Banner of the Ancient Kings

[Mechanical Pear]

I can mount this on a pole. Do I physically have to be wielding it in one hand to receive +4 effective bard level, or can the pole be strapped for my back, or my mount's saddle? I realize I won't receive the full benefit of the item, but I'm wondering if I'll get that.

"A bard who carries a longspear or pole to which a banner of the ancient kings has been attached is treated as four levels higher than his actual bard level for the purposes of determining the bonuses granted by his inspire courage bardic performance ability."

"Carries" being the key phrase. It cannot be mounted, it has to be carried by hand, correct?

[VoodistMonk]

Yeah, as far as I know, it must be carried in hand(s)... not attached or otherwise mounted, but wielded.

[Mechanical Pear]

That's how I feel, too. I just wonder if there is any precedent or "loophole" to get around, as I'm wanting to make an archer bard.

And by, loophole, I don't mean cheese. I don't care if you can make a longbow/longspear hybrid, and "technically" still use the longbow, cause there aren't any rules that say you can't fly a massive banner on it and still use it.

I mean, something realistic.

[VoodistMonk]

I was originally hoping that the Banner ability would allow it to be worn on the back, like a real samurai's sashimoto was worn on their back. But I can't find any such item or ability, or haven't yet.

[Pizza Lord]

Well, in earlier additions, it was typically allowed that you could fly a banner from a back frame or backpack frame.

Banner of the Storm's Eye; Magic Item Compendium wrote:

Alternatively, you can mount the banner on a backpack frame to leave your hands free. The backpack frame costs 5 gp and weighs 10 pounds. While so mounted, the banner occupies your shoulders body slot.

So that might give you some leeway with a GM about a backpack frame and it taking up a slot, so it's not necessarily free.

Otherwise, some Pathfinder banners:

Lord's Banner wrote:

A lord’s banner is a cloth flag or standard, typically at least 2 feet wide and 4 feet long (though some are up to twice that size), meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff. It has no effect when not mounted properly or when laying on the ground.

Knight's banner has the same wording as lord's banner.

Champion's Banner wrote:

A champion’s banner is a cloth flag or standard (typically 2 feet wide and 4 feet long) meant to be carried and displayed on a lance, polearm, frame, or staff. It has no effect unless it is mounted properly and a wielder is carrying the object bearing it.

Commander's Banner has the same wording as champion's banner.

So I think that most GMs would likely rule that a frame is appropriate for most banners of the type that the banner of the ancient kings would be.

This should probably be a safe bet unless the banner clearly specifies something else or gives a whole different image to the idea of a battle standard meant to be carried into combat, such as the banner of restful nights or the banner of piracy which are meant to be planted into the ground or placed upon a ship's mast respectively; or the banner of The Scarlet Rose, which must specifically be held in one hand by a woman.

Banner of The Scarlet Rose wrote:

To grant any benefit, a banner of the Scarlet Rose must be held firmly in one hand by a woman.

[Warped Savant]

"When carried into battle, a banner of the ancient kings confers several benefits. As long as the longspear or pole to which the banner is attached is firmly wielded in two hands, its carrier gains..."
"In addition, when so wielded, it grants the wielder and all allies within 30 feet..."
"If the carrier of the banner fails a saving throw... once he releases his firm grip on the banner’s haft, though, he no longer gets this benefit..."
"A bard who carries a longspear or pole to which a banner of the ancient kings has been attached is treated as four levels higher...."

The first two explicitly state that you have to be holding it in your hands, the third calls the character 'the carrier' and says that if you let go you don't get the benefit, the forth refers to someone 'who carries' it as getting the benefit.

[AwesomenessDog]

Carried and wielded are the operative words. You can carry it on your shoulder without wielding it firmly in two hands, in fact even the last benefit basically says "any pole" and the aforementioned japanese style samurai banners would so qualify as a pole. When we look at the ability for cavalier for a banner, it really could be something as small as a tabard that the cavalier wears; but since the item calls a pole and is in the same paragraph as the flagbearer feat reference (which only requires one hand to gain the feat's benefits) it's fairly clear that the bard bonus doesn't require anything more than the pole to just be carried in one hand.

It's also a safe assumption that short of a bag of holding, there isn't any other way to carry that pole besides to have it in at least one hand, just like with carrying a longspear that is taller than you, if you strap it to your back like one might a greatsword, you'll be snagging on things
including the ground every which way and have a very floppy center for gravity.

[Diego Rossi]

Both the Japanese samurais and the Polish Hussars had some kind of banner/"wing" fastened to their armor or saddle. While riding in relatively open terrain it works reasonably well (or it would have discontinued very rapidly, neither were stupid). But, from what I know, those banners/wings were way less used when on foot and surely not when dungeon delving, fighting within a building, or skirmishing in a forest/swamp/cave, all things that happen commonly to our characters.

So, besides the RAW, there is a limit imposed by how close to realism you want to be while playing.

My druid's first magic weapon was a spear, but I changed it for a masterwork scimitar as soon as possible simply because I was unable to find a credible way to handle or store it when using ranged weapons or using two hands for other things.