I am planning on making the character mostly monk while only dipping in to inquisitor to a max of 8 levels. Relying completely on dexterity, wisdom, and constitution, my stats would be as follows (at level 1):
Str 8 -2 6
Dex 16 +2 18
Con 10 0 10
Int 12 0 12
Wis 16 +2 18
Cha 10 0 10
I'd pick teamwork feats that are applicable to dealing damage or using the stealth of an ally. The role of the character would be a grappler and melee damage of sorts with decent bluff, diplomacy, and intimidate.
No armor is worn thanks to sensei monk. No str is needed for attack rolls thanks to sensei monk. Would be looking forward to things like "Enlarge Person" and "Crown of Swords" (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/c-d/crow n-of-swords)
Any suggestions on further advancing the character's versatility and lethality?
You need two levels of Sensei to qualify for Wisdom to attack and CMB!
I don't recommend you take the grappler route, especially without any natural CMB boosts.
But considering you will pump Wisdom high, I recommend you go Mantis Style and take the rest of that featline. With that in mind, you won't need that much Dex, especially since your Wisdom adds to your Initiative, so you are free to pump other stats.
You probably want higher CON fit a start.
I also like getting Crushing Blow to use it against stun immune monsters.
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Well, unfortunately since you are going monk and inquisitor you cannot take grabbing style, tetori or maneuver master monk.
That said, here is what we have available:
Improved Grapple, Snapping Turtle style, Snapping Turtle Clutch, Greater Grapple, Pinning Knockout, Jawbreaker, Stunning Pin, Domain Strike, Bonebreaker, Body Shield.
That's ten feats that will make you an excellent grappler and increase your damage in several ways, despite low strength. You can double your damage dice, do ability damage, initiate grapples as immediate actions when missed, make enemies take damage instead of you while grappled, apply status effects and burn through uses of a potent resource (stunning fist and your domain power) each round, efficiently.
You will only get to choose about 6 of these feats by 9th level and you still would require the teamwork feats you discussed.
Personally, I would forget about teamwork feats without a dedicated partner or way to enable them. I would also pick a good domain with a nice power to add via domain strike.
Here is a sample:
Monk 3
1.) Snapping Turtle Style
1.) Improved Grapple (Monk bonus).
3.) Snapping Turtle Clutch.
Inquisitor 1
5.) Domain Strike
Monk 4+
7.) Stunning Pin
9.) Jawbreaker
Could drop inquisitor and take Bonebreaker as well and be a better grappler by a good margin and take inquisitor later.
What books are allowed?
All books. The group I play with usually just regulates using http://www.d20pfsrd.com and pretty much any pathfinder book.
Really like Snapping Turtle Style, Snapping Turtle Clutch, Body Shield, Jawbreaker, etc. You're the only one who seems to have grasped the melee role of the character I'm trying to create. Doesn't have to necessarily be grapple, either. I was also thinking of trip and bullrush as well.
Secret Wizard, I'd be taking the dex to still add to my AC since I wear no armor and also give better reflex saves. It would also come in handy if I ever needed to take a feat like Combat Reflexes, which I probably would just to try to trip anything that provokes in a round.
I want the character to be in the fray, so mobility and AC is necessary. I'm going to use him to disassemble the enemy line as well as still deal better than rogue damage. Nunchaku was what I was thinking of using, and I still might, but I just found Boar Style, Boar Shred, and Boar Ferocity. I think I'd rather take them in conjunction with Snapping Turtle Style feats to optimize melee versatility and lethality.
If I dip into Inquisitor, which is still what I want, I'd be getting up to at least level 3 so that I add my wis to initiative and get Solo Tactics to allow me to use teamwork feats even if allies don't have them.
Don't really understand what you mean by "Domain Strike"
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Domain strike is a fest that allows you, as a swift action, to apply a preselected domain power to a regular attack roll. So, if you have a domain power that says that several times per day you can make a melee touch attack that deals 1d6+half your cleric/inquisitor level in cold damage, then you would be able to apply that domain power to your regular attack roll rather than using it all by itself. Its usefulness is largely Dependant on the power chosen and what you are trying to do.
If you want to be in the fray, then you basically only need a good ac or other form of defensive strategy. Mobility is not quite as relevant beyond actually getting to the enemies which should not be a problem. If you are looking for a mobile character, regardless, who has plenty of movement to strike at targets, sensei may not be a good choice as they lose fast movement. This can be compensated for with reach via enlarge person and/or the lunge fest and/or the Marid style feat chain as well as the use of boots of striding and springing or boots of speed.
Don't listen to naysayers on these boards when it comes to rogues. Rogues can deal ridiculously large amounts of damage that is extremely hard to keep up with. The damage is hardly as situational and unlikely to ever happen as many around here want to force others to believe. A generic rogue may not do loads of damage all the time while being run by an average player, but a modestly optimized rogue in the hands of a seasoned player is going to be hitting very hard, very often.
Without the right feat or being a master of many styles, you won't be Able to employ the benefits of two styles simultaneously. Keep this in mind as it matters a lot for a sensei who loses a lot of monk bonus feats at all the levels where they matter the most. Do you have room for combat style master and two different style feats? You're not human so assuming 9 levels, 6 monk, 3 inquisitor, you're sitting on 6 combat/normal feats and one teamwork feat. Two basic styles and combat style master will cost you half of your feats. Progressing each style once is 2/3 of your feats. You would have two feats remaining and because you may be using snapping turtle style, you'll obviously need improved grapple: one fest remaining.
Also, boar style is excellent for dealing damage but it requires you to strike multiple hits in a round. Sensei's also give up flurry of blows. This means that you must wait for a second attack which won't come until level 9 or so.
Now, since you mentioned other maneuvers and specifically trip and bullrush, I am going to suggest something a bit complicated, narrow and cool as hell. It will eat up all of your feats but man will it be cool and allow you to perform multiple maneuvers to boot.
Combat expertise. Improved trip. Power attack. Improved bull rush. Ki throw. Improved Ki throw. You would need a 13 str for power attack but you get the option of bullrushing and tripping targets as needed without provoking. Anyone you trip, besides being prone, can be moved into any square adjacent to you or thrown into an enemies square as an attack. You probably won't get much mileage out of the bull rush option but trip is solid and will carry you through several levels. You would have plenty of room to expand on either option after level 9 and there is plenty of gear to make either better.
If you go a the trip route, vicious stomp is your friend as is using a weapon with the trip quality.
If you wanted to focus on bull rushing you will want to go far down the fest chain and be very aggressive about it. A good bull rush is the one that beats enemy cmd by 5 or more. This is important because the entire advantage and purpose of bull rush is to control positioning on the battlefield. 5 feet is not much but can make a huge difference in a fight. So bull rushing someone back 5 feet should be equally valuable- wrong! All you have done when you bull rush a target 5 feet is cost them a 5' step or possibly a move action at the cost of your standard. In a generic combat, that is all it will ever be which makes it situationally useful at best in those cases. So when those situations come up, you want your bull rush to give you the best effect it can: you want to trade your standard for their move, not their five foot step. So with that in mind, you need to crank up the bonus and roll well. Your goal is to bull rush a target 10 feat. This now means no more full attacks against you or allies and a move action is gone, too. It's another form of damage mitigation/tanking.
Outside of generic combat and entering the realm of terrain, traps, obstacles, etc, bull rush shines and its uses are self-evident. There are a lot of feats to improve and modify bull rush. Just keep in mind that it is somewhat narrow in utility due to it being circumstantial but a well built bullrush build can be awesome and quite visually entertaining.