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I've seen the Aid-Another build posted in a number of places. This is my take on it.
The goal of the build is to be a tank by making it futile to attack your allies. The core of the build is based around using the bodyguard feat in conjunction with the helpful trait to give your allies +4 or more AC when they are beside you. The best part of the build is that it is extraordinary flexible and can be stacked on top of many different chassis.
For my sample, I will use the Eldritch Guardian fighter archetype to cover this build's main weakness: its own AC.
Tanky Thomas, Level 1 Human Eldritch Guardian
(20 point buy)
Strength 17 (+2 racial)
Dexterity 15
Constitution 14
Intelligence 13
Wisdom 12
Charisma 7
Traits: Adopted -> Helpful
Kin Guardian
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Bodyguard
Familiar: Andy the Armadillo (+1 AC) with Protector Archetype
With Scale mail and a heavy shield Thomas has a 20 AC, which is respectable. With his familiar protecting him, he has 22 ac. Three times per round, Thomas can attempt to deflect an attack against an ally by aiding another and granting them +4AC (+6 AC for people who are "like family"). Most importantly, this does not take any of Thomas's actions for the round, so he can happily attack with his longsword for 1d8+3, or use aid another to give a beefier ally +4 to hit.
At the beginning of his adventure with new comrades he probably does not get a benefit from his kin guardian trait, but after he saves the lives of his party members a few times they will become like family.
A quick note: if you read bodyguard strictly according to the written text, you need to be able to reach the attacker and be adjacent to your ally. However, the creator of the feat has said that you should not need to threaten the attacker. If your GM agrees with this interpretation, take a mauler familiar instead, as at level 2, you will share your combat reflexes and bodyguard feat and your familiar will be able to guard you just like a protector, but will have the ability to mix it up in combat eventually.
As he levels, Thomas becomes even more versatile:
1 - Fighter 1 - Combat Reflexes, Bodyguard, Familiar
2 - Fighter 2 - Share Training
3 - Beast-Bonded Witch 1 - (Additional Traits)
Level three is where the trickery happens. We take a level of Beast-Bonded witch and use the Transfer Feats ability to teach our familiar the Helpful and Kin-Guardian traits. This means that our little armadillo can add +6 AC to Thomas or a close ally while aiding another. The circle is now closed and everyone in your party has +6 AC. But wait! There is more! You get a hex too! You can take Fortune, so that you can buff allies when attacking is inconvenient. The best part, is that if you took a mauler familiar or a small familiar, you can now have it aid allies on attacks and grant them a +4 to hit.
4 - Fighter 3 - Armor Training 1
5 - Fighter 4 - Combat Expertise, Intercept Charge
6- Fighter 5 - Weapon Training 1
7 - Honor-Guard Cavalier 1 - Tactician (Harrying Partners), Practiced Tactician
At this point, enemy attack rolls are getting high, and they are making many attacks, maybe your attacks of opportunity cant keep up? Enter Harrying Partners! Now you can spend one attack of opportunity to grant allies AC for a whole turn. But how much AC are we granting? At this point, Thomas can afford to buy +2 Benevolent Armor. Ideally, his familiar would also wear the same type of armor. This makes Thomas' aid-another add +8 AC.
Two more levels of honor-guard cavalier will net you another +1 to your aid another bonus and let you retrain your level 1 bodyguard feat into something else. For your next feat, you could take Swift Aid if you don't mind figuring out how it interacts with your huge aid-another bonus. A strict reading would give you the full bonus, as helpful specifically sets your bonus. If I were GMing i would just say that swift aid lets you apply half your bonus.
This is the core of my aid build. To build on it, you should also look into some of the cheaper aid-another magic items. The true-love locket will give you another +1 to the AC and attack bonus you grant. At higher levels, a ring of tactical precision will let an ally buy harrying partner or intercept charge for 11,000gp. An alternative interpretation of the build might use Covering Fire to aid another with a bow. That way, you could stand safely behind your allies and aid from there.
Geez. I'm not familiar enough with Pathfinder to tactically create a character like this (I prefer characters to just happen naturally anyways), but this is pretty ridiculous and awesome. Have fun destroying everything :D
Three times per round, Thomas can attempt to deflect an attack against an ally by aiding another and granting them +4AC (+6 AC for people who are "like family").
The Kin Guardian trait states "a member of your family"; isn't it a bit of a stretch to say the bonus also applies to anyone who is "like" family?
I was thinking that with Bodyguard, you do have to reach your opponent,
This part of the Bodyguard feat is being debated, and a FAQ is pending. The author of the feat has said that you don't need to reach the attacker in order to use aid another.
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I had a similiar build awhile ago for PFS, he would do nothing but full defense.
Levels where: Lore Warden Fighter 2(F), Master of many styles 2(M) Honor Guard Cavalier(Order of the Paw)(C)3, Crusader Cleric 1(CC), Community Guardian Oracle 1(Tongues Curse)(O)
Level Prgression was: F>M>F>M>C>C>CC>C>O
Feats:
1:Cautious Fighter
F1:Blundering Defense
M1:Crane Style
F2:Archon Style
F2:Combat Expertese
3:Shield Focus
M2:Crane Wing
5:Boon Companion
C1: Paired Opportunist
CC1: Saving Shield
7: Archon Diversion
C3: BodyGuard
Traits: Helpful Halfling/Cautious Warrior
Before the more recent Crane Wing Errata, where it added a bonus to full defense or fighting defensivly,
you would gain 3+2+2+1=+8 when fighting defensivly, or +10 when full defensing, which gives half that bonus to all adjacent allys. Next, with Archon Diversion, as a move action, you take a penalty to ac, to give others a bonus to ac. With your crazy high defense yourself, they usually need a nat 20 to hit you, and if they do roll that nat 20, you can deflect it with crane wing, causing it to miss anyways.
Your Pet(Dog or wolf, your choice, you will always be riding, and he was the bodyguard archetype. His Feats where Combat reflexes, Bodyguard, Additional Traits(Adopted:Helpful Halfling, Cautious Warrior)
He would aid others nearby, while I would do the same, and as I would always be riding him, he would get the passive Bonuses from ac a majority of the time.
2nd level of Cavailer gives you the ability to allow people to reroll saves, which is a +,
your real item is the Ring of tactical precision, to give your Paired Opportunist to allys without spending an action to do so. Archon Diversion causes an Aoo for the ally your protect with it, so Aoos for everybody!
Math Time :)
Total Defense Aura: +5
Saving Shield: +2
Archon Style: +2
Bodyguard: +4
Pet Bodyguard: +4
Total: +17 To AC, Ability to redirect one attack to yourself and causing an aoo for that ally, Reroll saves 1/day/save for everyone. Ability to give people stupid amounts to skills thanks to Community Guardian Oracle, your own saves are crazy high due to the multiclassing and everyone would want to have your babys(Jk, but they do want to be next to you)
Con: You do no damage. Literally. with the way how i built my character, he did 1d4-3 points of damage.
My only concern is that if the whole party has +8 to AC, the GM might just boost every attack by +8 to compensate.
Something you might want to discuss with your GM.
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I'll go ahead and point out that a lot of GMs will rule that Kin Guardian won't apply to party members. It's an extremely niche trait that, while amazing, can't properly apply to a lot of games unless you specifically create them that way.
For more shenanigans, I'd find a way to acquire Arcane Strike as a feat, and then purchase Gloves of Arcane Striking, for even more Aiding goodness.
Also see this thread. Also see this build proto-guide, but also see this counter-post (linked separately because it isn't in the same thread).
Level three is where the trickery happens. We take a level of Beast-Bonded witch and use the Transfer Feats ability to teach our familiar the Helpful and Kin-Guardian traits.
Wait, who in the family porked a dillo? Did you adopt the family pet?
This build is super fun. Depending on how you read the Cavalier Order of the Dragon 2nd level ability, you could push another +3 onto your aid another bonus.
I read it as setting the bonus same as Helpful and thus being overruled by Helpful. I will say that unlike Helpful the undefined bonus means it should definitely work with Swift Aid. If you don't mind a -1 AC overall it could be fun to start life as an Honor Guard. If you stick with Honor Guard it will even make up the difference eventually.
If your reading is right, that ability is OP as all hell.
I really love Covering Fire, but the tough part there is sharing the feat with everyone. I've used Bard trickeration to accomplish that. There's both a 3rd level spell and a masterpiece that can share teamwork feats.
Technically you don't need other people to have Covering Fire. It works for one person against one target for free. Which would be terribly difficult guess work your opponents could play around if it weren't for the fact Bodyguard lets you do it as an Attack of Opportunity. So, basically you can ignore that it is technically a teamwork feat.
The problem with Covering Fire is really just ammo and the ranged attack roll. Otherwise it's pretty fantastic. I would say it's probably best at the end of the build because of the drawbacks, but it makes us more reliable once we get that far.
If you can't convince everyone to join your family, you can take Cooperative Combatant to make Covering Fire more reliable.
What about a Halfling UnRogue using that new casting archetype, Gloves of Arcane Striking, and the Halfling Opportunist class? Become an AoO machine and have allies take the feats needed to qualify for Harrying Partners because teamwork feats are amazing! You can get Exotic Weapon Proficiency early to use the Elven Branch Spear for reach tactics, get dex-to-damage and tons of AoOs, and your Aid bonus starts at +4 and ends at +8 (you can get CL 16 with a trait). That's without tons of multiclassing, dealing with the additional action economy of a familiar, or even purchasing items. Plus with enough levels you get Sneak Attack on your AoOs to further hamper enemy accuracy!
^Problem with that archetype (Eldritch Scoundrel) is that since it is a spellcaster, and you need all 5 levels of Halfling Opportunist to make that be really good, you will be losing 5 caster levels (3 if you have Magical Knack), and 5 levels of the already slow spellcasting progression (and Magical Knack doesn't make up for that). Better to use a Rogue or Ninja archetype that doesn't cast spells if you want to go Halfling Opportunist -- that way, you have a lot less to lose.