Holy Tactician "Weal's Champion"

[Puna'chong]

Is the second part of "Weal's Champion" for the Holy Tactician always active, or only during the rounds that the Holy Tactician is using Weal's Champion?

Spoiler:

In addition, for 1 round after the holy tactician successfully strikes an evil creature, all non-evil allies within 30 feet of her gain a competence bonus on attack rolls equal to 1/2 her Charisma bonus against that creature as well as a +1 competence bonus on damage rolls. The bonus on damage rolls increases by +1 for every five levels the holy tactician attains (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level). She can grant this bonus against more than one creature at a time. To gain this benefit, the holy tactician's allies must be able to see or hear her, and she must be conscious.

It's just set up as a second part on the ability, and I can't find anything regarding this. The wording is just throwing me off a bit and one of my players insists that it's a permanent ability, which could be supported by the fact that this half of the ability doesn't say "In addition, while Weal's Champion is active..."

Thanks!

[Dieben]

It is implied that the strikes that are boosting party damage are those that occur during each use of Weal's Champion.

The reasoning that "it must be permanent since it doesn't say it isn't", would only be plausible had the text in question been in a separate paragraph. The entirety of this ability, appears to be intended to be a very temporary effect. The "In addition," is referring to the bonuses granted during the ability that were exclusive to the user.

E.G.: When this ability is active, you receive X bonus to attack and Y bonus to damage. In addition, after you successfully do [task], your allies gain W bonus to attack and Z bonus to damage.

Alternative thought: Just looked at Smite Evil, which Weal's Champion replaces, and it gives a bonus that lasts until either the death of the target or the regain of daily ability uses. It is possible that this communal bonus is intended to be essentially a micro-smite evil to all nearby allies. This would mean that the bonuses to the user are much shorter than the allies'. Such a disparity in duration is highly unusual. While I am inclined to believe my first interpretation is more probable, I will FAQ nonetheless as this alternative intrigues me.

[Puna'chong]

Thanks! That's what I thought at first glance, as well, and it would make the most sense. However, there are some abilities that have multiple effects tacked on to one heading (like Lore Master) and the wording here does seem seem like it could potentially go either way. My player is also trying to support his position by saying that the ability wouldn't be all that great of an alternative if the second part weren't a permanent thing. Although this argument in particular doesn't hold much water (there are plenty of fairly useless or sub-par archetypes) it does make me wonder whether the intended effect could be that the paladin him/herself gets a worse version of Smite Evil for themselves in return for granting bonuses to allies on a regular basis.

Ultimate Combat also has some other strange editing deals elsewhere in the book, and that fact is also making me consider both sides more than I normally would. I haven't seen this one brought up, which makes me think I might be missing something, but my player is pretty smart and has about as much system mastery as I do which is making me question my judgment.

Addendum: Weal's Wrath makes me think that I'm right about the duration:

Spoiler:

At 11th level, a tactician can expend two uses of her weal’s champion ability at once to enhance its effects. This functions as weal’s champion, except the bonus she provides to her allies lasts until each creature she strikes is slain, her weal’s champion ability expires, or the paladin herself is slain or knocked unconscious, whichever happens first.

[Dieben]

I missed Weal's Wrath. The bold text confirms the temporary interpretation.

I believe the reason that Weal's Champion is lackluster for a full 10 levels is that it balances the amazing all-day aura of teamwork that you're getting at level 3. Battlefield Presence is on par with some classes' 20th level powers and is superior to virtually all other methods that grant allies teamwork feats.

[Puna'chong]

That's true. Basically giving everyone within 30ft of you up to 5 bonus feats is pretty good, although the idea that the paladin hitting an enemy to sort of "mark" it for their teammates sounds like it'd fit perfectly into this archetype. Stronger but more limited party inspire.