Picking a Cohort

[Alexander Augunas]

Hello!

I'm about to reach 7th level in a campaign I'm playing in, and my GM's required me to take Leadership. [sarcasm]Oh no ....[/sarcasm]

So I'm trying to figure out a cool character to build as a cohort to fill out our party. We're currently a three man band; I'm a sword saint (samurai) / lore warden (fighter), party member #2 is a bladebound (magus), and the GM gave us a seer (oracle of life). We're sort of hurt on skill coverage at the moment, but we also don't have a full arcane spellcaster.

Because of that, I've been thinking about arcane trickster, but considering that my cohort is going to lag behind us in levels, the loss of those spellcaster levels could be huge in his/her helpfulness. What does the board think? Any suggestions for stuff to look at would be great too.

[GM Arkwright]

Constantly cackling witch with Fortune and Misfortune.

[tonyz]

Bard. Skills, arcane support, and a minstrel chanting your praises, all in one neat package.

[jerrys]

the time i had a cohort, he was some NPC that we had run into at low-level who i'd liked ... brought him back as a cohort.
(He was a mystic theurge though, which i really can't recommend just from the perspective that dealing with the spells is a huge amount of bookkeeping. He was sort of a minor villain who we had defeated but treated honorably.)

Another memorable one was one of my party members' "sherpa".

[The Crusader]

Archeologist Bard would probably be your best bet. Rogue with good Charisma and UMD would supplement pretty well, too, though, the cost would be a little higher.

[Morgen]

Isn't it your GM's job to design those types of things?

Especially if they are requiring you to blow your precious feat on it?

[bookrat]

Leadership is arguably the most powerful feat in the game. Being forced to take it should rarely be called "blow a precious feat."

It's also a perfect opportunity to create a whole new character to fill in any spaces in the party without sacrificing your own character.

And if there's no spaces that needs to be filled, well, a bard can always collect and sing your adventures! And give group bonuses. :)

[Alexander Augunas]

bookrat wrote:

Leadership is arguably the most powerful feat in the game. Being forced to take it should rarely be called "blow a precious feat."

It's also a perfect opportunity to create a whole new character to fill in any spaces in the party without sacrificing your own character.

And if there's no spaces that needs to be filled, well, a bard can always collect and sing your adventures! And give group bonuses. :)

Exactly my thinking; I never considered it blowing a feat.

My biggest worry about the bard is that we don't have access to the sorcerer/wizard spell list, which was why I was thinking arcane trickster; kill two birds with one stone.

My biggest worry with that, however, is that between lagging two levels behind my level, plus lagging behind other sorcerers / wizards of the same level, an arcane trickster might not end up being very effective at spellcasting anyway.

[tonyz]

I agree that an arcane trickster would be unlikely to have very much high-power arcane support; he's too many spellcasting levels behind. Get a wizard if you want toolbox support. Bards don't have all the arcane support, but they have a lot of useful spells and inspire competence is a great combat boost all on its own.

[Major_Blackhart]

Hehe, if you were a barbarian I'd say go with a savage skald bard.
But, other than that, I'd say that something magical which can back you up in a jam. Bard's are good for morale bonuses, but if the fella's gonna be a few levels behind, then it will be a problem for support purposes.
I'd say actually that Wizard might be a great choice, though you already have an Arcane caster (Magus) to do damage, and an oracle for divine healing. Maybe some sort of archer class might be a good choice.