Grappling, multiple attacks and retreat

[Maz]

Hi, I've run into a problem regarding retreating and grappling.


Situation 1: I make 2 attacks against you one strike and a grapple.
You make a retreating dodge. You succeeds on the first but fails against my grapple.

What happens then? Are you moved 1hex away from me ,as you sucessfully retreated against my first attack, or did you not move away as my second attack grappled you, holding you in place?


Situation 2: I make 2 attacks against you, one grapple and one strike.
You make a retreating dodge. You fail on the first attack, and is grappled.

Do you still get the retreating bonus against my strike, or is it voided as you can't retreat when you are grappled?


Are there any clarifications about this anywhere in the rules, and/or does people have some opinions on this?

[TJA]

Welcome to the world of GURPS.

:-|

[Rune]

I got this off the FAQ:

3.4.3.6 How can I defend myself against someone stepping in close-combat with me?
On a turn when someone enters close combat and tries to attack or grapple you, you can defend normally as if you were not in Close Combat, with either a block, dodge, or parry. You can even retreat if you want. But once you're in close combat, you can only dodge, or parry with a reach C weapon.

Note that if someone successfully grapples you, you end up in the same hex as him/her, even if you retreated. This represents the fact that you tried to retreat, but your enemy was quick enough to stop you.


- It does not say if you get the retreat bonus against the strikes though. And that was probably the most important thing.

[Maz]

Ah, nice, thanks Rune.

Here is how I would rule it then:

Situation 1: You get retreat bonus as normal, but you are not moved away as you are grappled before you get to move.

Situation 2: You lose the retreat bonus after being grappled. But you do not suffer any other penalties for being grappled (-4 Dx, -1 dodge). Just as you don't suffer penalties for being in CC yet. So you get full normal defense against the strike, but not the penalty from CC combat.

[edit]No wait. I just read the rules for Grab and Smash. MA p.118. It say you get full CC penalties on your defenses against the "smash part". So it would be the same here.

[PK]

Once you're grappled successfully, you're in close combat. You have the normal penalties for being grappled and in close combat against any subsequent strikes.

As per the FAQ, if you retreat vs. a grapple (whether or not there were other attacks preceding it) and fail to defend, then you didn't retreat after all. So the only reasonable interpretation in my mind is that any defense against further attacks from the same opponent shouldn't get the retreat bonus.