Stirges (clarification)

[Zlorf2004]

Hi,

Can someone try to explain how Stirges fights, after reading the Stirge entry in the monster
manual were still unsure exactly how a stirges fights. Here what we came up with.

1) Stirge attacks with touch attack +7. Lets say its hits.
2) Stirge attaches to PC, losing DEX, now AC 12 and Grapple is now +1
3) PC attempts grapple to pin the stirge and suceeds. Stirge is now pinned.

Now this where the confusion sets in, the Stirge is now pinned and has a grapple of
-11 right? So its pretty hard for the stirge to actually break the pin. Now lets say it
did. Would the stirge have to make another melee touch attack +7 to latch on again or
does it reattach automatically?

Can the PC damage the Stirge while its pinned, by either punching it or using a small/light weapon?

TIA
Zlorf

 

[robberbaron]

Why would you want to pin a stirge that was attached to you? It would still be attached and still able to drink (I think).

A successful grapple attempt to unattach a stirge would still result in it being in your grip and it would not be able to reattach itself until it had escaped.

A stirge doesn't have many HP and you could do normal unarmed damage as part of your successful grapple check.

IME attached stirges are more easily dealt with by others hitting them with small weapons. Anything larger than a small sword, IMO, would be too difficult to wield carefully enough to avoid risking hitting the stirge's victin.

 

[Diirk]

Attach (Ex): If a stirge hits with a touch attack, it uses its eight pincers to latch onto the opponent’s body. An attached stirge is effectively grappling its prey. The stirge loses its Dexterity bonus to AC and has an AC of 12, but holds on with great tenacity. Stirges have a +12 racial bonus on grapple checks (already figured into the Base Attack/Grapple entry above).

An attached stirge can be struck with a weapon or grappled itself. To remove an attached stirge through grappling, the opponent must achieve a pin against the stirge.

There's no such rules about only being able to use small weapons.. that would be a houserule. There is no miss chance in melee combat against creatures in a grapple, only for missile/thrown weapons.

And the point of pinning a stirge attached to you isn't actually to pin it; just that unattaching them uses the pinning mechanic of grappling. I believe that means you first have to grapple the stirge to be considered grappling it (this doesn't happen when it attaches to you , I assume, otherwise you'd lose your dex bonus vs others etc, which doesn't really make sense), and then you'd have to achieve a 2nd grapple check to 'pin' it and rip it off. But yeah, considering it only has 5 hp, you're probably better off just hitting it with something.

 

[Scharlata]

1) Stirge attacks with touch attack +7.

Hi!

Don't forget that the target of the stirge's attack probably gets an AoO against the stirge, because a stirge is normally a Tiny creature.

In Part 1 of the Rules of the Game: All About Grappling (see WotC web site) there is a statement that all attacks (not just ranged attacks) have a chance to hit the other target than the intended whilst attacking two creatures involved in a grapple. BUT THAT'S STILL TO BE DISCUSSED, because the PHB states otherwise.

Kind regards

 

[sdt]

I believe that reach melee weapons are treated as ranged weapons for this purpose.

 

[blargney the second]

Sound to me like you deal with stirges the same way you deal with mosquitoes: pinch your skin around their proboscis, and pin it to you until it explodes. *evil grin*

-blarg

 

[Legildur]

I believe that reach melee weapons are treated as ranged weapons for this purpose.

They certainly are when you are considering cover, but I can't find anything about reach and attacking into a grapple.

 

[Zlorf2004]

Stirges (clarifaction)

Thanks for the responses.

I dont think you get a AOO on the stirge when it attach(ex), Its (attach) is an extraoridinary
ability hence no AOO (P141 PHB) and the stirge is effectively grapplig you.

Yes the players can hit instead of pinning it, but at 1st level with no str you dont do a great
deal of damage, so you basically relying on pinning it and/or then hoping someone hits it
while its attached to you. Which is all well and good if you have more PC's that Stirges.

The way i imagined it is that once you pin it you have it in your grasp, after all its only 1 pound and 1 foot by 2 foot. Once its pinned its pretty helpless and basically get bashed to
death.

ZLorf

 

[Diirk]

Stirges have 0' reach, so they need to enter your square to attack you... this means you'll either get an AoO against them for the movement, or if they move to an adjacent square and then 5' step the next round you should have a chance to attack them in between.

 

[RigaMortus]

There's no such rules about only being able to use small weapons.. that would be a houserule. There is no miss chance in melee combat against creatures in a grapple, only for missile/thrown weapons.

No, but there is a rule about attacking with Light Weapons when you are in a grapple (regardless of who started the grapple). Check page 156 of PHB under If You're Grappling and then under Attack Your Opponent.

There is also a rule that if you attack someone who is grappled (or maybe it was pinned), you have to randomly roll to see who you hit. So if 2 people are grappling, that is obviously a 50% chance. However, if three people were grappling, you'd roll a 1d3, and so on. I am not sure if this for all attacks though. I know it is for Ranged Attacks (because I had to make those checks myself). It is burried somewhere in the 3.5 PHB. Can't find it atm, but it is in there (probably in an inconspicuous place).