Building an Unarmed Fighter that fights in manacles [PATHFINDER]

[Jendekit]

Basically as the title of the thread says, I'm looking to build a character that is an Unarmed Fighter (the archetype in Ultimate Combat) that also fights while his hands are in manacles. More than just being able to kick ass while his hands are bound, he actually prefers to. I basically have the backstory of the character figured out (if asked I will provide), but the part that I'm having the most difficulty with is deciding the feat and skill selection that best reflects the flavor that I am looking for.

Basically he is a self taught warrior that never got his hands on actual weapons and was bound in manacles for most of his life. So he knows how to fight while his arms and hands are severely limited in how he can position them, and has even incorporated the presence of the manacles into his fighting style.

The first feat that comes to mind is the martial art style feat Snapping Turtle Style, it provides a +1 shield bonus to AC so long as at least one hand is free. I am thinking about using this character as both a PC and NPC, so I would like opinions on whether or not having your wrists manacled together means that neither hand is "free".

Any suggestions for the mechanical portion of building this character (as an NPC I would like to see him face high level PCs, so feel free to give advice up to level 20) would be greatly appreciated, and note that I am not looking to min-max this character but build him mechanically in a way that fits the ex-slave, self taught, unarmed fighter feel.

[TheIronGolem]

There's a Monk vow called Vow of Chains (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/monk/archetypes/paizo---monk-archetypes/monk-vows/vow-of-chains) that kind of does this. I know you're going Fighter, but most unarmed concepts are well served by a dip in Monk (or ex-Monk, if you don't want to be lawful).

Alternately, you could homebrew a "weaponized manacles" exotic weapon. Personally I'd call it 1d8 bludgeoning damage, with the advantage that it can't be disarmed and maybe give a bonus on grapple checks (representing tricks like wrapping the chain around the enemy's limbs or neck).

[Drelua]

Well, as a general bit of advice, I've said it before and I'll say it again; don't bother with Unarmed Fighter unless it's as a dip. 1 or 2 levels can work great on an unarmed combatant, or anyone that benefits from a free style feat, but as a primary class it's worse at fighting unarmed than the Brawler archetype from the same book, so take that instead. Unless there's some specific thing about the Unarmed Fighter that appeals to you mechanically, though I can't think of what, it falls way behind the Brawler in terms of unarmed fighting, which is kind of messed up.

Oh, and as an aside, this reminds me of a scene from that old Jet Li movie, the one. He was in a cell with hand cuffs on, practising some moves.

[TheIronGolem]

1 or 2 levels can work great on an unarmed combatant, or anyone that benefits from a free style feat, but as a primary class it's worse at fighting unarmed than the Brawler archetype from the same book, so take that instead.

Speaking of Brawler, come to think of it, you might want to check out the Brawler class from the upcoming Advanced Class Guide. Can't believe I forgot about it.

[Jendekit]

There's a Monk vow called Vow of Chains (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/monk/archetypes/paizo---monk-archetypes/monk-vows/vow-of-chains) that kind of does this. I know you're going Fighter, but most unarmed concepts are well served by a dip in Monk (or ex-Monk, if you don't want to be lawful).

Seeing as how the character I have in mind is loosely inspired by the most famous role that actor Heath Ledger ever played, monk is right out. I looked at the Brawler archetype, and the Brawler playtest and the playtest class seems to fit better than Unarmed Fighter.

So I will be making changes to the NPC version to give him the Brawler class rather than Unarmed Fighter. Skill wise Acrobatics and Escape Artist are a must, Intimidate would probably be a good one ("You know how I got these scars?"), but what else would you recommend?