Hey all. I need to throw together a long-term npc who will act as a bodyguard for a PC. He'll be eighth level. I'm looking at either Paladin or some mix of Paladin/fighter.
Backstory: One of the PCs has come across a reknowned demon-slaying sword and used it to great effect over the previous campaign. The weapon has such a history that it is a "kill bearer on sight" flag for evil outsiders. However, the PC is a magus and while he can fight, he hasn't really figured himself out completely yet.
Well now that enough people have seen him with it and it's made enough of an impact (it was used to kill a named balor), churches have noticed him, too. As such, six months down the road from it's last public usage, a paladin has been placed under a quest to gain the sword by noble means.
He will be presenting himself to Vassel (the magus pc) and offering to serve as a protector and counsel for one year and one day. At the end of such time, Vassel should decide if this paladin is a more worthy bearer of the responsibilities connected to the blade. As a DM, I don't really care either way what he decides then. It's also quite possible (maybe even likely) that this NPC will get killed before then. It's more that I want Vassel to understand the seriousness of having this sword.
So, I want him to be useful and I really need good feat selection to make him an obvious help to Vassel. I was intending to take improved bull rush and find some feat or class ability that will let him take hits for another person. That way, if the two are fighting something out of Vassel's league, he can throw Vassel out of the fight and take any AoOs that such an action would provoke on Vassel.
I think one of the new Paladin Oaths in Ultimate Magic might do exactly what your looking for, guardian/bodyguard wise.
Edit: It is the Oath of Loyalty. Great for body guard/protection work.