The Aid Another Buffing Halfling

[Kiinyan]

I know of few of these threads are already out there, but I'm adding some abilities I haven't already seen, and so I'm wondering what class combinations would be best. (this is for a PFS character)

In addition to the usual Helpful trait halfling

Spoiler:

Whenever you successfully perform an aid another action, you grant your ally a +4 bonus instead of the normal +2.

and Bodyguard feat

Spoiler:

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.

I have a few questions.

Will the Shadow Lodge trait Aid Allies

Spoiler:

When using the aid another action, you give your ally a +3 bonus instead of a +2 bonus

stack with helpful for a final +5 bonus?

I will most likely add the trip chain to increase my usefulness, as well as the Flagbearer feat.

Spoiler:

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).

Should I stick with Lore Warden, or should I add a few levels of MoMS to get Crane Style/Riposte (Wing won't be as useful since a flag in one hand and a weapon in the other won't leave me a hand free, but the two combined will give me a nice reduction of the fighting defensively penalty, as well as a boost to it)

On Crane Style: Crane Style/Riposte will lower the fighting defensively penalty and more importantly increase the AC bonus. I plan to combine this with Cautious Fighter

Spoiler:

When fighting defensively or using total defense, your dodge bonus to AC increases by 2.

and Blundering Defense

Spoiler:

Whenever you fight defensively or use the total defense action, allies gain a luck bonus to AC and CMD equal to 1/2 the dodge bonus you gain from the action you are taking. Allies only gain this bonus while they are adjacent to you.

.

Other things I have been considering is the first two feats of the Whip Mastery chain as well as the feat Butterfly Sting

Spoiler:

When you confirm a critical hit against a creature, you can choose to forgo the effect of the critical hit and grant a critical hit to the next ally who hits the creature with a melee attack before the start of your next turn. Your attack only deals normal damage, and the next ally automatically confirms the hit as a critical.

In the end, my question is this: Am I trying to do too much? How effective will this be? What should I take, and in what order?

EDIT: After consideration, I think Butterfly Sting will be better used with a better crit range weapon dual-wielding kukris to help out a very powerful x3 or x4 melee ally.

[Kiinyan]

Bump

[Yiroep]

Shadow lodge trait and helpful do not stack, as they both replace the normal +2.

Are you still level 1? I think cavalier is a great class for this build. If you go dual archetype (honor guard/tactician) you can get the bodyguard feat for free at level 3 (from honor guard) and be a drill sergeant at level 4 (from tactician). You can also have your mount aid another, too, and give it bodyguard when it has 3 int. Even more cheese, give it extra traits and give it the adopted trait and have it adopted by halflings (which makes sense, actually...you adopted it ;p). Then you can even bodyguard each others' AC!

Go order of the dragon! The 2nd level ability they get won't help, but their challenge helps other people's AC, and the role-play would be a perfect fit for a shadow lodge aid another build.

Then get benevolent armor for both you and your mount to add to the aid another bonuses, and get yourself a benevolent weapon.

Get swift aid! Aid another action as a swift action, although it'll only be at +1 plus whatever benevolent armor/weapons you have. Give your mount swift aid!

You could then take a couple levels of fighter to get bonus feats and take boon companion to increase the level of your mount up to your level. You could get crane style and blundering defense if you wanted.

The possibilities for this character are just wide open.

[Kiinyan]

Interesting, I hadn't looked at cavalier yet. While I'm pretty sure this isn't the case, it doesn't say the Aid Allies level two ability from order of the dragon has to go to the same ability you're aiding. You could very well give a +4 to attack and then a +3 to AC. But I bet that's not RAI. This looks very interesting, and has probably some more combat effectiveness than my previous idea. Sworn defense still gives me the normal damage bonuses correct?

[Yiroep]

Thought of some more....

Go a level of cleric, get the divine subdomain of the magic domain, and use divine vessel to give your allies extra bonuses. Would be cool if you could figure out a way to cast a level 1 swift action spell on yourself. Liberating command probably won't do it. If you go 3 levels of cleric, you could get the Grace spell to trigger it.

Take a level dip in master of many styles monk? Would get you improved unarmed strike to qualify for crane style, which you could immediately take. You could take two levels and get crane wing as your level 2 feat.

Obviously, you can't do everything above, but these are all options for your character.

[Kiinyan]

The other question then is this: is it worth making this character? Or will a bard with a few of these feats simply outclass it with inspire and spells?

[Yiroep]

I believe sworn defense doesn't change the rest of the challenge ability.

[Yiroep]

Well, a bard will be different. A bard won't have the mount, sworn defense, or the drill sergeant abilities. It also wouldn't have as many feats to do all these different things, but it will have spellcasting which is always a plus, especially things like haste.

....actually, taking a level dip in bard would be great as well in addition to all these.

Take your level dip in bard for the inspire courage, then eventually get Banner of the Ancient Kings to increase your effective inspire courage bard level to 5, giving you +2 inspire courage and increasing your flag bonus to +2. Man, actually, a single level dip in bard with that item is absolutely heinous.

[Yiroep]

If you do go straight bard, I recommend an Aasimar adopted by halflings (hush you people, it's optimal...) and take the alternate racial trait to increase your effective level for inspire courage, and then stacking it with Banner of the Ancient Kings. Then you could have inspire courage +4 at level 9 stacking with your +2 flagbearer bonus. (Only do this if you don't plan to take your character into the Seeker/Retirement arc and beyond, because the Aasimar alternate racial trait loses its effectiveness at those levels)

Really, the decision is yours. I think both options are very viable. The straight bard is more tried-and-true, though.

[Kiinyan]

Thank you for your input, I have a bunch to consider now. Normally I make melee damage dealing characters, so it'll be interesting to rarely actually make a damaging attack. The bard is tried and true, but I think I'll make the cavalier. It looks quite interesting. A pity there's only so many standard actions in a round.

[Fromper]

Also, take a look at the Halfling Opportunist prestige class.

[Yiroep]

And also Golden Legionnaire.

[Yiroep]

I'm having too much fun with this concept...

Let's see, at level 10, if you go cavalier (honor guard/strategist) 6/bard 1/monk (master of many styles) 2/fighter 1, and let's say you have benevolent +2 armor and weapon for you and your mount...

Base saves are:
Fort: +10
Ref: +5
Will: +5

BAB is +8

When you are blundering defense, you give +3 AC to adjacent, plus you give your challenge +1 AC, your bodyguard gives +7 AC, and your mount gives +6 AC (if it is adopted), so that's a total of +17 AC, and that's with AoO's. Add in swift aid to make it +20 AC. That's enough to even have the wizard survive on the front line!

For offense, you give +2 circumstance to an ally for challenge, +2 for inspire courage, +2 for flag, +6 for your aid another and +4 for your mount, which is a total of +16 to attack. If you can do the flanking dance you can increase it by another +2, unless you tacticianed outflank, where it's instead +4. You are probably better spent readying to aid an iterative attack when possible and have your mount aid the first attack (since it doesn't know better). You can also swift aid the first attack for an additional +3.

Edit: Oh yeah, you also have evasion, which is worth mentioning, and your pet has it, too.

[Kiinyan]

This is beautiful. What's the fighter 1 for? Golden Legionnaire looks pretty amazing.

[Yiroep]

Fighter 1 for a bonus feat, basically. Boon companion lets you have 4 levels of other classes while keeping your companion as high as possible. I guess you could replace it with maybe 2 bard to get some minor other bonuses or something, but bonus feats are always good. And there's like a billion feats that work for this build.

Make the build your own. With how many options there are I'm sure you can come up with your own build that you like more than my idea.

[Kiinyan]

No matter what I'm going to have to max out perception. I will also mix Sohei with MoMS to get the always act in surprise round. It costs me nothing, yet gives so much. Surprise round is an extra standard action I need for this build. Thank you again for presenting so many options. I will probably tack on Beast Rider since it costs almost nothing.

[Ravingdork]

If you're taking the Bodyguard feat, you should also get the Benevolent armor enchantment too. It's only +2000gp and adds the armor's enhancement bonus to any aid another attempts made to improve an ally's AC.

[Gwen Smith]

If you wanted to take the level dip in cleric, you can use the Evangelist archetype to get bardic performance.

For a cavalier, consider using a lance as your main weapon (one handed while mounted) and a light shield to threaten the adjacent squares and be able to use Bodyguard out to 10 feet. (Get Improved Shield Bash if you want to keep your AC while you bash with the shield.)

If you go lance and shield, look at Saving Shield to grant +2 shield bonus to an adjacent ally as an immediate action. Unfortunately, Covering Defense doesn't help halflings much, because it only grants cover to allies who are your size or smaller. (Although, if you're in party of halflings and gnomes...)

[Kiinyan]

With the monk levels I won't need to waste a feat on imp shield bash or anything, I can just keep a buckler and still threaten.

EDIT: A buckler will leave my hands open, so I can use crane wing.

[Yiroep]

Kiinyan wrote:

EDIT: A buckler will leave my hands open, so I can use crane wing.

Warning! While this may be true, there are several GMs that will not buy it. So just be warned that you might have table variation with this one.

Gwen Smith wrote:

If you wanted to take the level dip in cleric, you can use the Evangelist archetype to get bardic performance.

Just be warned that it won't work with Banner of the Ancient Kings, because it specifically says bard in the description, at least for the inspire courage anyway.

Gwen Smith wrote:

If you go lance and shield, look at Saving Shield to grant +2 shield bonus to an adjacent ally as an immediate action.

I just warn you to be mindful of all the swift/immediate actions you have, since you only get one per turn combined. Saving shield is a good one, though.

Edit: Also be mindful that flag takes up a whole hand if you're going for that, and banner of the ancient kings requires a longspear wielding in both hands. Want to threaten next to you with a reach weapon? Spiked armor, although that might cause some problems with benevolent. Options, options, options...

[Jaxtile]

My mind exploded reading this thread.
This is 3.5 splat book territory.
But it is awesome.

[Kiinyan]

Yiroep wrote:

Edit: Also be mindful that flag takes up a whole hand if you're going for that, and banner of the ancient kings requires a longspear wielding in both hands. Want to threaten next to you with a reach weapon? Spiked armor, although that might cause some problems with benevolent. Options, options, options...

That's one of the one's I've been worried about. It specified being wielded in two hands, but if cavaliers have literal banners strung up on their backs, can't I put this one there too? It seems quite restricted having to wield it in both hands on a longspear only. I'd prefer a naginata.

[Yiroep]

Kiinyan wrote:

That's one of the one's I've been worried about. It specified being wielded in two hands, but if cavaliers have literal banners strung up on their backs, can't I put this one there too? It seems quite restricted having to wield it in both hands on a longspear only. I'd prefer a naginata.

If it's for society play, it is what it is. Cavalier banners are a whole different thing than the flagbearer feat or banner of the ancient kings as far as RAW is concerned. And the normal flag must be held in hand (as the flagbearer feat).

I have a bard who has flagbearer and flavors it as a drumstick, but you can't really technically use it for anything else.

[Yiroep]

We can also get into the "weird" side of characters by taking a 2 level dip in alchemist to get an extra arm. I'm not sure it's worth it, flavorwise or mechanics wise, though.

[Kiinyan]

I think I'll just end up with the longspear thing. I don't really plan on needing Crane Wing or to actually attack a creature anyways.

[Petty Alchemy]

I had this concept on my Aldori Swordlord halfling, which I changed because my party was mostly mages and flying.

But besides Helpful, I would also suggest Cautious Fighter and Blundering Defense to give adjacent allies a bonus to AC when you fight defensively, as well as Crane Style/Wing (to increase your own defenses as well as what you share). If you dipped Master of Many Styles to get the Crane feats quickly, you could also consider Archon Style.

[Felidaeus01]

I've put a similar character together for a campaign i'm in. I'm still playing on how he'll evolve, but I love the idea so much. I got my first playtest with him last week.

The DM threatened to ban it after the first combat.

AT LEVEL 1.

At level 1, I took:

Sensei, Ki mystic, and Qinggong Monk
Favored Class into Monk:Skills.

Feats: Combat Reflexes (bonus)
Bodyguard

Traits: Helpful
Fools for Friends

I dumped strength and charisma and pumped wisdom and dex since I don't care about damage, and at level 2 i'll get wisdom to hit.

The result. a 16 dex and an 18 wis.

The first fight went like this:
DM: I attack:
Me, I rolled AC 10, he gets +5 ac.
DM: I get an 18.
Player: I'm at 22 now.
DM: Fine, I attack someone else
Me: I roll AC 10 he gets +5 ac
DM: You can KEEP DOING THAT? HOLY HELL

...

Dm: Roll perception
Me: I take 10 for a 21
Dm: .....

...

DM: Roll to disable the trap
Rogue: I fail by 5
DM: AHA! The trap goes off!
Me: I aid for 5
DM: I swear to god I will ban that character.

At level 6, with sensei and ki mystic, and the plan to get swift aid and +1 benevolent items by that point, I will give allies:
One reroll on a save or attack a turn
+6 to AC as an Opportunity attack
+10 to AC as a full round action (+6 aid, +4 swift ki AC)
+20 to an attack as a standard action (true strike)
+6 to attack as a standard action
+3 to 4 AC as a swift action
+3 to the next attack as a swift action
+4 to ac as a swift action
+11 to pretty much every skill check as a full round action (take 1 rank in EVERYTHING!) (+5 aid, +4 ki, + 2 competence)
+3 to AC (barkskin)
+20 to movement as a swift action
+2 to Attack and Damage as a free action to all allies

And it only gets better, as I'll add blundering defense, and flag bearer, etc. I'm going to try to convince everyone to take the "use an adjacent ally's saving throw" teamwork feat to help with the desire to cluster around the halfling.

Also, since I'm a monk: stunning fist support!

It's so much fun. SOO much fun. I've never had so much fun as a first level character. the 2 handed power attacking fighter was literally in love with me. He could only miss on a 3 against most monsters.

By the way, since you're going the crane style route, you might want to check out the draconic defender. It's AMAZING when you pump your defensive fighting. The only reason I'm not using it is because: barkskin.

Some more cheese I considered. At level 3, a brood master summoner could take combat reflexes and bodyguard, and give his 2 summons the extra trait feats for: adopted: helpful, and fools for friends. Bam, 3 mobile aid another batteries, each giving +5s.

[Veldebrand]

Yiroep wrote:

When you are blundering defense, you give +3 AC to adjacent, plus you give your challenge +1 AC, your bodyguard gives +7 AC, and your mount gives +6 AC (if it is adopted), so that's a total of +17 AC, and that's with AoO's. Add in swift aid to make it +20 AC. That's enough to even have the wizard survive on the front line!

For offense, you give +2 circumstance to an ally for challenge, +2 for inspire courage, +2 for flag, +6 for your aid another and +4 for your mount, which is a total of +16 to attack. If you can do the flanking dance you can increase it by another +2, unless you tacticianed outflank, where it's instead +4. You are probably better spent readying to aid an iterative attack when possible and have your mount aid the first attack (since it doesn't know better). You can also swift aid the first attack for an additional +3.

Edit: Oh yeah, you also have evasion, which is worth mentioning, and your pet has it, too.

How are you getting a +3 bonus from Swift Aid (defensively)?

Does it stack with the bodyguard? A more specific question might be, does Aid Another from the same character stack with itself? As in, if you use a Standard Action to Aid another, Bodyguard to Aid another, and Swift Aid to Aid another.

Can you break down the offensive bonuses a bit more?

EDIT::

Swift Aid wrote:

Benefit: As a swift action, you can attempt the aid another action, granting your ally either a +1 bonus on his next attack roll or a +1 bonus to his AC.

I suppose that Swift Aid is an "Aid Another" action, but slightly modified. So Helpful won't work (it's base is not +2, so it can't change it to +4), but wouldn't the Cav - Honor Guard 3rd level Intercept ability work on it to raise the AC bonus +1 (total of +2 AC), then the benevolent Armor bonus add +2 (now a total of +4 AC total).

Offensively the Swift Aid will get base +1, then +2 from benevolent weapon?

[cartmanbeck]

Yiroep wrote:

We can also get into the "weird" side of characters by taking a 2 level dip in alchemist to get an extra arm. I'm not sure it's worth it, flavorwise or mechanics wise, though.

OK Yiroep, I'm working on putting all of the ideas you guys came up with into a cohesive build. Tell me if I'm missing anything:

Halfling
Trait: Helpful
Level 1: Cavalier 1 (Strategist/Honor Guard), Bonded Mount (wolf) with the Bodyguard companion archetype, Order of the Paw
Level 1 Feat: Cautious Fighter
Level 2: Cavalier 2
Level 3: Cavalier 3, free Bodyguard feat
Level 3 Feat: Combat Expertise
Level 4: Bard 1 for Inspire Courage
Level 5: Monk 1 (Master of Many Styles): Bonus style feat (Crane Style)
Level 5 Feat: Boon Companion
Level 6: Monk 2: Bonus style feat (Crane Wing)
Level 7: Fighter 1, Bonus feat (Defensive Combat Training)
Level 7 Feat: Blundering Defense
Level 8: Cavalier 4, Drill Instructor
Level 9: Cavalier 5, Banner
Level 9 Feat: ??
Level 10: Halfling Opportunist 1, Excellent Aid +1
Level 11: Halfling Opportunist 2
Level 11 Feat: ??
Level 12: Halfling Opportunist 3, Excellent Aid +2

By my count, I'll be adding +6 Dodge AC to an adjacent ally, my mount will be adding +2 Dodge AC (more if I can add to his Int and give him Extra Traits (Adopted) and then give him the halfling feats. I'll also be giving several other stacking bonuses with Inspire Courage, Banner, Drill Instructor, etc. What should I use for the level 9 and 11 feats? (this will be a PFS character so there isn't much sense in planning higher than 12 right now).

[VRMH]

Gwen Smith wrote:

Unfortunately, Covering Defense doesn't help halflings much, because it only grants cover to allies who are your size or smaller.

Unless it's used with the Self-Sacrifice trait.