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<blockquote data-quote="Noumenon" data-source="post: 4546017" data-attributes="member: 70102">How about a 12th level rogue housecat versus a CR 12 purple worm?&nbsp; It's -3 versus +40, so infinitely impossible.&nbsp; Taking away the defender's BAB, it's still impossible -- +40 vs -12 on the worm's turn, -3 versus +24 on the cat's turn.Monte Cook's system isn't too generous here either -- a fighter would have to power attack at -14 to give the cat a 50-50 shot at escape.The nice thing is that every monster lists &quot;Base Attack/Grapple: +16/+40.&quot;&nbsp; Subtract the first number from the second, and you have your defense.&nbsp; That meets my standard for simplicity.&nbsp; It makes me want to not do anything complicated with the Escape Artist skill.As an aside, I just realized that Escape Artist basically reads &quot;You escape from grapples as a fighter with 16 Strength.&nbsp; Add your Dex bonus to this check.&quot;&nbsp; So basically, before my house rule no class could ever escape a grapple at high levels without Freedom of Movement.&nbsp; Now, the melee classes have a good shot, monks and rogues can do it if they max out Escape Artist, and casters are still helpless 90% of the time.&nbsp; So that will make the classes a little more balanced at high levels.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Noumenon, post: 4546017, member: 70102"] How about a 12th level rogue housecat versus a CR 12 purple worm? It's -3 versus +40, so infinitely impossible. Taking away the defender's BAB, it's still impossible -- +40 vs -12 on the worm's turn, -3 versus +24 on the cat's turn. Monte Cook's system isn't too generous here either -- a fighter would have to power attack at -14 to give the cat a 50-50 shot at escape. The nice thing is that every monster lists "Base Attack/Grapple: +16/+40." Subtract the first number from the second, and you have your defense. That meets my standard for simplicity. It makes me want to not do anything complicated with the Escape Artist skill. As an aside, I just realized that Escape Artist basically reads "You escape from grapples as a fighter with 16 Strength. Add your Dex bonus to this check." So basically, before my house rule no class could ever escape a grapple at high levels without Freedom of Movement. Now, the melee classes have a good shot, monks and rogues can do it if they max out Escape Artist, and casters are still helpless 90% of the time. So that will make the classes a little more balanced at high levels. [/QUOTE]

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