I'm trying to determine whether I've arrived at a RAW-legal concept or not:
The character I'm thinking of is a Fighter who combines swordplay with grappling--not unlike 15th-16th century fencers from Italian and German fight-books. The following feats are pertinent to him:
1st Power Attack
6th Weapon Trick
7th Grabbing Style
8th Greater Grapple
9th Pinning Rend
10th Cornugon Smash
11th Hurtful
12th Dazzling Display
13th Shatter Defenses
14th Deadly Stroke
Round 1: With his a Swift action, the Fighter initiates the Grabbing Style feat. With his Standard action, he uses the Grab and Stab weapon trick, which allows him to initiate a grapple with his free hand (with no penalty for not having two hands free, thanks to Grabbing Style) and then follow up with an attack using his light or one-handed weapon in conjunction with Power Attack. If he damages his grappled target, he can make an immediate Intimidate check against his target as a Free action (Cornugon Smash). If this check is successful, his target will be Flat-Footed to his attacks until the end of his next turn (Shatter Defenses).
Round 2: With his Move action, the Fighter maintains his grapple AND Pins his opponent (Greater Grapple). The Fighter could make "two grapple checks each round (to move, harm, or pin your opponent)," but is not required to do so. Because the Fighter has a free hand (Grabbing Style), and because he has only used his Move action (Greater Grapple), he can use Deadly Stroke in conjunction with his light or one-handed weapon and Power Attack against his Flat-Footed grappled target, as a Standard action. If he damages his grappled target, he can make another Intimidate check as a Free action, and if this check is successful he can make another melee attack against it as a Swift action (Hurtful).
Round 3: With his Move action, the Fighter maintains his pin AND inflicts damage to his target equal to his light or one-handed weapon, PLUS bleed damage equal to his weapon damage dice. Because the target is still Flat-Footed, the Fighter can continue to employ Deadly Stroke, Cornugon Smash, Shatter Defenses, and Hurtful.
This cycle can continue until the opponent escapes the grapple or succeeds against the Fighter's Intimidation.
What am I missing here? Again, my concern is with legality. I hold no illusions about this being the most efficient concept. I'm sure there are things this Fighter won't be well-equipped to deal with.
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Looks like it works. A 14th level fighter who can get within arms length and who has a few rounds to spare is very, very dangerous.
Thank you for looking into this, avr!
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Also, anything, character, NPC, or Monster built for grappling is very overpowered in the game.
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Throw in Throat Slicer, and you can Coup de Grace pinned enemies as a Standard Action...
Throw in Throat Slicer, and you can Coup de Grace pinned enemies as a Standard Action...
I completely forgot about that one--thank you!