[RPG] Grappling interactions with Greater Grapple

grapplepathfinder-1e

A question came up at my last Pathfinder game: If a character has Greater Grapple, does it become possible to grapple and pin an opponent in one round? ( not tie up, though. That'd be 3 checks. )

Greater Grapple:

Once you have grappled a creature, maintaining the grapple is a move action. This feat allows you to make two grapple checks each round (to move, harm, or pin your opponent), but you are not required to make two checks.

Grappling:

Once you are grappling an opponent, a successful check allows you to continue grappling the foe, and also allows you to perform one of the following actions (as part of the standard action spent to maintain the grapple).

This leads me to believe that as long as the character has both a standard and move action, he can use one to initiate the grapple, and ( assuming success ), use the other to maintain the grapple and take his additional grappling action.

Best Answer

Yes, you can initiate a grapple and pin in the same round.

That is exactly what Greater Grapple is for, it explicitly allows you to make an additional check as a move action -- and the wording of grapple says nothing about having to wait until the next round to use any of the special grapple actions.

If you're worried about the word maintain, that seems to just be a poor choice of words on the designer's part. Greater Grapple specifically states that you may make such checks twice in one round; and the rules for maintain make it clear that this is the only type of offensive check that you make in a grapple. The various actions such as pinning/moving/etc only occur on a successful check to maintain:

Once you are grappling an opponent, a successful check allows you to continue grappling the foe, and also allows you to perform one of the following actions (as part of the standard action spent to maintain the grapple).

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