Combat Maneuvers

During combat, there are a number of maneuvers that can be performed to hinder or cripple a foe. This includes, but is not limited to, Bull Rush, Disarm, Grapple, Overrun, Sunder, and Trip. While fundementally different moves, these all use the same mechanic to determine success.

Combat Maneuver Bonus

Each character and creature has a Combat Maneuver Bonus (or CMB) that represents its skill at performing combat maneuvers. A creature’s CMB is determined using the following formula:

CMB = Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier

Special Size Modifier
Creatures that are size Tiny or smaller use their Dexterity modifier in place of their Strength modifier to determine their CMB. The special size modifier for a creature’s Combat Maneuver Bonus is as follows:
Fine –12, Diminutive –8, Tiny –4, Small –2, Medium +0, Large +2, Huge +4, Gargantuan +8, Colossal +12.

Some feats and abilities grant a bonus to your CMB when performing specific maneuvers. If a combat maneuver is used in place of an attack (such as Disarm, Grapple, and Sunder), the CMB for the attempt is determined by the Base attack bonus of the attack it is replacing.

Combat Maneuver Defense

Each character and creature has a Combat Maneuver Defense (or CMD) that represents its ability to resist combat maneuvers. A creature’s CMD is determined using the following formula:

CMD = Creature's Touch AC + Base attack bonus + Strength modifier + special size modifier + miscellaneous modifiers

Special Size Modifier
The special size modifier for a creature’s Combat Maneuver Defense is as follows:
Fine –12, Diminutive –8, Tiny –4, Small –2, Medium +0, Large +2, Huge +4, Gargantuan +8, Colossal +12.

Some feats and abilities grant a bonus to your CMD when resisting specific maneuvers, whereas others provide a universal bonus to your CMD.
Just as with attacks, your Dodge and Dexterity bonuses do not apply to your CMD if you are flat-footed.

Performing a Combat Maneuver

When performing a combat maneuver, you must use an action appropriate to the maneuver you are attempting to perform. While many combat maneuvers can be performed as part of an attack action, full-attack action, or attack of opportunity (in place of a melee attack), others require a specific action. Unless otherwise noted, performing a combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of the maneuver. If your target is immobilized, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated, your maneuver automatically succeeds (treat as if you rolled a natural 20 on the attack roll). If your target is stunned, you receive a +4 bonus on your roll to perform a combat maneuver against it.
When you attempt to perform a combat maneuver, make an attack roll and add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus. Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver. The DC of this maneuver is your target’s Combat Maneuver Defense. Combat maneuvers are attack rolls, so you must roll for concealment and take any other penalties that would normally apply to an attack roll.

Maneuvers

Bull Rush

You can make a bull rush as a Standard Action or as part of a Charge, in place of the melee attack. You can only bull rush an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than you. A bull rush attempts to push an opponent straight back without doing any harm.
To make a bull rush, you move into your opponents space, then make a Combat Maneuver Check. This movement provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the defender (unless you have the Powerful Maneuvers feat) as well as any opponent that threatens you. Any attack of opportunity made, save those by the defender, has a 25% chance of striking the wrong target.
If your attack is successful, your target is pushed back 5 feet. For every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s Combat Maneuver Defense you can push the target back an additional 5 feet. You can move with the target if you wish but you must have the available movement to do so. If your attack fails, you move back 5ft to the space you were in before you began the bull rush. If that space is occupied, you fall prone in it.
An enemy being moved by a bull rush provokes attacks of opportunities from the movement, as do you if you move with them. The two of you do not provoke attacks of opportunity from each other from the move. As before, these attacks have a 25% chance of striking the wrong target.
You cannot bull rush a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle.
If there is another creature in the way of your bull rush, you must immediately make a combat maneuver check to bull rush that creature. You take a –4 penalty on this check for each creature being pushed beyond the first. If you are successful, you can continue to push the creatures a distance equal to the lesser result. For example, if a fighter bull rushes a goblin for a total of 15 feet, but there is another goblin 5 feet behind the first, he must make another combat maneuver check against the second goblin after having pushed the first 5 feet. If his check reveals that he can push the second goblin a total of 20 feet, he can continue to push both goblins another 10 feet (since the first goblin will have moved a total of 15 feet).

Dirty Trick

You can attempt to hinder a foe in melee as a Standard Action. This maneuver covers any sort of situational attack that imposes a penalty on a foe for a short period of time. Examples include kicking sand into an opponent’s face to leave them Blinded for 1 round, pulling down an enemy’s pants to halve their speed, or hitting a foe in a sensitive spot to make them Sickened for a round. The GM is the arbiter of what can be accomplished with this maneuver, but it cannot be used to impose a permanent penalty, and the results can be undone if the target spends a move action. If you do not have the Deft Maneuvers feat or a similar ability, attempting a dirty trick provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack is successful, the target takes a penalty. The penalty is limited to one of the following conditions:
Blinded, Dazzled, Deafened, Entangled, Shaken, or Sickened.
This condition lasts for 1 round. For every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s Combat Maneuver Defense, the penalty lasts 1 additional round. This penalty can usually be removed if the target spends a move action. If you possess the Greater Dirty Trick feat, the penalty lasts for 1d4 rounds, plus 1 round for every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD. In addition, removing the condition requires the target to spend a Standard Action.

Disarm

You can attempt to disarm your opponent in place of a Melee Attack. If you do not have the Deft Maneuvers feat, or a similar ability, attempting to disarm a foe provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack is successful, your target drops one item it is carrying of your choice (even if the item is wielded with two hands). If your attack exceeds the Combat Maneuver Defense of the target by 10 or more, the target drops the items it is carrying in both hands (maximum two items if the target has more than two hands). If your attack fails, the defender may immediately react and make a disarm attempt against you. If you successfully disarm your opponent without using a weapon, you may automatically pick up the item dropped.

Drag

You can attempt to drag a foe as a Standard Action. You can only drag an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than you. The aim of this maneuver is to drag a foe in a straight line behind you without doing any harm. If you do not have the Powerful Maneuvers feat or a similar ability, initiating a drag provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack is successful, both you and your target are moved 5 feet back, with your opponent occupying your original space and you in the space behind that in a straight line. For every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s Combat Maneuver Defense, you can drag the target back an additional 5 feet. You must be able to move with the target to perform this maneuver. If you do not have enough movement, the drag goes to the maximum amount of movement available to you and ends.
Both you and the enemy being moved by a drag provoke attacks of opportunity from the movement, but not from each other. You cannot move a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle. If there is another creature in the way of your movement, the drag ends adjacent to that creature.
Any racial ability that grants a bonus to Combat Maneuver Defense versus Bull Rush attempts grants the same bonus against drag combat maneuvers.

Grapple

You can attempt a grapple as a Standard Action, hindering the target's combat actions. If you do not have Improved Grapple, Improved grab, or a similar ability, attempting to grapple a foe provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver. Humanoid creatures without two free hands attempting to grapple a foe take a –4 penalty on the combat maneuver roll.
If successful, both you and the target gain the Grappled condition, you deal damage to the target as if with an Unarmed Attack, and you move the target into a space adjacent to you if they are not already. This movement provokes attacks of opportunities, but not from each other. Any Attack of Opportunity made from this movement have a 25% chance of hitting the wrong target.
Although both creatures have the Grappled condition, you can, as the creature that initiated the grapple, release the grapple as a Free Action, removing the condition from both you and the target. In doing so, you move out of the target's square and into an open adjacent one (if you are larger than the target, currently have them Pinned, or make a successful Combat Maneuver Check, you can instead move them into an open square adjacent to you).

Maintaining a Grapple

If you begin your turn in control of a grapple, you must spend a Standard Action and make a Combat Maneuver Check to maintain it. You gain a +5 Circumstance Bonus to any grapple check on any grapple you begin your turn in control of. If you fail, you both lose the Grappled condition as though you had released it. If successful, you continue grappling your foe, and may perform one of the following actions as part of the action spent to maintain the grapple.

Damage Your Opponent
While grappling, you can deal damage to your opponent equivalent to an Unarmed Attack, a Natural Attack, or an attack made with armor spikes or a light or one-handed weapon. This damage can be either lethal or nonlethal.

Move
You can move yourself and your target half your speed. At the end of your movement, you can place your target in any square adjacent to you. If you attempt to place your foe in a hazardous location, such as in a Wall Of Fire or over a pit, the target receives a free attempt to break your grapple with a +4 bonus.

Pin Your Opponent
You can give your opponent the Pinned condition. Despite pinning your opponent, you still only have the Grappled condition, but you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class.

Break Another’s Pin
If you are grappling an opponent who has another character Pinned, you can break the hold that the opponent has over the other character.

Use Opponent’s Weapon
If your opponent is holding a light weapon, you can use it to attack them. You don’t gain possession of the weapon by performing this action.

Tie up Opponent
If you have an opponent Grappled, you may attempt to use rope to tie them up. You must have ready access to the rope, and must succeed on another Combat Maneuver Check with a -10 penalty. A tied up creature is still considered pinned, but the ropes do not need to make a check to maintain it each round. The DC to escape the bonds is equal to 20 + your CMB. If this DC is higher than 20 + the tied creature's CMB, they cannot escape even with a natural 20 (note that this has no effect on a creature's ability to break the rope with a strength check). If you have Pinned your opponent (or they are otherwise already Helpless), you do not need to make a Combat Maneuver Check to tie them up. Taking additional time (DM discretion) to further tie up a creature (such as binding them to a chair or table) could cause a tied up creature to become bound and Helpless.

Actions While Grappled

If you are caught in a grapple, you can attempt to break it as a Standard Action by making a combat maneuver check (DC equal to your opponent’s CMD; this does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity) or Escape Artist check (with a DC equal to your opponent’s CMD). If you succeed, you break the grapple and can act normally. Alternatively, you can reverse the grapple and take control of it on a success.
Instead of attempting to break or reverse the grapple, you can take any action that doesn’t require two hands to perform, such as cast a spell or make a Melee Attack or Full Attack with a light or one-handed weapon against any creature within your reach, including the creature that is grappling you. See the Grappled condition for additional details. If you are pinned, your actions are very limited. See the Pinned condition for additional details.

Multiple Grapplers

Multiple creatures can attempt to grapple one target. The creature that first initiates the grapple is the only one that makes a check, with a +2 bonus for each creature that assists in the grapple (using the Aid Another action).
Multiple creatures can also assist another creature in breaking free from a grapple, with each creature that assists (using the Aid Another action) granting a +2 bonus on the grappled creature’s combat maneuver check.
If attempting to escape from multiple grapplers, you must beat the Combat Maneuver Defense of all grapplers to succeed.

Overrun

As a Standard Action, taken during your move or as part of a charge, you can attempt to overrun your target, moving through its square. You can only overrun an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than you. If you do not have the Powerful Maneuvers feat, or a similar ability, initiating an overrun provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver. If your overrun attempt fails, you stop in the space directly in front of the opponent, or the nearest open space in front of the creature if there are other creatures occupying that space.
When you attempt to overrun a target, it can choose to avoid you, allowing you to pass through its square without requiring an attack. If your target does not avoid you, make a Combat Maneuver Check as normal. If your maneuver is successful, you move through the target’s space. If your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD by 5 or more, you move through the target’s space and the target is knocked Prone. If the target has more than two legs, add +2 to the DC of the combat maneuver attack roll for each additional leg it has.

Reposition

You can attempt to reposition a foe to a different location as a Standard Action. You can only reposition an opponent that is no more than one size category larger than you. A reposition attempts to force a foe to move to a different position in relation to your location without doing any harm. If you do not have the Deft Maneuvers feat or a similar ability, attempting to reposition a foe provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver. You cannot use this maneuver to move a foe into a space that is intrinsically dangerous, such as a pit or wall of fire, unless the target is unaware of the threat. If your attack is successful, you may move your target 5 feet to a new location. For every 5 by which your attack exceeds your opponent’s CMD, you can move the target an additional 5 feet. The target must remain within your reach at all times during this movement, except for the final 5 feet of movement, which can be to a space adjacent to your reach.
An enemy being moved by a reposition does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity because of the movement unless you possess the Greater Reposition feat. You cannot move a creature into a square that is occupied by a solid object or obstacle.

Steal

You can attempt to take an item from a foe as a Standard Action. This maneuver can be used in melee to take any item that is neither held nor hidden in a bag or pack. You must have at least one hand free (holding nothing) to attempt this maneuver. You must select the item to be taken before the check is made. Items that are simply tucked into a belt or loosely attached (such as brooches or necklaces) are the easiest to take. Items fastened to a foe (such as cloaks, sheathed weapons, or pouches) are more difficult to take, and give the opponent a +5 bonus (or greater) to their CMD. Items that are closely worn (such as armor, backpacks, boots, clothing, or rings) cannot be taken with this maneuver. Items held in the hands (such as wielded weapons or wands) also cannot be taken with the steal maneuver—you must use the Disarm combat maneuver instead. The GM is the final arbiter of what items can be taken. If you do not have the Deft Maneuvers feat or a similar ability, attempting to steal an object provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
Although this maneuver can only be performed if the target is within your reach, you can use a whip to steal an object from a target within range with a –4 penalty on the attack roll.
If your attack is successful, you may take one item from your opponent. You must be able to reach the item to be taken (subject to GM discretion). Your enemy is immediately aware of this theft unless you possess the Greater Steal feat.

Sunder

You can attempt to sunder an item held or worn by your opponent in place of a Melee Attack. If you do not have the Powerful Maneuvers feat, or a similar ability, attempting to sunder an item provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack is successful, you deal damage to the item normally. Damage that exceeds the object’s Hardness is subtracted from its hit points. If an object has equal to or less than half its total hit points remaining, it gains the Broken condition. If the damage you deal would reduce the object to less than 0 hit points, you can choose to destroy it. If you do not choose to destroy it, the object is left with only 1 hit point and the Broken condition.

Trip

You can attempt to trip your opponent in place of a Melee Attack. You can only trip an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than you. If you do not have the Deft Maneuvers feat, or a similar ability, initiating a trip provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the target of your maneuver.
If your attack exceeds the target’s CMD, the target is knocked Prone. If your attack fails, the defender may immediately react and make a trip attempt against you. If you used a tripping weapon in the attempt, you may drop it to avoid being tripped in this way. If the target has more than two legs, add +2 to the DC of the combat maneuver attack roll for each additional leg it has. Some creatures—such as oozes, creatures without legs, and flying creatures—cannot be tripped.
A creature with the Trip special ability can make a trip attempt with a successful attack, and cannot be tripped in response to a failed attempt.