply to the grapple check.

The 3.5 FAQ contradicts this while discussing Vow of Poverty monks ("the exalted strike bonus...applies only on attack and damage rolls. ... a grapple check is not an attack roll, and thus the bonus would not apply to the grapple check."

Are the waters sufficiently muddied?

 

[blargney the second]

I like Elder-Basilisk's argument. According to some interpretations it may not follow the letter of the rules, but I feel it follows the spirit quite nicely.

-blarg

 

[Hypersmurf]

The 3.5 FAQ contradicts this while discussing Vow of Poverty monks ("the exalted strike bonus...applies only on attack and damage rolls. ... a grapple check is not an attack roll, and thus the bonus would not apply to the grapple check."

Does the FAQ still mention that a prone character takes the -4 attack roll penalty on grapple checks, or has that been changed?

As Elder-Basilisk mentioned before, RotG and the prone answer in the FAQ were both written by Skip Williams, and the VoP answer in the FAQ was written by Andy Collins. It would appear the two disagree on how it works

-Hyp.