Can an animal companion "aid another defensively" (granting +2 AC or +2 to hit to its master AND ALSO getting +2 to its own AC)?
No, it is aid ANOTHER so the companion can grant you the bonus but it does not get it for itself.
Aid Another
In melee combat, you can help a friend attack or defend by distracting or interfering with an opponent. If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10. If you succeed, your friend gains either a +2 bonus on his next attack roll against that opponent or a +2 bonus to AC against that opponent's next attack (your choice), as long as that attack comes before the beginning of your next turn. Multiple characters can aid the same friend, and similar bonuses stack.
In this case the "you" is the animal companion and the "friend" is the character.
Edit: Okay, I get it now! You did not mean defensively so that you can give the +2 to the character. You meant to use the Aid Another action defensively to also get +2 to yourself. The answer is still no. There is a fight defensively, but no Aid Another defensively action.
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Hmm. First there's the question of whether anyone can aid another defensively. You can only fight defensively when making an attack, and aiding another uses an attack roll, but is not specifically an attack. I'd probably allow it though.
Second, what trick does your animal know that allows it to:
a. fight defensively in the first place
b. aid another?
I don't see any tricks that let an animal be more sophisticated than things like "attack" and "flank." Even an animal companion with it's Int raised to 3 is limited by the tricks it knows. I suppose you could push it with Handle Animal to get it to do these things.
a. fight defensively: if I can train an animal companion to attack, surely I can train it to always do so defensively?
b. that is a bit tricky, but it could go under "perform": simple tricks to distract the enemy enough for its master to get a bonus to AC or to hit.
Also, consider the Handle Animal skill specifically states:
"Possible tricks (and their associated DCs) include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following"
Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action: You can choose to fight defensively when attacking. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.
If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10.
Fighting defensively says "when attacking" and when you Aid Another you are not attacking. Yes, you make an attack roll but it is against AC 10 and not the AC of the foe so this is not the same and cannot be used together based on how they are written in the rules.
Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action: You can choose to fight defensively when attacking. If you do so, you take a –4 penalty on all attacks in a round to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.If you're in position to make a melee attack on an opponent that is engaging a friend in melee combat, you can attempt to aid your friend as a standard action. You make an attack roll against AC 10.Fighting defensively says "when attacking" and when you Aid Another you are not attacking. Yes, you make an attack roll but it is against AC 10 and not the AC of the foe so this is not the same and cannot be used together based on how they are written in the rules.
Re: aid another, well, perhaps you are not attacking the specific foe but with an "attack" roll I would say you're definitely attacking something... perhaps its square?
You are not attacking, you are aiding another. The game mechanic for aid another uses an attack roll but it is not the same as attacking a foe in my opinion. Others may see them as one and the same but I do not.
You are not attacking, you are aiding another. The game mechanic for aid another uses an attack roll but it is not the same as attacking a foe in my opinion. Others may see them as one and the same but I do not.
Thanks Hendelbolaf but I posted the question in the Rules section hoping to get responses based on RAW and RAI.
"Fighting Defensively as a Standard Action: You can choose to fight defensively when attacking". It doesn't say you have to attack a specific foe, just that you have to attack.Now, if you could point me to the rule that specifically differentiates between attack and attack roll, I think that would be helpful in clarifying the matter a bit more.
I see it as RAW that they are two separate things that cannot be combined hence my earlier statement. One is an attack against a foe and the other is an attack against an AC 10. Not the same thing so no combining of actions.
I see it as RAW that they are two separate things that cannot be combined hence my earlier statement. One is an attack against a foe and the other is an attack against an AC 10. Not the same thing so no combining of actions.
Sorry Hendelbolaf, I still don't understand. Where does RAW say that fighting defensively is an attack "against a foe"? It just says "when attacking" and that doesn't necessarily mean "attacking a foe". There is at least one specific instance where you don't make an attack against a foe's AC but it is still considered an attack:
"Throw Splash Weapon
(...)You can instead target a specific grid intersection. Treat this as a ranged attack against AC 5."
Anyone else's opinion on the subject?