The AD&D grappling rules are in the game for two reasons. One is so that there is a means for the game to continue when hapless players have allowed themselves to be completely disarmed. The other is so that elite players can utterly dominate the game. 
Class and level-- combined with a secret die roll-- serve as a floating bonus either on the initial chance to hit or on the combat result table. Character level will at most result in a swing of 2 or 3 percentage points. You won't witness D&D game design this bold anywhere else!
Great stuff here. Beautiful rules for handling subdual damage, recovery, knockouts. An order of magnitude better than every other house rule and elaboration ever made for this game. This is important because it establishes that Gygax was not high on cocaine when he wrote this.
Pummeling attacks by high dexterity characters explicitly short circuit the initiative sequence. In a battle between swords and sorcery... fists are the deciding factor. This of course has tremendous implications for how magic-users are employed in the game.
Couple things to note. One is that (all other things being equal), your chance to hit with a pummel is basically target AC x10, ie auto-hit versus magic-users. The other is that REGARDLESS OF TARGET AC, you will auto-hit against overborn dudes that have just been knocked flat.
Given a successful hit, a modified percentile role determines the outcome. A stunned and unarmored opponent will automatically take damage. Magic eightball style "stike again" results mean a flurry of blows is possible. 2 hit die creatures can be ko'd with a single crushing blow.
The under 01 and over 00 results are the icing on the cake here. If target is wearing plate, you probably never got here and dude gets a free attack if you did. Strength 18 against a stunned and lightly armored opponent? The outcome will be absolutely brutal!
Grappling is TOTALLY different from pummeling though the basic idea is the same. Note that charging is going to trump even high dexterity with these unarmed combat moves. On the other hand, if the target has any sort of ready weapon, he gets a chance to stick you first.
And here we come to the crux of these rules. If your opponent is unarmored, then pummel him into submission. If he is a walking tank and you are unarmored, then grapple him! Unlike a pommel, you can't be holding anything when you try it.
One more thing about this type of combat. It appears that the intent is that once one person has successfully initiated either pummeling or grappling, the other side will necessarily be responding in kind rather than taking their normal attack maneuver.
The same as with the pummeling's "flurry of blows" effect, here we get rules for maintaining wrassling holds from round to round and even breaking them with better maneuvers. Being heavier and taller is the deciding factor here.
Ah, everything comes clear now. Imagine a guy with a sword and a shield barreling in to close combat range, staggering him, and then immediately knocking him out with a followup of one or more pommel attacks
If you are successfully overborn, bad things are probably going to happen. HOWEVER... the chance for this happening is the same as the grapple attack which is on the previous page. Easy to get lost in these rules if you never actually read them!
Final words to address all the nagging questions. The pile on is going to work and it's going to be devastating. Monsters that don't use weapons ALWAYS overbear! Opponents with weapons end close combat with a successful hit. BRILLIANT. PERFECT. BEST UNARMED COMBAT RULES EVER!
SO... paladin attempts to overbear an erinyes. 40% (attacker chain mail) + ~14% (attacker dex). Not impossible. Overbearing table: 22% (attacker str) + 15% (rushing) + ~20% (height/weight) - ~5% (opponent dex/str). +52% here means a 50/50 chance for knock flat and stun.
Now, I'd thought I had given something away by allowing the paladin to go first. Turns out his charge would have trumped initiative either way given the short encounter distance. An erinyes walking up to a group of PCs is taking a HUGE risk no matter how you slice it.
A thief backstabs an Apache indian, leaping onto his horse from behind-- fails to kill him. Apache drops his bow in order to grappel. Chance is 100% (naked) + 10% (thief armor) + 10% (dex). Forget it! You are grappeled, bro. Reasonable chance for awesome "flip or throw" result.
A white ape is so awesome, it will automatically succeed with all grappling attempts. Result bonuses +12% (dex) + 23% (str) + ~50% (height/weight). Dude, you're screwed. You are either stunned/finished or else held for another round for him to finish you off then.
If the monster is naked, you better give it wide berth.
adeptplay.com/content/naked-…
adeptplay.com/content/naked-…
