Combat Maneuvers: a few ideas

[Quixote]

A while ago, Warped Savant shared a frankly brilliant idea: to remove the attack of opportunity that attempting combat maneuvers provokes, in order to promote more varied and dynamic combat.
I've tried it. It worked a treat, exactly as expected.

With that in mind, I've a few other ideas knocking about:

1. Bullrush, drag, overrun and reposition feel like the weakest maneuvers by far. I mean, they're really all just moving your opponent around you, or moving yourself around your opponent. I've just combined them all into one "family" of maneuvers. I haven't seen any horrific consequences for doing so yet, but I was wondering if anyone could come up with some that might make me rethink this call?

2. I've found that adding a free maneuver attempt onto a successful attack (like the wolf's free trip) helps make combats more interesting without sacrificing action economy for my custom monsters.
It got me thinking, at what point would a feat that grants a PC this ability be reasonable?
If you have, say, Improved and Greater Sunder and a base attack of +9, would a feat that lets you get a free sunder attempt on a successful attack be something worth taking? What would make such an option both fair and viable?

[Warped Savant]

Glad to see it's working for you!

1) I assume you mean that way someone can take "improved [4 CMs]" as a feat rather than each individually?
Seems perfectly reasonable. (Elephant in the Room Feat Tax combines trip, disarm, dirty trick, feint, reposition, and steal into one and bull rush, drag, overrun, and sunder into another group... People consistently rave about how good it is.)

2) Cavaliers get "Mighty Charge" at level 11 which allows them to double the critical threat range on their weapon and to attempt a free bull rush, disarm, sunder, or trip attack. But they can only do it while mounted and charging, so it's limited as to when they can do it.
Maybe if the first attack on a full attack action hits the attacker can replace the second attack with a Combat Maneuver that uses the BAB of the initial attack rather than having it be 5 lower?
(Awkward, and will affect things like the Unchained Barbarians Knockback rage power... but I really have no other ideas at the moment.)

[*Thelith]

I like that idea, once you hit bab 6 and get your second attack you can take this feat and like warped said lose your 2nd attack but get the maneuver at your initial attack level.
Once you have +11 you can lose 2 attacks and get 2 maneuvers? Could be interesting.. sunder the shield and armour with one massive blow instead of 3 attacks at bab 11?

I think some of the maneuvers wouldn't qualify for this?

Especially when you would normally have to be moving;bullrush, drag, and reposition, but trip/sunder/disarm would work normally?

As for things coming up, without that AOO people who invested in acrobatics/combat reflexes would be at a disadvantage. Overrun would work better than acrobatics for moving through an enemy square, especially so for an enemy with combat reflexes.

Not a huge deal, but the rogue trying to nimbly run around to not get hit suddenly being 'out-nimbled' by the hulk who just overruns people...