How to grapple with a fighter?

[00durrin]

My character is a level 5 fighter/9 gladiator. There's a good chance he'll be clashing with the party's Weaponmaster soon. There's been a huge falling out. Anyways, what tactics would be useful in defeating this guy?

He fights with what I think are two +4 or possibly +5 swords. He has a good armor class (some kind of magic plate). I can't give you specific numbers. He's lawful good though, so he can't do dirty stuff.

With the Gladiator's ability to "make them bleed" and the subdual damage he might suffer from "exhaust opponent" I was hoping to wear him down. I'm pretty sure I couldn't take him in a stand and slug match. What I was hoping to do was get in a few licks to start him bleeding and tie him up in a prolonged grapple. Since the Sunblade is also considered a short sword I should be able to stab him in the clinch.
Ideally I'd grapple, stab and maybe pin. Can you release a pin as a free action on your turn and stab/stab/pin again if you have 3 attacks?
Are there any books with more advanced grappling rules?
The big thing I have to get around is that attack of opportunity to start the grapple. Since he gets his highest attack bonus it'll probably almost always hit. What can I do to avoid this? Do prone opponents get attacks of opportunity?
Any other strategies would be helpful

 

[Storminator]

I'll only comment on the AoO.

Starting a grapple is a melee attack. If you have multiple attacks, you can do more than one. So attempt a grapple, he gets an AoO, hits you, grapple fails, then grapple again with your second attack. He's already AoOed you, so he can't do it again, even if he has Combat Reflexes.

If you think you need your full attack bonus (the above technique has you starting a grapple with your 2nd attack) to start the grapple, run around him first, (move equivalent action) and draw the AoO during your movement. Then start the grapple as your standard action.

PS

 

[00durrin]

oh yeah, duh. I'm out of it.
Any way I can completely avoid the first attack of opportunity?
I have improved trip. So if I trip him, can I grapple him while he's on the ground and avoid the attack of opportunity?

 

[RigaMortus]

Hope you go first on initiative and start off with a grapple.

Flat-footed opponent = No AoO

There is also an optional rule (which we use, and a lot of other people use here as well) where if you lose your Dex bonus in combat, you can't make an AoO. So use Bluff (Feint) in combat to accomplish this.

 

[Pielorinho]

My character is a level 5 fighter/9 gladiator. There's a good chance he'll be clashing with the party's Weaponmaster soon. There's been a huge falling out. Anyways, what tactics would be useful in defeating this guy?

First, is this a battle to the death, and are you sure this will be a fun experience for everyone in the group? Unless you know that folks (including the DM, the other players, and the weaponmaster's player) will enjoy this, you should think long and hard about it.

But let's assume that you've already thought about it, and you're gonna go into the fight.

How much preparation can you do? Can you get your stats higher than his for the fight? Obviously, do whatever you can to stack the deck in your favor.

As for grappling, that sounds fine. Assuming you can beat him on an opposed grapple check, here's what I would do:

Round 1: use your funky gladiatorial powers (exhausting, bleeding, whatever)
Round 2: scurry around to his other side, prompting an AoO on you. Suck it up, baby. Then grapple him. Aww, has he already used his AoO for the round? Too bad, so sad! (In game terms, describe this as a feint: he swings at you, and before he recovers from the swing, you lunge in close and grab him. Although it might sound like metagaming, it's a perfectly legit tactic to draw an attack from someone and then close in before they recover). Note that according to this tactic, since you're moving during the round, you won't be able to make iterative attacks: if you miss with your grapple, sucks for you!

Once you're grappling him, decide whether you're better off stabbing at him (i.e., his AC isn't very high) or doing opposed grapple checks (i.e., his BAB+str isn't very high). My guess is you'll be better off stabbing. I wouldn't bother trying to pin him, unless you can use your first iterative attack to pin him and thereby keep him pinned for the round: again, if you use your last iterative attack to pin him, you'll be at a severe disadvantage compared to him on the opposed grapple check.

If he gets free, start the process over. He probably won't fall for the drawing an AoO trick twice

Good luck!
Daniel

 

[Pielorinho]

If you think you need your full attack bonus (the above technique has you starting a grapple with your 2nd attack) to start the grapple, run around him first, (move equivalent action) and draw the AoO during your movement. Then start the grapple as your standard action.

PS

Curse you, storminator, for posting faster than me!

Daniel

 

[Bagpuss]

What I was hoping to do was get in a few licks to start him bleeding and tie him up in a prolonged grapple. Since the Sunblade is also considered a short sword I should be able to stab him in the clinch.
Ideally I'd grapple, stab and maybe pin. Can you release a pin as a free action on your turn and stab/stab/pin again if you have 3 attacks?

No need to break the grapple, your sunblade is a shortsword and thus a light weapon for you. You can attack with a light weapon while still grappling.

from the SRD.

In addition to making opposed grapple checks, a character has a few other options while grappling.
Weapons: A character can attack with a light weapon while grappling (but not while pinned or pinning). A character can't attack with two weapons while grappling.

Edit:
Whoops sorry you were talking about pinning which you can't attack with a weapon. Still I don't see why you can't do what you said.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Hope you go first on initiative and start off with a grapple.

Flat-footed opponent = No AoO

.

Unless he has combat reflexes, of course.

 

[smetzger]

Unless he has combat reflexes, of course.

Which would allow him to make another AoO against _someone else_, not you again.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Not the point. Combat Reflexes allows him to make an AoO while flat-footed, so the "sneak up on him" trick won't work.

CR is a prerequisite for Weaponmaster, so he definitely has it.

-Hyp.