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This is a question for the developers out there. Let's say you are a fighter with the following feats: Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, and Greater Grapple. Let us go ahead and say that you are wearing a +2 amulet of the mighty fists.
You are fighting a humanoid opponent while unarmed and wish to grapple him: do you get to add the +2 enhancement bonus from the amulet to your grapple check? If not why?
Now, let's say you are a fighter with a +2 man-catcher (medium-sized). And you decide to grapple a hobgoblin with it. Do you get the +2 enhancement bonus in THAT case, even if you didn't get it in the first example?
Remember, the phrasing from the amulet of the mighty fists gives that bonus on unarmed attacks and natural weapons. How is an unarmed grapple NOT considered an unarmed attack or a natural weapon, if the ruling is that the bonus does not apply? Grapple, after all, requires that the person attempting a grapple attempt have two free hands, so suffer a penalty of -4 on the check (the man-catcher being an exception to that rule).
So explain to me, how it is that an unarmed attack to grapple would not receive a bonus from a magic item that specifically provides a bonus to unarmed and natural weapon attacks? If in fact, an enhancement bonus to unarmed attacks does not apply.
Master Arminas
The other listed maneuvers specified natural attacks and unarmed strikes in the blog. The AoMF also calls out natural attacks, and unarmed attacks. If the intent was for grapple to work with the AoMF then it should work with natural attacks also.
I'd file that under "the GM is free to rule that in certain circumstances, a creature can apply weapon bonuses for these maneuvers."
Here is a link and below this link is Jiggy explaining it.
They are aware of the question. They have put it into DM Fiat territory meaning that it does not work by the official rules.
I, personally, say no per RAW, but I do houserule that it does in my own games.
Disarm, Trip, and Sunder are the only weapons that can normally be made via a weapon, therefore, weapons can enhance their effects. Grapple is almost always made via an unarmed or natural attack of some kind, yet it isn't included in the list of weapon enhanceable maneuvers.
This is, I think, shows they don't intend Grapple to be enhanceable by weapons. The Mancatcher, however, is the exception to the rule as it is, specifically, a weapon designed for a kind of Grapple.
I, personally, say no per RAW, but I do houserule that it does in my own games.
Disarm, Trip, and Sunder are the only weapons that can normally be made via a weapon, therefore, weapons can enhance their effects. Grapple is almost always made via an unarmed or natural attack of some kind, yet it isn't included in the list of weapon enhanceable maneuvers.
This is, I think, shows they don't intend Grapple to be enhanceable by weapons. The Mancatcher, however, is the exception to the rule as it is, specifically, a weapon designed for a kind of Grapple.
This is how I would do it in a home game also. I already allow the amulet of mighty fist to affect grapples, but at the same time I would probably not allow weapon focus grapple if I am no longer treating grapple as weapon, just to keep things simple.