There were a number of threads on various message boards regarding apparent inconsistencies in the grappling rules as provided in the PH and the way MM entries seem to use them. I sent a message to Sage Advice to help clear things up. I received a response a short time later. The following response has only been edited for better formatting. All typos are left in their full glory. The Sage's answers are in bold.
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 16:12:29 -0700
From: Skip Williams <thesage@wizards.com>
Subject: Re: Grappling Questions
To: Guy Fullerton <guyf@apple.com>Guy Fullerton wrote:
Several message board discussions have revolved around grappling, and I'm at a loss to provide complete help. Hopefully you can :)
1) Can you move while grappling? If so, how do you determine your speed, considering you're bringing your opponent with you? The grappling rules say nothing explicit one way or another. The Improved Grab ability, however, implies that the ability to move while grappling is limited to those creatures with Improved Grab.
Sage Advice is handling this subject in Issue #287. Here's the short version: Once you have established a hold, you can make one move and drag your opponent with you whenever you make a successful opposed check (you do so *instead* of pinning, inflicting damage, or escaping any hold or pin your opponent might have on you).
2) Some creature special abilities happen "each round it maintains a hold." Does this mean it can use those abilities on the same turn in which they acquired the hold, or must they wait until successive turns?
Most of that language is wrong. For example, a creature with improved grab or constriction must succeed at an opposed grapple check to actually inflict any damage.
3) A big cat's Improved Grab ability says that "If it gets a hold, it can rake." Does this rake attack happen only once (at the start of the grapple), or can it be used on subsequent rounds as the grapple is maintained.
Each time the cat suceeds at an opposed grapple check, it can rake, unless it already as raked as part of a pounce.
4) Does the answer to #3 apply to the myriad of monster special abilities that say, "if it gets a hold, it can blah"?
Yes.
5) Big cats can Rake when they pounce and when they get a hold. Does that mean a pouncing cat might get two chances to use rake on one action (one during the pounce, and one after starting a grapple with Improved Grab), each of which is likely to be two attacks, for a total of four rake attacks?
No (see #3).
6) The grappling rules in the PH preclude attacking with two weapons. If a combatant is grappling, can it attack with all of its natural weapons, or are one (or more) of those natural weapons used up by maintaining the grapple? For instance, would a grappling tiger be able to attack with both claws and a bite, or would it lose one (or more) attacks?
You could use all your natural attacks while grappleing (using natural weapons aren't the same as attackign with two weapons). If you do thatm you cannot also make a grapple check on your turn. You can devote one natrual weapon grappling and attack with the rest. Note that if you don;t make a grapple check, your opoent doesn't escape; your oppoen must win an opoes grapple check to do that.
7) If it would lose attacks, how do you determine which attack is lost? Would it be the attack that initiated the grapple?
See previous answer.
8) Pinning an opponent precludes weapon attacks. Natural weapons count as weapons for most (if not all) game purposes. That implies natural weapons aren't usable while pinning.
No.
However, the Dire Ape's combat tactics imply that it *can* claw while pinning an opponent. Is this a mistake in the Dire Ape description? Is the Dire Ape a special case? Can natural weapons be used while pinning?
In this case, treat natrural weapons as "subseqnt attacks." So, an apre could allocate one claw to a pin, and then use its tehr 3 claws to damging the oppoent, just as a high-level fighter with 3 attacks could allocate oen to a pin and the otehr to to damage. The ape could use those claws as extra grapple attempts, or as natuiral weapons. (It sucks to be grappled by a mnonster with natural weapons.)