This is an interesting idea that struck me while working on shadowy antagonists for a game I'm currently running.
Umbral Court Agent enhances the use of the Touch of Darkness ability of the Darkness Domain, among a variety of other things. Eventually this includes grappling targets.
My question is this: If I successfully grapple multiple people via Touch of Darkness (whether that be due to overlapping durations or via the Combat Stamina portion of Domain Strike) is the character restricted to maintaining only one of those grapples using their own actions? Or does the ability continue to grapple automatically over its duration like Black Tentacles?
I think it might be the former by RAW, but the latter feels more like something worth going the 14 levels needed to unlock.
'He may make combat maneuver checks to maintain the grapple for as long as the effect of his touch of darkness ability persists.' - 'may' is not automatic, it strongly implies you're using actions to do so. I suppose with greater grapple/rapid grappler you could maintain two or three, or even more with grabbing master.
For what difference it makes you could get the ability at 13th level. 7 levels before the PrC, 6 levels of the PrC.
Having proven my ability at completing basic math function . . .
Yeah, that sounds correct. Which is sad since casters don't make good grapplers unless I'm missing something. Yet another very flavorful prestige class with barely functional mechanical identity I suppose. I'm glad that prestiging isn't necessary in Pathfinder like it was in 3.5, but at the same time I wish more were on the level of 'sidegrade with narrower focus'.
Still, I suppose an extra 5d6 per successful domain strike isn't an awful capstone.
Maybe I will see if I can bolt that on the 2 pounce per round samsaran warpriest for extra rocket tag. . .
Thanks for the clarification.