.: Help for grapple

The grapple command attempts to lock your opponent in a grappling
hold. Grappled foes are restrained: they cannot flee, their attacks
and defenses are penalised, and your knee special becomes
available.

━━━ Grapple Positions ━━━

A grapple isn't a single state; it develops through positions as
the struggle shifts. Standing grapples (Clinch, BackStanding) are
closer quarters than a normal fight. Ground grapples (Mount,
Guard, Side Control, etc.) are tighter still.

Each round of a grapple resolves to one of five outcomes:

  Hold      Neither side gains ground; both fighters drain stamina
            trading effort for nothing.

  Advance   You move to a more dominant position, closer to
            the top, or taking the back.

  Degrade   You slip to a less dominant position; your opponent
            has gained ground on you.

  Reversal  Your opponent takes over the controlling position
            entirely.

  Escape    The grapple breaks; both fighters return to standing.

Dominant positions like the Mount are striking apexes. The longer
you hold one, the harder you can work your opponent. Taking the
back (BackMount) requires a decisive advance. Submission attempts
fire independently when you're decisively winning a round, from
whatever position you currently hold.

━━━ What Decides Each Round ━━━

A grapple round resolves through an opposed contest of fitness and
technique. Several things tilt the contest:

  Unarmed Combat skill: the biggest single factor.
            Trained grapplers reliably beat untrained ones of
            similar build.

  Strength: the primary stat for controlling and
            holding positions.

  Dexterity: a secondary stat for setups, framing,
            and scrambling.

  Initiative: the side that started the grapple has
            a small edge that round because they picked the moment.

  Stamina: a gassed grappler is dramatically worse.
            Long grapples favor whoever paces themselves.

  Encumbrance: carrying too much weight hurts both
            sides of a grapple.

Heavy armor doesn't directly help you escape; it just costs you
more stamina to fight while wearing it.

━━━ Weapon Reach in Grapples ━━━

Long weapons become a liability when you're grappling. In a clinch
or mount, a sword or spear can't be swung freely because the haft catches
your own body. The weapon's pommel or hilt still lands for reduced
damage, and your combat narration shifts to reflect it.

  - Short weapons (daggers, fists, claws):
    Remain fully effective in any grapple.
  - Medium weapons (swords, axes):
    Penalised in ground grapples; partial penalty in clinch.
  - Long weapons (spears, polearms, staves):
    Severely penalised in all grapple positions.

Carrying a dagger in your offhand is a sound counter to grapplers.
it will swing at full damage while a main-hand sword is hampered.

━━━ Fighting From Position ━━━

Position dominates the math of in-grapple combat:

  Striking down: attacking from a dominant
            position (mount, side control, back mount) is
            substantially easier than swinging from standing.

  Striking back: trying to hit your opponent
            while pinned is much harder. The worst positions,
            crucifix, back mount, and full mount, leave you barely
            able to swing.

  Outside the fight: a third party attacking
            either grappler finds them easier to hit. Two
            grapplers locked together pay less attention to
            their surroundings.

  Outside hits disrupt: if a third party
            damages a grappler who's holding position, that
            grappler's grip loosens. Enough outside damage will
            eventually break a hold.

  Submissions are fragile: a hard hit from
            outside the grapple while you're applying a
            submission will break the attempt and leave you
            worse off than when you started.

━━━ What You Can't Do While Grappled ━━━

Both hands are committed when you're grappling:

  - Eating and drinking are unavailable until you're free.
  - Spellcasting and other concentration-heavy actions become
    harder when you're on the ground or pinned in a grapple.
    Your Willpower and your spellcasting training together
    decide how often your concentration holds; a strong-willed,
    practiced caster can sometimes finish a spell from
    underneath, while a distracted novice rarely manages it.
  - You cannot move from the room until the grapple ends.

Usage: 

  grapple    Attempt to grapple a target in combat.

Success is an opposed roll of Strength vs. the target's Strength
and Dexterity. Grapple-immune creatures (e.g. elementals, oozes)
cannot be grappled.

A target who is already locked in a grapple cannot be seized by
anyone else. If a companion or another fighter has hold of it, you
cannot take hold of it too. Strike it instead, or wait for the hold
to break.

The initial grapple is a special move that spends Stamina and requires full
payment. Once the hold exists, both participants pay upkeep independently each
round. The controlling role is less costly than struggling underneath, and
carried load raises either price while unarmed-combat
skill lowers it.

Upkeep never ends the grapple merely because someone is short. A participant
spends what remains and contests that round without Unarmed Combat skill, as
trained control slips but strength and leverage remain.

When you decisively win a grapple round from a dominant position,
the engine may fire a submission attempt automatically; no command
needed. See help submission.

See also: help attack,
  help kick, help trip,
  help submission, help surrender,
  help reach, help stamina,
  help special