Ashbound attack bonus and grapple

[Herzog]

I have a question, and my google-foo is weak, so I thought I'd check here:

The Ashbound feat from the Eberron Campaign setting gives (besides a longer duration) a +3 luck bonus on attacks by the summoned creatures.

Does this also apply to their Grapple checks?

I started wondering when an attempt to use a computerprogram to incorporate this bonus added it to both to the normal attacks and the grapple check.
I was about to fix it when I thought: wait a minute. Is this correct?

So, does it apply to Grapple checks? If not, why not?

 

[delericho]

Huh, that's a good one.

Strictly speaking, the answer appears to be "no" - per the SRD, a Grapple check is "like a melee attack roll."

'Like' would imply similar to, but not the same as, a melee attack roll.

Additionally, of course, they are grapple checks, not grapple attacks or similar.

But I'm not going to claim that as the definitive last word, of course. Firstly because YMMV, and secondly because I'm prepared to stand corrected if someone can cite something to the contrary.