Staff combat that's not just hitting things

[Gracht Grabmaw]

Some time ago (okay, a long time ago if I'm honest) I used to train at a martial arts club that taught the various armed and unarmed Takeda-ryu styles of martial arts, including jokkoko, which is short staff combat and it blew my mind at the time. I used to think of staffs as just clubs, you whack people with them and that's it, but there's actually a lot of really neat grappling you can do with it, using it for leverage in all kinds of trips, holds and even throws.

Is there anything in 3.5 or Pathfinder that replicates that kind of thing at all? In my next game I want to throw a bounty hunter NPC at my players and I think an ability like that would make him pretty unique since it's a pretty rare tactic. And it fits with the persona I have in mind for him, a professional who always brings in his targets alive.

[Forrestfire]

3.5 combat is kinda... really bad about that. There's the option of specializing in tripping or another combat maneuver, but it's likely coming at the expense of other things. I think your best bet is to use a Tome of Battle character that wields a staff, possibly with Setting Sun maneuvers.

[Fax Celestis]

Channel Charge (Lost Empires of Faerun), Eilservs School (Drow of the Underdark), Forceful Staff Style (Ghostwalk), Brutal Strike (PHB-II), and Sudden Willow Strike (Player's Guide to Eberron) are all staff-centric combat feats, which can actually be pretty cool when combined. Very feat-intensive, though.

[Metahuman1]

Take a level in Swordsage and pick up some Setting Sun "Throws" which you can use with the staff. Dip Warblade and snag Wolverine Stance and Disarming Strike form Tiger Claw and Iron Heart. Get Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Improved Grapple, Knock down, respectively.

Anything else after that is just gravy.

[Red Fel]

I'll agree with the expressions of disappointment in 3.5. Pathfinder does have a lot of weapon-specific feats and archetypes, to varying degrees of lackluster. A few quick notes: Feats: Tripping Staff (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/tripping-staff-combat): Gives your staff the Tripping quality, meaning you can drop the weapon if you fail. Tripping Twirl (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/tripping-twirl-combat): You can trip all adjacent enemies in a single move with your staff. Quarterstaff Master (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/quarterstaff-master-combat): You can use a quarterstaff as a one-handed or two-handed weapon, at your option. Archetypes: Staff Magus (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/paizo---magus-archetypes/staff-magus): You gain the Quarterstaff Master feat, can recharge your staff, and gain an AC bonus by wielding your staff. You can also use your Spellstrike when making trip attacks.
But yeah. Even in PF, it's basically just trips.

[Talar]

Using Tome of Battle like others have suggested and then fluffing it as that technique is probably your best bet in 3.5.

[JusticeZero]

In PF, it'd be Path of War, which is in preproduction and preorder as I recall. That's DSP's ToB remake; it's nicely done, and it's going to have more support for the new stuff.