Flagbearer and using the flag as an improvised weapon

[Gingerbreadman]

The flagbearer feat buffs you and your group while you carry a flag into battle. Would it still do that is you used it as an improvised weapon?
Would it depend on what you do with this improvised weapon? I see three main ways of using it:

1) Use it as your main weapon to attack with it
2) Use it only to threaten squares around you but seldom use it to attack
3) Use it with the improvised defence trait to gain a shield bonus to AC.

I'd use it with either or both of the below traits

Flagbearer:

Prerequisites: Cha 15.

Benefit: As long as you hold your clan, house, or party’s flag, members of that allegiance within 30 feet who can see the flag (including yourself ) gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saving throws against fear and charm effects. You must hold the flag in one hand in order to grant this bonus. If the standard is taken by the enemy or destroyed, this bonus becomes a penalty, affecting all creatures that the bonus previously affected for 1 hour (or until you reclaim the lost flag).

Flag

A flag is a colorful banner that bears the heraldry or symbol of a nation or organization. A character with the Flagbearer feat who bears a flag can grant additional combat bonuses to nearby allies. Carrying a flag in combat requires a free hand.

Improvised Defense :

You're never defenseless, even when you are caught off guard.

Benefit(s): Whenever you wield an improvised weapon, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC. If you use the improvised weapon to attack, you lose this shield bonus until the beginning of your next turn.

Rough and Ready:

Your intense familiarity with the tools of your trade allows you to use them in combat as if they were actual weapons and makes them more effective for that purpose than they would normally be.

Benefit: When you use a tool of your trade (requiring at least 1 rank in the appropriate Craft or Profession skill) as a weapon, you do not take the improvised weapon penalty and instead receive a +1 trait bonus on your attack. This trait is commonly used with shovels, picks, blacksmith hammers, and other sturdy tools — lutes and brooms make terribly fragile weapons.

For rough and ready I could see me using the profession: sailor skill, because sailors often use flags for communication.

[Better_with_Bacon]

Just look at Hilde
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080303063536/soulcalibur/images/a/a4/H ildeSC4.jpg

This all seems super viable to me.

Very Respectfully,
--Bacon

[TheWiz]

Is there a ruling about whether or not Flagbearer works attached to a longspear? I always thought that was the whole point ...

[Gingerbreadman]

TheWiz wrote:

Is there a ruling about whether or not Flagbearer works attached to a longspear? I always thought that was the whole point ...

From the wording it reads as if it would not work because it states that you need a free hand for the flag.

But there is a magical item, the banner of the ancient kings or such, that increases the bonuses from flagbearer (and/or inspire courage) which can be mounted on a quarterstaff, longspear and the like. But that item only works while the weapon it is mounted on is firmly gripped with two hands.

@Better with bacon: thanks for the input.

[Kazumetsa Raijin]

I would think a Flag would be like using a Staff or Quarterstaff, though as an Improvised Weapon. I really like the idea of this, as being beaten with your opponents flag is both funny and quite demoralizing. I've played enough Halo to know how that feels Q_Q

This seems like a legit RAW combo. DO IT! -and let me know of the results of your campaign :) Even if this somehow isn't RAW legal, I couldn't foresee any DM saying no to it.

[Gingerbreadman]

Kazumetsa Raijin wrote:

This seems like a legit RAW combo. DO IT! -and let me know of the results of your campaign :)

I fear there will not be results any time soon. It's just for a dragon herald concept I have. But I sadly have no game to play it in.

As I would give him flagbearer anyways I'd like to get some additional benefit from carrying around the flag. Seemed somehow fitting for a dragon herald to always bear a flag with his dragon lord's image/symbol/name on it.

I think I wouldn't use it for attacking very often but to give me a shield bonus an to be able to threaten.

[RedDogMT]

A flag would not work well at all as a weapon. The flag would act like a sail too often. I would give it a -4 To Hit due to the difficulty wielding it and would not allow the banner bonus, even if it did have a spear tip..

The point of a banner is for your allies to see it held high so that it will inspire courage. They should be able to see the crest/emblem/etc.

[Rerednaw]

Kind of a dead thread, but hope this helps. From the Ultimate Equipment guide:

PRD wrote:

BANNER
Price 1–20 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
This is a banner, flag, or pennant. You tie it to a pole, lance, or polearm. Most are woven, dyed, or painted with a pattern or symbol, such as a knight's crest or a country's flag. A simple banner with one field color and a simple insignia such as a weapon or shield costs 1 gp. A banner with two to four field colors and a complex insignia such as a lion or dragon costs 5 gp. A detailed banner with four or more field colors and a very complex insignia, such as a heraldic device with eight or more sections, costs 20 gp.

Nowhere in the entry does it say that tying the flag to the weapon disables or impacts weapon use.