I'm playing a grippli monk (shush, I know it) and am trying to determine what exactly I can do while climbing around. I see that I need to have my hands free to climb but can hang on with one hand and still make attacks when not moving. So far so good.
Are the two hands required equivalent to the two hand-place-holders used when restricting combat options, or is this a literal requirement for two hands in all instances where there are enough hands to fulfill this requirement?
For example:
can a four armed climber keep two weapons out?
can a no armed climber use a hand-place-holder to attack?
can a grippli monk use his feet to grapple and still have a climb/reposition option available.
I'm not really invested in the outcome and will just see what the DM thinks, but I was wondering if there was a ruling out there on the topic.
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No ruling to my knowledge. The rules assume a humanoid shape and get a little weird when those assumptions don't hold.
Personally, I would require an ad hoc penalty on your check for attacking with any limb while climbing. Maybe -2 for a kick or gore, -4 for a punch or claw with one hand if you've got two arms, or only -2 if you have four. A snakelike creature could bite with no penalty but couldn't constrict and would probably take a -4 or -6 for any tail attack.
Grappling has a penalty attached to your CMB if you don't have two free hands, and I'd additionally houserule at least a -5 on your climb check.
Note that creatures with climb speeds do still need to make checks, they just get a +8 bonus and can take 10 when threatened. So the attacking penalty might put harder climbs outside your comfortable abilities.