Say I have a non-monk, non-Brawler character who makes unarmed strikes and has Two-Weapon Fighting to do so. Say they are also a grapple build.
1) Does the Buckler cause penalties when the character TWFights?
2) Can off-hand unarmed strikes be made with knees or feet, or is that Monk/Brawler exclusive?
3) Does the Buckler interfere with grappling?
Trying to figure out if a Buckler is worth it for this build.
1)If you don't use the hand with the buckler there are no penalties or loss of AC.
2)Anybody that makes any unarmed strike can use any part of their body to make the attack with.
3)I think not, a buckler leaves your hand free and that's all that grappling asks about.
Chess Pawn is correct. Your hands are free with a buckler.
My advice is ... bucklers are always worth it. As are spiked gauntlets.
I say bucklers are worth unless you're always two-handing a weapon and take the penalties. But if you often have a hand not attacking, buckler it, you don't even need to be proficient and it counts as an open hand.