Need help with understanding Grapple

[Perun]

(Sorry for the cross-post. I posted this both to this board and the WotC Boards.)

Could someone help me clear things up a bit regarding the whole Grapple special attack (using the 3.5 rules)?

I'm playing a 3rd-level human cleric of Tempus in the FR campaign setting. I have the Jotunbrud* feat, Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple. My Strength score is 16. My BAB is +2.

So, my grapple check is +13, right? That's +2 BAB, +3 Str modifier, +4 due to the Jotunbrud feat, and +4 because of the Improved Grapple.

So, when I decide to grapple an opponent, this is how it would happen:

Step 1: AoO. The AoO is skipped alltogether, because of the Improved Grapple feat, right?
Step 2: Grab. This is a *REGULAR* melee touch attack, right? Not the above-mentioned grapple check? So, it's only at a +5 (+2 BAB, +3 Str) bonus.
Step 3: Hold. This is an opposed grapple check, so I use my +13 vs. whatever the opponent rolls, right?
Step 4: Maintain grapple. If I should decide to maintain the grapple, I move into the opponent space.

Have I got this right? All emphasis below is mine.

Now, the description of the Step 3 also says (from the SRD):

"Make an opposed grapple check as a free action. If you succeed, you and your target are now grappling, and you deal damage to the target as if with unarmed strike."

Right. That's 1d3+3 in my case, but do read on...

My character has the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, which says (again, from the SRD):

"In addition, your unarmed strikes can deal lethal or nonlethal damage, at your option."

Having this feat, I can inflict 1d3+3 lethal damage with each successful hit, right?

But then, under the If You're Grappling section in the Special Attacks: Grapple part of the Combat chapter, in the Damage Your Opponent bit, it goes to say (also from the SRD):

"Make an opposed grapple check in place of an attack. If you win, you deal nonlethal damage as normal for your unarmed strike (1d3 points for Medium attackers or 1d2 points for Small attackers, plus Strength modifiers). If you want to deal lethal damage, you take a -4 penalty on your grapple check."

And under the description of the Unarmed Strike (in the Weapons part of the Equipment chapter in the SRD) it says the following:

"A monk or any character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat can deal lethal or nonlethal damage with unarmed strikes, at her option."

Now, which bit applies to my character? Since nonlethal damage is just as normal for my unarmed strike as lethal damage is, do I still have to take the -4 penalty on the check? Or can I, thanks to the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, inflict normal (i.e. lethal) damage to the opponent, without the penalty?

Granted, the 3.5 Grapple seems easier to understand thatn the 3.0 version, but, as you can see, I'm still baffled by some aspects of it.

Thanks in advance.

* Jotunbrud feat: Whenever a character receives a modifier on an opposed roll due to his size, he is treated as Large, if that is advantageous to the character. He is also considered to be Large when determining whether a monster's special attack based on size affects him.

 

[Steverooo]

Normally (in 3e and 3.5), unarmed strikes do non-lethal subdual damage, but the PC has the option to attack at a -4 penalty for lethal damage, instead. Improved Unarmed Strike removes the penalty, as well as the provocation of an Attack of Opportunity.

So you strike for "real" damage, without the -4 penalty. IIRC, both IUS and Imp. Grapple grant this (although I may be wrong on IG).

 

[Caliban]

Normally (in 3e and 3.5), unarmed strikes do non-lethal subdual damage, but the PC has the option to attack at a -4 penalty for lethal damage, instead. Improved Unarmed Strike removes the penalty, as well as the provocation of an Attack of Opportunity.

So you strike for "real" damage, without the -4 penalty. IIRC, both IUS and Imp. Grapple grant this (although I may be wrong on IG).

Improved Unarmed Strike doesn't prevent the AoO from starting a grapple attemp, Improved Grapple does.

Improved Unarmed Strike prevents the AoO from striking someone with an unarmed attack, which is different from grappling.

If you have Improved Unarmed Strike, you can do Lethal damage without taking the -4 penalty. I believe this would apply even while grappling.

 

[Darklone]

If you have Improved Unarmed Strike, you can do Lethal damage without taking the -4 penalty. I believe this would apply even while grappling.

Thanks, Caliban, I overlooked this one till now.

 

[Perun]

Heh! I'm rather proud of myself that I got the whole thing right. So far, I never played a combat-oriented character, and the whole special manoeuvres thing is rather new for me.

Thanks!