How often does Grappling happen in your game?

[Aeric]

Seeing the various threads over the years about 3E's grappling rules, and then today seeing the ad for EN World's rules for grappling, got me to thinking. Just how often does grappling happen in games? It seems like it must happen a lot for the rules to receive so much attention. It very rarely happened in my own games.

What has your experience been with grappling in games? Does it happen often?

 

[blargney the second]

It happens lots in our games, but mostly because there are TONS of monsters with improved grab. I've recently taken to subbing it out for another ability sometimes.
-blarg

 

[Gort]

It's a great tactic if you outnumber the enemy, or are afraid of them escaping. A lot of monsters use it as well, or should if they want to be effective. (dragons, purple worms, etc)

My problem with grappling is not the difficulty of implementing it, it's how the rules play out. At higher levels, the size and strength bonus of many monsters is such that even if a player rolls a 20 on his grapple and the monster rolls a 1, the monster still wins, which is in the realm of "the maths doesn't work" for me.

It really needs two sets of rules - one for two opponents wrestling each other, each attempting to overpower the other with their strength, and one for one combatant attempting to seize another. Obviously, an adventurer should fail if he's trying to wrestle a giant, but he should have a decent chance of getting out of the way if the giant tries to grab him. As it is, all attempts might as well be the first version, since touch ACs are generally very low.

 

[Piratecat]

Almost every game.

 

[Masquerade]

Since we started using SWSE's grappling rules? All the time.

Before then? Rarely.

 

[Qwillion]

Only as often as I decide to use a monster with improved grab, (swallow, or constrict).

I have had one player create a grappler, he ran into problems fighting creaturees of gargantuan or collossal size only.


Grappling works fine at lower levels but the higher you get the more it is in favor of the monsters, Size bonuses and the extreme HD advantage creatures of your CR have at higher levels often is more than a 20 point differance especially for a wizard who gets grabbed by a purple worm.


I would say out of 13 combat encounters I would use it at least once.

 

[Hejdun]

Voluntarily? As a player? Never. Not once.

Number of times I've been forced into an unwinnable grapple due to Improved Grab? Only about 100 times.

 

[2WS-Steve]

My group is at 13th -- so I avoid using it because it would really be pretty much an at will TPK.

 

[Rechan]

Considering the propensity of monsters with Improved Grab, often.

 

[Festivus]

Almost every game.

Ditto. If they group runs into a group of semi-intelligent weenies, not long after they start whomping them down they tend to swarm onto the big fighter guy.