Maneuver Monster!!

[Grizzled Gryphon]

So, I have been looking over some of the classes with the idea of making a maneuver master, specifically with Disarm, Trip, and Grapple. Of course, any other maneuver's that get added in would be icing on the cake.

The vast majority of baddies in the game have been humanoids, and I don't see anything to suggest that will change any time soon, so these maneuver's seem to be the best to focus on.

So, my quandary, like most people on these forums, is what class to take? Fighter is a good choice for the sheer number of feats, and might be the better choice for damage out-put in the end.

But the Barbarian might just be the one to edge out the fighter. He would have to be more focused on the types he can get "improved", but his damage, at least while raging, would be higher. Not to mention, his CMB benefits from rage.

For similar reason's, the Bloodrager is a good choice, with the added benefit of some spells. They certainly have some good spells to help out with maneuver's, so this may be a better option.

But then there is the Monk, which in my mind, is well known as a grappler and tripper. Tripping, disarming, or grappling a stunned opponent is vastly easier then otherwise, too. So, not a bad option.

Which brings us to the Brawler, with the maneuver training. This class looks like it might be the best of them all for what I am looking for, here.

So what have your experiences been with this sort of character? What class worked best in your opinion? Is there certain weapons that helped in this? I was looking through the UEG, and there are a bunch of weapons that would give bonuses to several of these. have any of them served you well with this type of character? I eagerly await your ideas!!

[stack]

Due to the terrible way cmd scales, the best bet is of course spellcasters, just like for everything else. Specifically magus and bloodrager. Magus with the wand wielder arcana to use a wand of true strike or a bloodrager at a level where he can rage cycle to cast true strike on himself as needed with no action cost.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Summoner's eidolon, or the summoner himself if you go Synthesist. The size and strength boosts scale up real fast for a good CMB at mid and late levels. And more importantly, you can chain maneuvers like grapple and trip for free on top of your normal attacks with the evolutions, and achieve lots of reach.

[Abd al-Azrad]

A possible option if third-party materials are available is the Aegis (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/aegis), a Psionic class which gains no psionic powers but does gain the ability to generate a suit of powered armour with lots of nifty abilities.

The Abberant (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/classes/aegis/archetypes/dreamscarred-press/aberrant) archetype can grow up to four tentacles, each granting a +2 unnamed bonus to Grapple checks and the Grab ability. You can also grow Large as part of the class features, and it's a d10 HD, full-BAB class with some tricky options that allow you to basically activate psionic wands at a cost of your own power point reserve (yay first-level buffs!).

[legionof1]

The maneuver master monk archetype is worth mentioning. All the maneuver feats, greater versions included are bonus feats for it and therefore ignore prerequisites when taken that way. Also it can add wisdom to all maneuvers attempts of a chosen type as a swift action, bonus lasts for the round. It also gets to flurry maneuvers as well as eventually whirlwind maneuvers. oh and burn ki to roll twice on manuvers.

[Da'Shain]

The maneuver master monk archetype is worth mentioning. ...QFT. Even a single level of Maneuver Master nets you the ability to flurry with maneuvers using any weapon ... which is one of the few ways to be able to use the standard action maneuvers as part of a full attack.

Grab Greater Dirty Trick, Quick Dirty Trick and Dirty Trick Master, and you can perform two Dirty Tricks a round which could end with the opponent dazed or nauseated for 1d4+x rounds, no save, no way for them to get out of it because they can't take the standard action required.

[Grizzled Gryphon]

QFT. Even a single level of Maneuver Master nets you the ability to flurry with maneuvers using any weapon ... which is one of the few ways to be able to use the standard action maneuvers as part of a full attack.

Grab Greater Dirty Trick, Quick Dirty Trick and Dirty Trick Master, and you can perform two Dirty Tricks a round which could end with the opponent dazed or nauseated for 1d4+x rounds, no save, no way for them to get out of it because they can't take the standard action required.

I... As a DM, my first instinct is "BAN IT!!". But as a player...

So does this make a straight Monk Maneuver Master the best call? I still wanted the tripping, grappling, and disarming, though, as most of our opponents are human(oids), and this would be an excellent way to capture some of them. Being as tying someone up is not a check anymore, just need a nice high CMB to make it hard for them to escape from the tying.

Also, is there some way to bolster the tying up? I haven't seen anything like that...

[(Un)Inspired]

It's gotta be the DSP Wilder right? With telekinetic maneuver, offensive precognition, a full augmentation and a wild surge you're gonna have the highest possible modifier. Plus you're at range and with solicit psicrystal, schism, hustle, hustle power, and twin power you can grapple or trip or disarm an entire room on your turn.