Combat Patrol + Bodyguard


Rules Questions


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The simple question is: do these feats work together?
Bodyguard

Spoiler:
Your swift strikes ward off enemies attacking nearby allies.

Prerequisite: Combat reflexes.

Benefit: When an adjacent ally is attacked, you may use an attack of opportunity to attempt the aid another action to improve your ally’s AC. You may not use the aid another action to improve your ally’s attack roll with this attack.

Normal: Aid another is a standard action.

Combat Patrol

Spoiler:

You range across the battlefield, dealing with threats wherever they arise.

Prerequisites: Combat reflexes, Mobility, base attack bonus +5.

Benefit: As a full-round action, you may set up a combat patrol, increasing your threatened area by 5 feet for every 5 points of your base attack bonus. Until the beginning of your next turn, you may make attacks of opportunity against any opponent in this threatened area that provokes attacks of opportunity. You may move as part of these attacks, provided your total movement before your next turn does not exceed your speed. Any movement you make provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.


So, can a character who has both feats set up a Combat Patrol and if another character who is within that Combat Patrol gets attacked move to a point adjacent to that character and use an AoO to use Bodyguard to increase their AC?

I have read several posts on this combination and have seen a lot of great feedback from Jason Nelson (the creator of Combat Patrol). I have a pretty strong feeling that the answer is "yes" due to the number of people who understand that it works this way, the feedback given by Jason and the fact that the Animal Companion Protector Archetype is given both feats as bonus feats. It seems to me like these are pretty clear indicators that they work with each other but despite all this and the fact that my son has been playing a character that uses this as his primary schtick for over a year with a multitude of GMs all who had a prior understanding of this combination from previous experiences we have ran into our first resistance to this recently.

A PFS GM at our FLGS has stated that they do not believe that they work together. Apparently they are so adamant about this that they are not willing to allow the combo despite other local GM rulings. In fact, unless I read the situation incorrectly it sounds as if they are completely unwilling to GM for the character. Despite this reaction I respect this GM very much and otherwise see very eye to eye with them and would rather avoid this as a topic of contention.

Unfortunately, I do not understand their perspective on this topic well enough to provide a counter point on this topic. As I know this GM frequents these boards hopefully they might drop by and explain their perspective. I am not trying to be dismissive of their perspective, I just don't understand it well enough to restate it in any way that would do it justice.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

No, they definitely don't work together as they are written. A PFS GM doesn't have much room for interpretation for this case.

First, Bodyguard uses the wording "adjacent ally" as a prerequisite to being able to use an AoO to aid. If your ally isn't adjacent, their attack doesn't "provoke." Combat Patrol only lets you move after they provoke an AoO. Therefore, you couldn't use Combat Patrol to move adjacent to an ally being attacked (unless the enemy otherwise provoked an AoO and you attacked them; if they moved into position, for instance).

Furthermore, while Bodyguard uses one of your attacks of Opportunity for the round, it is not itself an AoO. It is a special case of the Aid Another action. Enemies are not provoking Attacks of Opportunity from you when you use Bodyguard, so Combat Patrol would not increase your defended area.

They may have been intended to work together at some point, but they didn't end up that way.

Bodyguard wording that would work with Combat Patrol:

"When an enemy you threaten attacks an ally, they provoke an AoO that may only be used to Aid Another that ally's AC..."

Silver Crusade Contributor

If it helps, I'm not particularly adamant about it. It was more of a combination of "didn't have the energy to argue about it at the time" and "didn't want to waste your character's time and disappoint you by ruling the other way". I asked Mr. Seifter about it in his thread, but his response was very complex and I haven't quite decoded it yet. (I would also recommend figuring out how it interacts with Vanguard Style.)

A thread like this, working through the interaction and figuring it out, would be very helpful. ^_^

Scarab Sages

What you want is the Vanguard Style chain of feats out of the Armor Master's Handbook. Specifically the third feat in the chain:

Vanguard Hustle:
You are able to protect allies from a distance.

Prerequisite(s): Dex 13, Bodyguard, Combat Patrol, Combat Reflexes, Mobility, Saving Shield, Vanguard Style, Vanguard Ward, proficiency with light or heavy shields.

Benefit(s): Add half of your shield’s enhancement bonus to the shield bonus to AC that you grant to an ally using the Saving Shield feat. While using Vanguard Style, whenever you increase your threatened area with Combat Patrol, your ward retains the bonuses of Vanguard Style as long as he remains within your threatened area, and you can use Bodyguard, Saving Shield, and Vanguard Style whenever an ally that is within this threatened area is the target of an attack.

EDITED to fix the name of the feat.


KingOfAnything wrote:
Bodyguard uses the wording "adjacent ally" as a prerequisite to being able to use an AoO to aid. If your ally isn't adjacent, their attack doesn't "provoke."

Good catch.

KingOfAnything wrote:
while Bodyguard uses one of your attacks of Opportunity for the round, it is not itself an AoO.

I don't think that is true. Bodyguard says "attack of opportunity;" that pretty much makes it an attack of opportunity feat unless there is some special reason to think otherwise. You've tried to make this argument before, but you never brought compelling evidence. Have you found more evidence? I would like to examine it.

Remember that Aid Another is an Attack. It is listed as a Special Attack in the Combat Section. "Special" doesn't mean "not." It says in the Special Attack Section that when you Aid Another to improve your ally's AC, you make an attack roll. The flavor text of Bodyguard says you are making "swift strikes."

While it is fair to say that there might theoretically exist a way to "use an attack of opportunity" without "making an attack of opportunity," with Bodyguard here you are making "swift strikes" to "use an attack of opportunity" to "make an attack roll" to make a "Special Attack."

How is that not making an attack of opportunity?


Hmmm, perhaps it would help if I explained my understanding of how this works.
1. Attacks of Opportunity happen before the provking action. I would assume that Combat Patrol works no differently here except for the fact that it allows you to move out of turn in the way that it states. So, after setting up a Combat Patrol I think everyone agrees that if an enemy moves within your Combat Patrol zone that this movement provokes an AoO thus allowing you to move to a point adjacent to your ally and within reach of your enemy. Right?
2. Now that you are adjacent to your team mate and have arrived prior to the enemy completing their action you "may" to make an attack of opportunity.
3. Now that you are adjacent to your team mate if your enemy chooses to complete his action by attacking your team mate this should also provoke a separate AoO per Bodyguard as it is a separate provoking action.

Am I missing something that makes this not work? At which step are you suggesting it falls apart?


Also, thank you Kalindlara for stopping by and clearing up ambiguity in how you believe this works and otherwise.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

FWIW, here's the Mark Seifter post that Kalindlara was referring to:

Mark Seifter wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:

Mr. Seifter: I had this come up in PFS a couple of weeks ago, and it looked a little uncertain to me. I'm interested in your perspective.

How do Combat Patrol and Bodyguard interact? Does CP increase the range at which you can use B? Do you need Vanguard Style (which seems to explicitly call out this combination)?

Hopefully my question makes sense. ^_^

Huh, interesting combination. I tried to draw myself some diagrams of possible situations, and I'm pretty sure this is the way it works when combining the two in a vacuum, assuming you're on board with Bodyguard requiring both adjacency and threatening the foe, which I know isn't universal on the boards but is how I played it for my own Bodyguard character in PFS (I tend to go conservative, since that character is absolutely ridiculous even if you do):

Bodyguard requires me to be adjacent to my ally to use it, and Combat Patrol only cares about enemies that provoke, and it only lets me move when an enemy provokes. Thus, I definitely can't move from being not next to an ally to being next to that ally with Combat Patrol after the ally gets attacked, since I can't trigger Combat Patrol unless the enemy provoked, and it doesn't provoke if I'm not adjacent. However, what this does allow me to do is to be adjacent to my ally but not the enemy, who attacks, thus provoking from my increased reach and causing me to move to a spot that's still adjacent to my ally but within range of my melee weapon to attack (if any exists). Vanguard Hustle, however, is even more powerful. It explicitly lets me do the thing I started this paragraph by saying I otherwise can't; all allies in my Combat Patrol reach now count as adjacent, and it seems (though I'm really not sure) that I probably don't have to use up my Combat Patrol movement to become adjacent to the ally either, but can instead stay where I am as long as I either move (or stay if I'm already there) where I am in regular reach of the foe and the ally remains in my reach too. For a typical Combat Patrol build's reach, that probably allows you to use Bodyguard on your whole party in most indoor environments.


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Lune wrote:

Hmmm, perhaps it would help if I explained my understanding of how this works.

1. Attacks of Opportunity happen before the provking action. I would assume that Combat Patrol works no differently here except for the fact that it allows you to move out of turn in the way that it states. So, after setting up a Combat Patrol I think everyone agrees that if an enemy moves within your Combat Patrol zone that this movement provokes an AoO thus allowing you to move to a point adjacent to your ally and within reach of your enemy. Right?

I think that King of Anything is right in that Bodyguard specifies that you have to be Adjacent to your Ally and Threatening your Opponent. Combat Patrol increases your effective squares you Threaten, but Adjacent is Adjacent, and if you're not, you're not.

It doesn't increase your Reach, but it allows you to move where your Opponent is within Reach. But if that means you are no longer Adjacent to your Ally, you can no longer "Bodyguard" him.

All that is unless, of course, you have some other special ability like Vanguard seems to let you have. I don't know Vanguard: it's new to me, so I can't speak to that one way or the other.

Ninja'd: Huh, it appears that Mark Seifter and I are of 1 mind on this. Stranger things have happened.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Scott Wilhelm wrote:
KingOfAnything wrote:
while Bodyguard uses one of your attacks of Opportunity for the round, it is not itself an AoO.

I don't think that is true. Bodyguard says "attack of opportunity;" that pretty much makes it an attack of opportunity feat unless there is some special reason to think otherwise. You've tried to make this argument before, but you never brought compelling evidence. Have you found more evidence? I would like to examine it.

Remember that Aid Another is an Attack. It is listed as a Special Attack in the Combat Section. "Special" doesn't mean "not." It says in the Special Attack Section that when you Aid Another to improve your ally's AC, you make an attack roll. The flavor text of Bodyguard says you are making "swift strikes."

You know what else is listed as a Special Attack in the Combat section? Feint and Mounted Combat rules. Neither of which you would argue could be considered attacks. Just because it is in the special catch-all section, doesn't mean it must be an attack.

The flavor, while informative, is not very relevant to the rules.

Scott wrote:


While it is fair to say that there might theoretically exist a way to "use an attack of opportunity" without "making an attack of opportunity," with Bodyguard here you are making "swift strikes" to "use an attack of opportunity" to "make an attack roll" to make a "Special Attack."

How is that not making an attack of opportunity?

There is a clear linguistic difference between "as an AoO" and "use an AoO." Without any supporting language such as "provoke" or "threaten," it is pretty firmly in the "as an AoO" side of the rules.

If the rules were worded just a bit differently, I might agree with you, but from the Combat section in the CRB, I'm not convinced that 1. The Aid Another action is considered a melee attack, and 2. The enemy "provokes" when they attack your ally.


Hm... Mark's opinion seems to echo mine on the topic almost completely. The only place I think we differ is he seems to believe that Combat Patrol doesn't increase the area in which you threaten AoOs. I believe that it does due to Jason's post here which outright states that it does. Note that it doesn't actually increase your reach, just your threatened area which still requires you to move to be within reach. Vanguard Hussle doesn't require this movement.

Basically: reach is not completely synonymous with threatened area though there is often a lot of overlap.


Heh, ninja'd by Scott. It is odd that Mark, Scott AND I are all of the same mind on this.


KingOfAnything wrote:
I'm not convinced that 1. The Aid Another action is considered a melee attack, and 2. The enemy "provokes" when they attack your ally.

1. It isn't. Normally. Read the "normal" section of Bodyguard. It says "Normal: Aid another is a standard action." Nothing requires it to be a melee attack. I'm not sure where you are getting that from.

2. Yep. He also provokes from movement for moving through your threatened area. So where is the issue here?

Also could you respond to my numbered post above as that spells out my understanding of the events and mechanics.

Sovereign Court

Lune wrote:

Hmmm, perhaps it would help if I explained my understanding of how this works.

1. Attacks of Opportunity happen before the provking action. I would assume that Combat Patrol works no differently here except for the fact that it allows you to move out of turn in the way that it states. So, after setting up a Combat Patrol I think everyone agrees that if an enemy moves within your Combat Patrol zone that this movement provokes an AoO thus allowing you to move to a point adjacent to your ally and within reach of your enemy. Right?
2. Now that you are adjacent to your team mate and have arrived prior to the enemy completing their action you "may" to make an attack of opportunity.
3. Now that you are adjacent to your team mate if your enemy chooses to complete his action by attacking your team mate this should also provoke a separate AoO per Bodyguard as it is a separate provoking action.

Am I missing something that makes this not work? At which step are you suggesting it falls apart?

1. If the enemy crosses one of your threatened squares to get to your ward, yes, you may move right away to AoO the enemy, and hopefully land adjacent to your ward. Note that "Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn't count as more than one opportunity for that opponent." Therefore, depending on the enemy's angle of approach to your ward, you may not be able to land adjacent to your ward...

2. "IF" you are now adjacent to your ward, and "IF" the enemy still decides to attack her, than yes, you may Bodyguard boost her AC.

3. Now you've lost me... see #2. If your AoO described in #1 was made from a square adjacent to your ward, you've already used your Bodyguard AoO in #2 to boost your ward's AC. There is no #3.

Frankly, if the concept is to stick close to ward to protect her, you should seriously reconsider the character concept and give both the PC_Bodyguard and the intended ward the Stick Together feat. This Combat Patrol method is an uncertain workaround that will result in you not always being able to be adjacent to the ward when it gets attacked... Stick Together combined with Combat Patrol can give you the full freedom you seek:

1. you start adjacent to your ward (beginning of combat)
2. you take a full-round action to establish combat patrol and later that round you move away from your ward to combat patrol AoO some fools and may waste your entire movement allotment this round if you want
3. your ward moves and hopefully crosses a square that is adjacent to you (that may not be acceptable for some GMs as they may require the ward to 'start' her movement adjacent to you - but as a GM I'd be happy to allow the drive-by reunion of the ward and the bodyguard; even if not allowed, combat patrol / stick together is still great if the priority is to protect the ward at all cost; if the ward is smart, she'll make sure to end HER movement always adjacent to the bodyguard, after he's done his rounds of combat patrol... both of these options together will yield untold hours of fun as the tactical flexibility that will result is impossible to quantify... there will be so many instances that you want BOTH characters to get out of dodge NOW and not wait for the bodyguard's turn...)
4. stick together kicks in and you move back beside her as you are borrowing movement 'on credit' i.e. you are staggered next round.
5. you are staggered now so you can't establish combat patrol again for now - if your ward stays there and doesn't move, you can establish combat patrol again next round.


KingOfAnything wrote:
You know what else is listed as a Special Attack in the Combat section? Feint and Mounted Combat rules. Neither of which you would argue could be considered attacks. Just because it is in the special catch-all section, doesn't mean it must be an attack.

While there isn't an Attack called Mounted Combat, Mounted Combat talks all about giving and receiving attacks while mounted, but yeah, Mounted Combat is not "an attack." My first thought is to say Feinting is a kind of attack, but I'm not nearly as certain of this as I am of Aid Another. When you use Aid Another, you actually make an Attack Roll.

Aid Another wrote:
You make an attack roll

So good point: the fact that Aid Another is listed as a Special Attack only supports, not proves, the point that it's an Attack, but you are still making an Attack Roll, whereas with Feint, you are making a Skill Check.

In cases where you are making a Skill Check to Aid Another, I would say you aren't making an attack, but that's not happening with Bodyguard.


Purple Dragon Knight: "ward" is not in the rules text being discussed here. But if I take your meaning correctly you are assuming that the character being discussed here is intending on only Bodyguarding one character within his Combat Patrol. I assure you that this is not the case. He does this for all characters within his Combat Patrol to the limit of his movement, reach and number of AoOs.

Sovereign Court

Addendum: the Kyoketsu shoge is IMO the best weapon for Combat Patrollers.

-reach: yes
-thrown: yes
-off-hand capability i.e. threaten within 5 ft.: yes
-two-handed 1.5 STR damage: yes

(the only drawback is low crit range...)

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Lune wrote:
KingOfAnything wrote:
I'm not convinced that 1. The Aid Another action is considered a melee attack, and 2. The enemy "provokes" when they attack your ally.
1. It isn't. Normally. Read the "normal" section of Bodyguard. It says "Normal: Aid another is a standard action." Nothing requires it to be a melee attack. I'm not sure where you are getting that from.
Attack of Opportunity, CRB wrote:
An attack of opportunity is a single melee attack, and most characters can only make one per round.

For the Aid Another action to be considered an AoO, it would have to be a melee attack.

Lune wrote:

2. Yep. He also provokes from movement for moving through your threatened area. So where is the issue here?

Also could you respond to my numbered post above as that spells out my understanding of the events and mechanics.

2. He provokes from moving, but nothing in Bodyguard says that an attacking creature is provoking an Attack of Opportunity.

You sniped my post.


Looking at it, I believe I agree with Mark on this one.

Mark Seifer wrote:
Thus, I definitely can't move from being not next to an ally to being next to that ally with Combat Patrol after the ally gets attacked, since I can't trigger Combat Patrol unless the enemy provoked, and it doesn't provoke if I'm not adjacent. However, what this does allow me to do is to be adjacent to my ally but not the enemy, who attacks, thus provoking from my increased reach and causing me to move to a spot that's still adjacent to my ally but within range of my melee weapon to attack (if any exists).

If you are not next to an ally when they get attacked, you can't use bodyguard, even if they or the enemy are within your combat patrol. However if the enemy provokes before attacking your ally, you may be able to position yourself to be adjacent to your ally, than being able to use bodyguard.

Your question

Lune wrote:
So, can a character who has both feats set up a Combat Patrol and if another character who is within that Combat Patrol gets attacked move to a point adjacent to that character and use an AoO to use Bodyguard to increase their AC?

I believe the answer is no, but with the feat Vanguard Hustle, you can use bodyguard, even without being adjacent, as long as they are within your combat patrol. Lune, the term "ward" that PDK is using is from the Vanguard Hustle Feat.

Scarab Sages

Ok, if I understand the situation, then I think it works like this:

1) Character A has Combat Patrol and Bodyguard.
2) Character B is within or adjacent to the area covered by the Combat Patrol.
3) Enemy C moves through the area covered by the Combat Patrol, provoking from Character A.
4) Character A may move within their Combat Patrol to a position where they can attack Enemy C. Character A chooses a position that is also adjacent to Character B.
5) Enemy C complete's their move, ending in a space that is threatened by Character A, and from which C can attack B.
6) Enemy C attacks Character B. The requirements for Bodyguard are now met, as Character A is adjacent to Character B, and Character A threatens Enemy C. Character A activates Bodyguard.

Now, what this doesn't let Character A do is move to Character B unless Enemy C provokes. I do not believe that Enemy C attacking Character B alone is enough to trigger Combat Patrol. Bodyguard allows a specific action that replaces a use of an AoO. Also, it does not trigger unless Character A is adjacent to Character B and threatening Enemy C when Character B is attacked. So if Enemy C were to move up to Character B without provoking, and Character A was not adjacent to Character B and threatening Enemy C, then Character A could not use Bodyguard.

Vanguard Hustle would allow Character A to use Bodyguard on Character B as long as Character B is within the Combat Patrol, without requiring Character A to move.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

I'll go back and offer my analysis on your reasoning.

Lune wrote:

Hmmm, perhaps it would help if I explained my understanding of how this works.

1. Attacks of Opportunity happen before the provking action. I would assume that Combat Patrol works no differently here except for the fact that it allows you to move out of turn in the way that it states. So, after setting up a Combat Patrol I think everyone agrees that if an enemy moves within your Combat Patrol zone that this movement provokes an AoO thus allowing you to move to a point adjacent to your ally and within reach of your enemy. Right?
2. Now that you are adjacent to your team mate and have arrived prior to the enemy completing their action you "may" to make an attack of opportunity.
3. Now that you are adjacent to your team mate if your enemy chooses to complete his action by attacking your team mate this should also provoke a separate AoO per Bodyguard as it is a separate provoking action.

Am I missing something that makes this not work? At which step are you suggesting it falls apart?

1. Sure. That is how Combat Patrol is normally used.

2. No. You made the choice to make an attack of opportunity when you moved. You must make an attack. "You may move as part of these attacks [of opportunity]..."

3. It doesn't "provoke." Bodyguard doesn't use that language. But yes, now that you are both adjacent to your ally and threatening your enemy, you could spend an attack of opportunity action to Aid Another using Bodyguard.

Were you taking that required attack in step two?

I'm of the opinion that you can choose to take your AoO at any point of the enemies movement, not just the first square they leave.

Sovereign Court

Lune wrote:
Purple Dragon Knight: "ward" is not in the rules text being discussed here. But if I take your meaning correctly you are assuming that the character being discussed here is intending on only Bodyguarding one character within his Combat Patrol. I assure you that this is not the case. He does this for all characters within his Combat Patrol to the limit of his movement, reach and number of AoOs.

ward = ally you intend to protect with bodyguard -- I was just trying to illustrate how Bodyguard and Combat Patrol can work together.

But to answer your question directly: no, an attack on an ally that is not adjacent to you does not trigger the bodyguard feat. Combat Patrol does not change this. Combat Patrol lets you "make attacks of opportunity against any opponent in this threatened area that provokes attacks of opportunity". So Combat Patrol is clear that it is only triggered by an opponent's actions i.e. movements, ranged attacks, casting spells, not the result of his actions on someone else.


I am not discussing the Vanguard line of feats here. I also believe he was using that yerm both specifically for those feats and as a general dictionary definition word.

Nonetheless, I believe we are in agreement on your first paragraph when you stated that you can move when the enemy provokes from movement to arrive adjacent to your ally and use Bodyguard when they get attacked. I never suggested anything else.

With that in mind I'm not sure of how you reached the conclusion you did in your second paragraph.


KingOfAnything wrote:
It doesn't "provoke." Bodyguard doesn't use that language. But yes, now that you are both adjacent to your ally and threatening your enemy, you could spend an attack of opportunity action to Aid Another using Bodyguard.

Pretty much all Attacks of Opportunity are provoked. "Provoked" is just the term for doing some thing that allows someone to make an Attack of Opportunity.


Lune, It looks like you and I are in agreement as well. I think some of the confusion is stemming from your opening question which doesn't state anything about the opponent provoking from moving, just attacking your ally.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Scott Wilhelm wrote:
KingOfAnything wrote:
It doesn't "provoke." Bodyguard doesn't use that language. But yes, now that you are both adjacent to your ally and threatening your enemy, you could spend an attack of opportunity action to Aid Another using Bodyguard.
Pretty much all Attacks of Opportunity are provoked. "Provoked" is just the term for doing some thing that allows someone to make an Attack of Opportunity.

I don't disagree with you. But, I stand on a fine line of distinction. If the wording of any of three different rules elements were subtly different, I would likely have the opposite opinion.

At this point, the argument is moot, though.


Purple Dragon Knight: So if an opponents movement provokes in your Combat Patrol you are able to move adjacent and use Bodyguard when your ally is attacked. Right?


Jayder22 wrote:

Lune, It looks like you and I are in agreement as well. I think some of the confusion is stemming from your opening question which doesn't state anything about the opponent provoking from moving, just attacking your ally.

You might be correct about my wording. I guess I just thought it was obvious from the wording in Combat Patrol. To be fair I have tried to clarify several times.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

Yeah, your original post had "is attacked" as the only provoking action. It read as though you were drastically misinterpreting the feats. (And when I read rules disagreements on the forums, I tend to assume the GM is right unless provably wrong. It's just fair.)

Your additional explanation was much more clear about what you were asking.


So you are on the side of them working together now then with the caveat that there has to be something other than the attack itself provoking? I'm fine with that interpretation because that accomplishes what the character needs to have happen. I do, however, wonder why you limit it to that.

The feat says:

Quote:
Until the beginning of your next turn, you may make attacks of opportunity against any opponent in this threatened area that provokes attacks of opportunity.

It doesn't say that they have to take the attack of opportunity. It just says they have to provoke.

I can understand why that would rub someone the wrong way but remember that you are increasing your threatened area, not your reach. If they do something in your threatened area (that is increased by Combat Patrol) that provokes then you get to make an AoO against them. Ah, but what if they are within your threatened area but not within your reach? Thats ok too because the feat says:

Quote:
You may move as part of these attacks, provided your total movement before your next turn does not exceed your speed.

It doesn't say that you have to move before making these attacks. It doesn't say that you have to move after making these attacks. It says, "You may move as part of these attacks...". That is important wording. It means that you can move to a place where you are both adjacent to your ally, within reach of your enemy and make your attack.

It also is important that it states "attacks" with an "s". So, plural. Meaning you can make more than one. Whether it be via multiple provoking actions (like say from both their movement and attacking your ally due to Bodyguard) or via a Fortuitous weapon, etc. This is important as a character like this who is fighting with a polearm, enlarged and under the effects of Long Arm is going to have a reach with a diameter of 60' (Large size has natural reach of 10', reach extends that to 20', Long Arm increases that by 5'. 25' reach x2 plus the 10' the character takes up=60') and if they have BAB 10 their threatened area is going to extend 10' beyond that. It is not just possible, but likely that when an opponent approaches your ally that they are going to pass through your threatened area (movement provoking an AoO) thus causing you to move to an area where they will have to move through your threatened zone AND your reach thus provoking an AoO from movement. Then when they finally make it to attacking your ally like they wanted to you will get another AoO via Bodyguard.

Sovereign Court

Lune wrote:
Purple Dragon Knight: So if an opponents movement provokes in your Combat Patrol you are able to move adjacent and use Bodyguard when your ally is attacked. Right?

Not quite: you must move to attack as soon as the enemy leaves your *first* threatened square. That means you can only move to a space where you have enough reach to attack the enemy *in the square that right next to the one that triggered the AoO*. If that square is also one that puts you adjacent to an ally, that's great, but it will not always be so.

Basically this means you can't wait to take your AoO until the enemy reaches your ward, i.e. let him cross several of your threatened squares before taking action, because "Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn't count as more than one opportunity for that opponent."


Wait... what? Why are you saying that you can only "move to a space where you have enough reach to attack the enemy *in the square that right next to the one that triggered the AoO*."? That is not in any of the feats being discussed?

Hang on... is this with you assuming that the character possessing these feats does not have reach? He is using a polearm.

1. I agree that you only get to make one attack on the opponent before they reach your ally for them passing through your threatened square. (That may be beyond your reach but withing your threatened area, but being that you can move "as part of" your attack this is largely moot.)

2. I understand that this has to be within reach. (Obviously if you want to make an AoO that is an attack you have to be able to actually attack them.)

3. I also understand that you need to land adjacent to your ally to be able to use Bodyguard when they get there and then try to attack your opponent.

Provided all of these happen then you get to make one attack on the enemy for passing through your threatened square and then you get to use another AoO to buff your ally's AC. Correct?

I understand that you may not be able to always do all of these. Your feat could be glued to the floor preventing movement not allowing you to get to a position to make an attack on the approaching enemy from. Adjacent squares within your movement zone could be occupied preventing you from becoming adjacent to your ally. But, if all 3 things are true then what I say is true as well, right?: 1 attack on the enemy for movement, one AoO to buff your ally's AC via Bodyguard.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games

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It seems that as long as you meet the conditions for the use of each feat at the time it becomes relevant, you should be able to use each of them.

If you start out like this (X is you, Y is your ally, Z is the enemy, each dash is 5 feet, and we'll just assume that the ally starts out within your Combat Patrol radius).

A simple diagram might help.

1. Start:
X-Y--Z
------

2. Enemy moves out of a square you threaten with Combat Patrol:
X-Y-Z-
------

3. This provokes an AoO from you, allowing you to use CP to move up to attack the enemy. You choose to move in such a way that you end up adjacent to your ally when you make your AoO:
--Y-Z-
---X--

4. After your AoO is resolved, your enemy keeps moving up to attack your ally:
--YZ--
---X--

5. The enemy is attacking your ally while you are adjacent to your ally, triggering your Bodyguard feat. Assuming you've got another AoO left, you can use Bodyguard to Aid Another your ally's AC.

The fact that you weren't adjacent to your ally at the beginning of the enemy's turn is irrelevant; you are adjacent when the attack happens, which is all that matters for Bodyguard.

Sovereign Court

Lune wrote:

1. I agree that you only get to make one attack on the opponent before they reach your ally for them passing through your threatened square. (That may be beyond your reach but withing your threatened area, but being that you can move "as part of" your attack this is largely moot.)

2. I understand that this has to be within reach. (Obviously if you want to make an AoO that is an attack you have to be able to actually attack them.)

3. I also understand that you need to land adjacent to your ally to be able to use Bodyguard when they get there and then try to attack your opponent.

Provided all of these happen then you get to make one attack on the enemy for passing through your threatened square and then you get to use another AoO to buff your ally's AC. Correct?

I understand that you may not be able to always do all of these. Your feat could be glued to the floor preventing movement not allowing you to get to a position to make an attack on the approaching enemy from. Adjacent squares within your movement zone could be occupied preventing you from becoming adjacent to your ally. But, if all 3 things are true then what I say is true as well, right?: 1 attack on the enemy for movement, one AoO to buff your ally's AC via Bodyguard.

Yes. If you can reach the enemy from a square adjacent to your ally immediately after the enemy moved from your first threatened square, you're good to go for 2 AoOs.

NOTE: in order to do this, in most cases you'll need to be able to hit the enemy with a reach weapon as he departs your first threatened square AND you'll need to also have something that threatens within 5 feet if he lands adjacent to you and your ally (i.e. reach weapon + armor spikes, for example, or Kyoketsu shoge, which is the ultimate combat patrol weapon IMO, despite the lack of an interesting threat range - but if damage is not your goal, it's awesome)


Ah, I have been away from the boards for a while. Jason, thank you for posting. :) That is about how I had it figured. I honestly never really understood why two feats that are purposefully placed together on an archetype would be made to not work together.

Purple Dragon Knight: Ok. Seems as though we are on the same page here. FYI - in my son's character's situation he will be using a bardiche one handed via Phalanx Soldier and will have a shield in his other hand along with Two Weapon Fighting and Improved Shield Bash. So he will be good with covering his adjacent squares and threatening throughout his reach. Its a very Spartan build.

Also with the advice from this thread he will also be going for the Vanguard Style line of feats. Saving Shield was already part of his build so it is only natural and fits very nicely. ...it will require the buying of another book though.

So, with Jason's post are we all on the same page now?

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