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Would these two allow one to use bodyguard at range? The typical rule is "specific trumps general". But both of these are feats, both change the typical rules for aid another, so neither is really more specific than the other so I'm not quite sure here.
Benefit: 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.
Ranged Aid (base attack bonus +1): You’ve learned to use your mage hand to tug at an opponent’s hair, clothing, and equipment. You can use the aid another action at range, attempting a ranged touch attack instead of a melee attack.
I have that combination on an Alchemist character of mine... not sure if it is totally legit or not, but I thought it would work enough to include it in one of my many Aid Another builds.
And on an Alchemist, you have to go the long way via the Spell Knowledge Discovery... but I needed it for Arcane Strike... which I needed for the Gloves of Arcane Striking, because they are awesome on any Aid Another build.
Ally still has to be adjacent to you, though.
Yep, VM is correct. The ally must still be adjacent to you in order for the Bodyguard feat to function. You could always talk to your GM about allowing it, but don't be surprised if he says no. That's insanely powerful on a Dex-based Combat Reflexes character with 25 + 5/2lvl ft range.
Keep in mind that normally you aid another's AC by targetting an enemy that might attack an ally, and the next ally they attack, the ally gains the AC bonus (effectively penalizing the attack of the enemy); this could still be done with the mage hand trick, even from range to the enemy. But bodyguard lets you target an ally with the aid another and gives them the specific AC bonus on that attack, not the next attack, and thus requires you to be adjacent and not even need to threaten the enemy, since you aren't spending an action with the mage hand.