Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Damidar 06-24-07, 03:04 PM	Hi all, I need some advice. Here is the situation: The Warforged grapples the bad guy. The bad guy makes an AoO and does damage. This stops the grapple. The Warforged player and another player petition the DM to allow a concentration check for the Warforged so he can continue with the grapple. What do other DMs think? Would this make a good house rule? If so, would concentration become a bit overpowered? Thanks in advance.
Rerecros 06-24-07, 03:27 PM	I would let him grapple if he allows to the enemy to gain an automatic critical hit against him with his AoO since he is essentially recklessly trying to get a grip on an armed opponent.
Knightblde 06-24-07, 03:43 PM	Don't let them sweet talk you. If they want to grapple anyway, then can do it on their second and third attacks. If they don't want to suffer the AoO, then take the improved grapple feat.
Nom 06-24-07, 08:53 PM	It's not concentration anyway. The grapple isn't foiled because he got distracted - it's foiled because he was physically blocked with the target's weapon. Similarly, you don't get to make concentration checks to move through occupied squares.
Kalarus 06-25-07, 01:10 PM	I am curious why your *players* think it would make a good houserule. If one of my players asked, I'd grin and say "Nope, sorry". If they started pushing, I'd tell them to pike off and just take Improved Grapple if they wanted to grapple even after getting hit. If they still whine, I'll allow them to go through with the grapple, but I'd take it a step further than Rerecros. "Alright, you can grapple with a succesful concentration check but you impale yourself on his weapon. I get to coup-de-grace you as a free action." :devil: Grapple can be a powerful thing if abused properly. I see no reason to make it even better. I see no reason to remove a rule that reflects a sensible physical situation (having a weapon between you and the opponent).
Pentar 06-25-07, 01:15 PM	There's a reason why feats like Improved <Combat move> exist... so that those tactical maneuvers become easier to pull off and thus more valuable in a fight. If fighters could just concentrate through all of them and soak the AoOS, those feats would effectively be useless, except for the few bonus points they might give you in opposed checks. No, there is absolutely no reason to allow a Concentration check to continue with the grapple. Their attack failed. Try again, or buy the feat.
Damidar 06-25-07, 06:37 PM	Thank you for the advice. This has helped so much. @ Kalarus : The two players are in a different campaign where the DM allows a concentration check for grapple checks. And one of them is into martial arts , so he is using real world experience. He believes that if he was damaged he would continue to grapple with his opponent. The DM finally gave him the check but he blew the roll. But no one had any of the Improved feats. It was an on-the-fly decision on the Warforgeds part.
Kalarus 06-25-07, 06:45 PM	Thank you for the advice. This has helped so much. @ Kalarus : The two players are in a different campaign where the DM allows a concentration check for grapple checks. And one of them is into martial arts , so he is using real world experience. He believes that if he was damaged he would continue to grapple with his opponent. The DM finally gave him the check but he blew the roll. But no one had any of the Improved feats. It was an on-the-fly decision on the Warforgeds part. That player has real world experience getting a sword in his gut? Sucks to be him. Happy gaming :D Oh incidentally, that kind of training, that "real life experience" he uses, is exactly what a feat like Improved Grapple represents, not the Concentration skill.