And here is the entry in question.
Earlier, you talked about Bob the fighter, who was unconscious and later woke up, prone, to find Grog the orc standing in his space. You said Bob has to stay prone so long as he remained in Grog’s space, and that Bob would provoke an attack of opportunity upon leaving that space. Suppose Bob made a grapple attack on Grog? He can grapple Grog, can’t he? Bob would be at a negative for being prone but would not provoke an attack of opportunity, would he? Assuming Bob establishes a hold on Grog, how long does the prone penalty last?
Sure, Bob can grapple Grog. Bob’s initial grab attack provokes an attack of opportunity from Grog unless Bob has the Improved Grapple feat or some other circumstance prevents Grog from threatening Bob. (For example, Grog would not threaten Bob if Grog were wielding a reach weapon.) If Grog deals damage to Bob with an attack of opportunity, Bob’s grapple attempt is over.
If Grog doesn’t damage Bob, Bob’s initial touch attack would suffer a –4 penalty for being prone. If the grab succeeds, Bob is still prone and still suffers the –4 penalty for being prone for the ensuing opposed grapple check. (Some DMs I know would give Bob an offsetting bonus wrapping himself around Grog’s ankles, but I don’t recommend doing so; it’s pretty easy to kick loose from somebody lying on the ground when you’re standing up).
If Bob gets a hold on Grog, he normally would have to move into Grog’s space to maintain the hold. This movement would provoke attacks of opportunity from foes that threaten Bob. However, Bob is in Grog’s space already, so he doesn’t have to move to maintain the hold, and he is spared attacks of opportunity from Grog’s allies.
You can move when grappling (see page 156 in the PH). Normally you drag foes along with you when you move during grappling, but there’s no reason why Bob can’t just use a move action to stand up in Grog’s space once he has hold of Grog. Bob has to win an opposed grapple check against Grog (still at –4 for being prone) to stand up. This doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity from Grog (who doesn’t threaten Bob or anyone else while grappling), but it does from Grog’s allies if they threaten Bob (see page 143 in the PH). Once on his feet, Bob can keep grappling without the prone penalty, or just let Grog go. If Bob lets go, he can leave Grog’s space with a 5-foot step and not provoke any attacks of opportunity. (Getting up is a move action, but it’s not “movement” for purposes of taking a 5-foot step because Bob isn’t actually moving any distance, see page 144 in the PH).
Obviously the FAQ entry is under the belief that being Prone imposes a -4 penalty to attack rolls
and Grapple Checks even through it don't since it continues to dub differentiate between attack/check.
Anomander asserts the reason
why should be because Prone imposes a penalty to attack roll. The text never once says attack roll penalties affect grapple checks, that's his assumption to build his interpretation. Mindful this is also the end of his support.
As a quick counter, I shall assert
why should be because repeatedly shoving a small kid to the ground is a hell of a lot easier if you are standing over them rather than laying flat on your back. For support I call the actual wording of the updated RC entry, RC's intro of adjudication to validate the for realz having validity, and all of this.
I have a monk with the Vow of Poverty feat (BE). Does the exalted strike bonus apply to grapple, sunder, disarm, and trip attempts?
The exalted strike bonus gained by a character who has taken Vow of Poverty applies only on attack and damage rolls. Unless something is described as an attack roll or a damage roll, the bonus doesn’t apply.
• The touch attack made to start a grapple is an attack roll (so the bonus would apply to this roll), but a grapple check is not an attack roll, and thus the bonus wouldn’t apply to the grapple check. Likewise, the touch attack made to start a trip attack would gain the bonus, but the Strength check you make to trip the defender is not an attack roll and wouldn’t gain the bonus.
• To attempt a disarm attack or a sunder attack, you make an attack roll opposed by the defender’s attack roll, so the exalted strike bonus would apply.
Can you score a critical hit with a grapple check made to damage your opponent?
No. Despite its similarity, a grapple check is not an attack roll, and thus can’t score a critical hit (nor does it automatically succeed on a natural 20 or fail on a natural 1).
Can you use a sneak attack while grappling?
You can’t use a sneak attack in conjunction with a grapple check (such as a grapple check made to damage your opponent), since that isn’t an attack roll. You also can’t deliver a sneak attack with the touch attack made to grab the target, since that attack doesn’t deal any damage. If, however, you make an attack roll while in a grapple (for instance, to attack your opponent with an unarmed strike, light weapon, or natural weapon), you’d deal sneak attack damage if your attack met the normal criteria for delivering a sneak attack. Remember that grappling characters lose their Dexterity bonus to AC only against opponents they aren’t grappling, so a rogue grappling with another foe wouldn’t benefit from that.
When using Combat Expertise or Power Attack, does the penalty you take also apply to opposed attack rolls (such as when you are involved in a disarm or sunder attempt)? What about on grapple checks?
Yes and no. Anything described as an attack roll (even an opposed attack roll) can be affected by Combat Expertise or Power Attack. A grapple check isn’t an attack roll, so you can’t use Combat Expertise or Power Attack in conjunction with it.
And I'd also like to point out his error just undoubtedly screwed a bunch of you guys over. And I say you guys because I'll just apply my bonuses to attack and Baha still makes his grapple check anyway (20 roll, +13 bab, +22 str, +4 luck, +3 supporting, +6 mao, etc. already hit 68 vs dc 59). Which also makes a great case for me not being hindered by the bias of trying to push things simply so "I win" in game.
