I like this. And I think, philosophically, some of my recent changes have been similar.
I have a player whose PC appears to be in the habit of grabbing and restraining various NPCs. Unless I’m mistaken, the Core rules contain no straightforward “grappling” rules. Unarmed attacks are essentially ineffective (as in most versions of D&D) and don’t simulate what my player has in mind anyway.
My first instinct was to make the grapple a Struggle, using the PC’s Athletics and the NPC’s Movement. But, were this the case, the PC would be restraining just about any Minion at will, unless the GM wants to pour Doom into the contest.
So my house rule builds on another practice I developed, which essentially ignores most opportunities for Struggles.
The PC makes an Athletics test starting at D1 or the NPC’s Movement Focus. This Difficulty increases according to the circumstances. If the NPC is armed, the Reach of the weapon certainly is factored into the Difficulty.
The attack is, of course, Improvised, with any Complications (on a 19-20) additionally inflicting automatic weapon damage (if the target is indeed armed) on the offending grappler. To reiterate, this automatic damage is in addition to the usual Complications.
If the test is successful, the target is captured and restrained until/if the situation justifies a chance for a change.