No Dex Bonus When Grappled...Truly?

[Destan]

From the SRD:

Grappling Consequences
While you’re grappling, your ability to attack others and defend yourself is limited.

No Dexterity Bonus: You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if you have one) against opponents you aren’t grappling. (You can still use it against opponents you are grappling.)

The SRD, as quoted, states "No Dexterity Bonus". Yet the accompanying text only discusses Dexterity bonuses to AC.

Question: Can a grappling creature utilize his Dexterity for other things - Weapon Finesse, Reflex saves, etc.?

 

[AuraSeer]

Question: Can a grappling creature utilize his Dexterity for other things - Weapon Finesse, Reflex saves, etc.?

Yes, you can use your Dex for everything else, just not AC.

"No Dexterity Bonus" is just a heading, not an explanation.

 

[Zaruthustran]

From the SRD:

"No Dexterity Bonus: You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if you have one) against opponents you aren’t grappling. (You can still use it against opponents you are grappling.)"

The SRD, as quoted, states "No Dexterity Bonus". Yet the accompanying text only discusses Dexterity bonuses to AC.

Question: Can a grappling creature utilize his Dexterity for other things - Weapon Finesse, Reflex saves, etc.?

You started with a good citation, but then you immediately ignore your own citation (see underlined part).

The SRD says "You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC". This is different from what you claim, which is: "No Dexterity Bonus". Be careful with the quotation marks. In the underlined case, the part within the quotation marks is not actually a quotation from anywhere.

To answer your question: a grappling creature can use his Dex bonus for anything other than AC against opponents he isn't grappling. See the rule you cited:

"You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC against opponents you aren’t grappling."

So a grappling creature still gets Dex bonus to Init, Weapon Finesse, Reflex saves, Escape Artist checks, AC against the creature he's grappling, etc. He only loses his Dex bonus to AC against creatures he isn't grappling.

-z

 

[kpdezend]

So....

. He only loses his Dex bonus to AC against creatures he isn't grappling.-z

So would that mean your friendly neighborhood thief, who is not in the grapple would get their whomp on with sneak attack damage if the attacked one of the two people in the grapple?

- Kent -

 

[Caliban]

So would that mean your friendly neighborhood thief, who is not in the grapple would get their whomp on with sneak attack damage if the attacked one of the two people in the grapple?

- Kent -

Yup. Best way to sneak attack opponents with Improved Uncanny Dodge.

 

[Christian]

So would that mean your friendly neighborhood thief, who is not in the grapple would get their whomp on with sneak attack damage if the attacked one of the two people in the grapple?

- Kent -

Yes. I call this the 'you hold him while I finish him off' tactic.

 

[Destan]

You started with a good citation, but then you immediately ignore your own citation (see underlined part).

The SRD says "You lose your Dexterity bonus to AC". This is different from what you claim, which is: "No Dexterity Bonus". Be careful with the quotation marks. In the underlined case, the part within the quotation marks is not actually a quotation from anywhere.

Ah, but it is. The SRD does say, and I quote - "No Dexterity Bonus" beneath the consequences for grappling. But as AuraSeer mentioned, this appears to only be a heading and not a specific rule.

FWIW, I agree with your judgement on the rules and that a grappled creature may still use his Dex bonus for just about everything other than his AC against his oppponent.

D