Sadly there is almost no 'RAW' method to make a Cohort, or even a PC+Cohort, that will protect you against a DM/GM that is utterly determined to shank you hard.
Thus far the consensus seems to be split between A) Making a Cohort that will compensate for the Wizard's 'weakness', low hit-points and melee combat or B) A Cohort that will make the Wizard even more powerful in his niche as a spellcaster.
Personally, I recommend A since I enjoy well-rounded characters, and a Cohort of such nature would enable me to spread a bit of love towards being more focused rather than being an all-rounder, while still being able to support the Party as you would before.
On the other hand, the 'Enhancer' Cohort can work miracles in giving the Wizard the additional 'Punch' to one-two just about everything in the game. Hell, the Wizard could be the Enhancer and the Cohort could be the Killer, in some combinations, with the Wizard and Cohort piling their abilities together into a impossibly lethal attack.
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There is such a thing as being _too_ safe.LIES! SLANDER! Well, at least in the games I've been a player...
I had a character once who slept in a rope trick, had scent, could see magical auras constantly (permanent arcane sight), something like +20 to perception, had a magic item with toggle-able silence active, was invisible and scentless (pass without trace) AND was stealthing with something around +25 bonus (before invisibility). He got gorked as soon as his feet touched the ground one morning by modified invisible stalkers (naturally invisible doesn't show up under arcane sight) that had blindsense, sneak attack dice and a pass without trace SLA. They had evidently been waiting for me all night under the rope trick. I had one of the two negative levels from raise dead with me for around the next 4 sessions because of lack of funds.
Made me wonder if I had accidentally eaten the DM's cat or something.PS: I went and got "see invisibility" made permanent after that fiasco. Oddly my character was the only one to survive that campaign. Go figure.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that he also had an amulet of nondetection.
See, that's exactly what I mean. You lock yourself up in an airtight box like that and you practically beg the GM to send in the airtight box safecrackers. But if you just take normal, reasonable precautions, you'll usually be safe.
I was running a game in which one PC just built himself a castle and refused to leave. So I dropped a couple thermonuclear bombs on it.
Adventurers can not go adventuring while still holding onto their security blanket.
No, he killed the other players too, he just didn't have to go as far. Luckily we didn't all die at the same time.
One player was gorked by a regular rogue while he was out at a bar, another opened a library book to find a symbol of death, a third was killed by that same rogue while he slept and a (failed) attempt on me by some unidentified creature using force effects from the ethereal plane. Luckily we had allies, so everyone got revived.That attempt on me was the only one that failed, hence the later one (DM wanted it to be fair?). After the first round of attempts I used my wealth to make several "you can't find me!" magic items (namely invisibility, pass without trace, silence) that could be toggled with command words. Being a deaf oracle I could leave the silence going in most cases and not care, and I *always* had the pass without trace on. I started sleeping in a rope trick while invisible, scentless and silent. I got permanent arcane sight. I got an amulet of nondetection. I basically did everything I could to prevent further assassination attempts without removing my ability to adventure, but I got hit anyway.
So yes, when it comes down to it, HalfOrcHeavyMetal is right. If the DM wants you dead, you die. Mine was an extreme example of "Hey DM, I'm spending everything to avoid dying" and the DM saying "Doesn't matter, you have to."
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 8
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I say go monk, strait monk, for several reasons, one of which I think we haven't discussed enough: role-play
A monk would be a great foil for a wizard. Most monks will have a high wisdom, and while Wizards aren't precluded from having a high wisdom, they're obviously big on intelligence. I can imagine such characters having totally different perspectives on things that would be almost like a Watson and Holmes dynamic. This could be expanded based on the Monk's need to be lawful as well since the wizard could also be opposed on the law/chaos access as well.
In mechanics terms too, I think Monk is a strong choice.
-Good odds for a high initiative
-Always has a weapon drawn
-Can attack during a grapple and be just as effective out of one
-Evasion, great saves and spell resistance allow the wizard to actually blanket foes with area effect spells while the monk can possibly stay out of harm's way
-Stunning fist and a high mobility allows the monk to stun an opponent and get out of the way of the wizard's blast spells in the same round.
-Against opposing spell-casters, Monk's have my FAVORITE attack: ready dimension door for when the caster casts. What wizard cast's defensively when their opponent is far away? If you dimension door as they cast, you show up next to them as they're casting and they provoke. You stand a good chance of interrupting their spell from either damage or stunning fist.
I think there were a lot of good suggestions, but I think that Monk goes REALLY well.
-QGJ
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My only issue with the monk as a bodyguard (read cohort) is the level of complication it places with one player. A wizard has a fairly complex set of actions to choose from in combat (spells and whatnot). Add to that keeping track of ki pool, combat maneuvers and other interesting but sometimes complex class skills, and you end up with a potential for one player dominating a lot of table time. Things can really get bogged down if the wizard is also a summoner (small "s").
My personal preference is to keep it as simple as possible for ease of use and fairness to the other people at the table. Just IMO, YMMV.
A Half Elf Cleric/Rogue.
Well, actually a Barbarian 1 / Cleric 4 / Rogue 8 with the +3 skill bonus in perception, just to keep an eye out for the bad guys. With a attribute ranking of str>wis>dex>con>int>chr you would have a guy with pretty good saves, a decent bab (+10 at 13th), decent hit points (barbarian at 1st). He would also be able to do a fair bit of damage with a two hander and could flank with your summoned monsters if need be. Best of all, he could heal your sorry butt if you needed it.
I'd pick trickery and liberation for the domains. Trickery because I like the copycat ability for melee and liberation because I don't want my bodyguard in a position where he can't help me out. Although I don't know what sort of diety would have those two domains. Maybe the patron saint of escape artists.
I had a PC once who was a monk with a level of Wizard. She styled herself as a bodyguard. Advantage of the level of Wizard was the ability to read scrolls, which she had a well-stocked selection.