The Defending Blade

Thunder rumbled through the room, the roar echoing from the eaves and growing to a fevered pitch. The black-robed cultists, interrupted in their prayers to the dark creature that granted them power, turned as one. They drew vicious blades, and rushed toward the interlopers who would threaten their unholy communion.

"How long is this going to take?" Shanna asked, sliding her supple sword from its sheath.

"No more than a minute," Hezekiah said, holding his holy tome aloft as he began to chant the Ritual of Locking.

"May as well ask me to hold the tide of an evening," Shanna grunted, setting her feet and raising her sword.

The first warrior came hard, charging recklessly. Shanna shifted her hips, and the weapon slid harmlessly past her. Another man tried to come in on her blind side, and she parried his thrust into an iron candle stand. It crashed to the ground, the sound barely heard in the tumult. A third warrior, seeing his opening, drove his sword toward Hezekiah's heart, but Shanna caught it on her quillions, yanking the thrust away from the old cleric. Hezekiah's voice grew, rivaling the howl of the demon lord as his spell pushed back the darkness. As the light grew, Shanna pushed back the tide of stabbing, cutting steel. Soon blood ran on the floor, and the dark servants were in retreat.

"I knew you could do it," Hezekiah said, clapping her on the shoulder.

Shanna smiled, and slid her blade back into its sheath. "It's all about choosing where to stand, really."

The only thing faster, is light.

What Is The Defending Blade?

When you picture a swordsman, chances are you're imagining the kind of warrior who takes the fight to the enemy. Whether they charge in with a battle cry, or trudge forward behind a tower shield, they are a weapon whose only defense is a straightforward offense. The defending blade, on the other hand, is a bodyguard first and foremost. While perfectly capable of leaving a trail of bloody bodies, their primary concern is keeping their allies safe. And they do that by using their own skills to make sure as many attacks are deflected as possible.

And how the hell does that work, precisely?

 

The key to making a defending blade work is to juice up your Aid Another bonus. Most folks never bother with Aid Another, because it only provides a +2 to an ally's attack or armor class, and that's not much of a big deal for a standard action. But what if you could provide your ally with a +10 or higher bonus as an attack of opportunity? Now you see where this is going.

I laid out a lot of build options for this in an older post, Aid Another in Pathfinder is More Useful Than You Think. However, the broad strokes of how to make this build work are to combine a cavalier with a bard, and then take levels of Battle Herald (As a side note, Daring Champion cavaliers and Arcane Duelist bards pair together beautifully for this combo). If you add in the trait Helpful (the good one that makes your base Aid Another +4, not the subpar one that makes it +3), take Arcane Strike, mix in some magical weapons like a Benevolent blade, what you have is an Aid Another bonus that's easily in the double digits by the time you're 12th or 13th level.

You don't have to wait that long to put your signature ability to good use, though. All you need are the feats Combat Reflexes, and Bodyguard. This allows you to use Aid Another on an adjacent ally as an attack of opportunity to buff their AC. And even if you're a level 1 character, you'll be giving them a +4 buff if you took the Helpful trait. And if you have Harrying Partners (and you give that feat to your ally with your cavalier class feature), then your bonus will last an entire round once it's been given.

And it only gets bigger from there.

The beauty of the defending blade is that everyone needs a bodyguard from time to time. No one wants the cleric to be gutted by a tentacled horror while he's trying to heal the rogue, and if the wizard is busy dispelling the villain's enchantments, you don't want a bunch of minions to run up and turn him into a pincushion. The defending blade can protect an ally using their attacks of opportunity (something most of us don't bother with anyway), and then during their turn they can still take other actions. Like re-positioning their charge out of harm's way, or putting an end to the threat so their protection is no longer necessary... for the moment, at least.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned For More!

That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

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Aid Another in Pathfinder is More Useful Than You Think

When I published my blog entry on 5 Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting there was a lot of positive feedback. There was one constant criticism though, and that was that the "Aid Another" action shouldn't have been on the list. Why? To paraphrase, "It's just useless. What's a +2 bonus worth anyway?"

My answer to all of those who don't think that Aid Another is worth looking at is to take a second look using this week's guide. You might be surprised at what you find.

What Is The Aid Another Action?

Quick, while he's not looking at you!

The Aid Another action, for those who don't want to look it up, is a standard action where one character helps another achieve a certain task. In combat a player and the target of the aid must both be in melee with an enemy; the player rolls an attack against an AC 10, and if he hits may grant the target a +2 to hit, or a +2 to armor class against the target they both threaten. Details for this action are on page 197 of the Core Rulebook.

The other way someone can use Aid Another is on page 86. It states that if two characters are making a skill check then one can aid the other. Simply roll the die, and if the character hits a DC 10 then he helps his companion with a +2 bonus. The bonus from Aid Another is untyped, and as such it stacks with everything. That's going to be important later on in this article.

The Complaint

The big complaint seems to be that sure, at level 1 or 2 a +2 to AC or to an attack is a nice bonus. The higher in level a party becomes though, the less useful such a bonus is. Even if the whole party goes in to give the fighter with the specialized weapon a big boost, that's only a +6 (assuming a 4 person party). It's nice, but how often will the whole party sacrifice their actions to give even this mediocre a bonus?

More often than you think, less often than you'd believe.

I'm not going to disagree that giving even a level 6 character, much less a level 10 or 12 character, a +2 is a pretty paltry use of one's turn. That said, Aid Another can be made a lot more powerful if you're actually planning on using it.

Traits

As with any other bit of mechanical wooge it's important to start stacking the numbers right from character creation. If a character is a halfling then he or she can take the helpful trait, which says that whenever the character successfully uses the Aid Another action that the bonus is a +4 instead of a +2. If a character is not a halfling then there's a universal helpful trait that allows them to provide a +3 instead of a +2.

Pro Tip: If you're willing to get creative with your backstory you can take adopted, which gives you access to traits for races you don't possess, and then take the helpful version that is usually only available for halflings. Adopted is in this case a placeholder, allowing you to pick the better version of helpful.

This is just the tip of the ice berg, my friends.

Classes and Prestige Classes

A surprising number of classes and prestige classes offer a bonus to the Aid Another action. Some are bigger than others, which is why it's important to keep your character's final destination in mind. Is this character a battlefield commander, helping his troops achieve victory, or is she someone who knows when she's out of her league and isn't shy about assisting others in getting the glory some of the time?

Something to think about.

Cavalier

Cavaliers (Advanced Player's Guide) are an often-underutilized class (lots of players aren't willing to bring mounted characters into a game that so traditionally is full of dungeon crawling), but one of the most under-utilized abilities is the bonus to Aid Another granted by the Order of the Dragon. Starting at level 2 the cavalier can provide an additional +1 when using the Aid Another action to assist allies with armor class, attacks, saving throws, or skill checks. For a cavalier with one of the two helpful traits that's either a +4 or +5 bonus at level 2. Not too shabby. This bonus increases by +1 at level 8 and every 6 levels after.

Cleric

Surely an Aid Another bonus in a class as popular (and let's face it, necessary) as the cleric would have been noticed by now? Not exactly; you see the bonus comes from variant channeling (Ultimate Magic), which is something not a lot of players use. For clerics who take the Strategy option for variant channeling, and who channel positive energy, all Aid Another actions used by her allies during the turn add the cleric's channel bonus (+1 at level 1, +2 at level five, and increasing by another +1 every five levels) to the usual Aid Another bonus delivered. Certainly not something to sneeze at.

Pathfinder Chronicler

The very rarely played prestige class of the Pathfinder Chronicler (Core Rulebook 388) reflects the idea of a scribe, scholar, and tale-teller who accompanies great heroes and records their deeds. These Chroniclers also pitch in when needed, and that's where their improved aid ability comes from. At level 3 a Pathfinder Chronicler provides a +4 bonus when using the Aid Another action.

Steel Falcons

Andoran's Eagle Knights are famed far and wide for reasons that are alternatively good and bad. Because they must act together as a unit, particularly when facing slavers and other enemies of freedom, the Steel Falcons (Pathfinder Companion: Andoran, Spirit of Liberty) gain superior aid at level 2. This ability allows them to grant a +4 instead of a +2 on Aid Another actions.

Battle Herald

While it's out of order alphabetically, the Battle Herald (Advanced Player's Guide) is a class that is geared almost expressly toward helping the party achieve its full potential. A combination bard/cavalier (Order of the Dragon is a good base to work with, as well), the Battle Herald gains the Inspiring Command ability. While there's a laundry list of commands it's the Teamwork command that applies to this guide. This ability provides anyone using the Aid Another action with a competence bonus equal to the Battle Herald's inspiring command bonus, and if the ally is successful then the Aid Another bonus also increases by the Battle Herald's inspiring command bonus. That's an additional +1 at first level, and another +1 for every 3 levels after.

Magic Items

Seriously, just kiss it. It gives you a bonus.

Normally the meat of any build comes from feats, but in this case if someone really wants to add some solid numbers to their Aid Another the bonuses tend to come from magic items (and the above class features). The two items you're going to want on your side are:

Benevolent

This +1 enchantment (found in Ultimate Equipment) can be placed on both weapons and armor. When placed on a weapon it adds the weapon's numerical bonus to the Aid Another bonus that's provided on attacks. When placed on armor it has the same effect, but only for Aid Another actions meant to increase someone's armor class.

Ring of Tactical Precision

While it's hugely expensive, the ring of tactical precision provides a +1 to the bonus anyone wearing it provides through the Aid Another action. It also provides a +5 on profession (soldier) checks, and it allows a teamwork feat to be stored inside of it. 11k still seems a hefty price to pay, but if you find it in a horde you might not want to just pawn it at the local emporium glorium, sight unseen.

Gloves of Arcane Striking

While not typically used unless one is a straight caster, the gloves of arcane striking are useful for bards, magi, and others who intend to be using Aid Another. These gloves allow the user to transfer the bonus from the arcane strike feat as a bonus to Aid Another. That's a +1 for every 5 caster levels the user possesses, to a maximum of +5.

It All Adds Up

So how much of a bonus can you really give another player with the Aid Another action? What do the numbers really look like? Well, here's an example using the above rules and focusing on combat bonuses.

Let's begin with a halfling character who takes the helpful halfling trait. Right out of the gate he can provide a +4 bonus to his allies.

Take 3 levels of bard.

At level 6 take a level of Battle Herald. Learn the Teamwork Command for a +5 on Aid Another. This goes up to +6 at 10th level and +7 at 13th level.

Purchase a benevolent weapon (preferably a lance or whip so you can aid from a distance). If you have a +1 weapon at level 6 it provides a +6 bonus. If you advance this weapon to a +3 item then at level 10 you can provide a +9 bonus to your allies in combat. If you use your arcane strike to add onto your aid another bonus, that's more than a +10.

I cannot think of a single level where a +10 bonus to either attack or armor class is not a major game changer.

Post Edit Suggestion: Bodyguard

I continually thought this was part of the guide, but apparently it wasn't. The Bodyguard feat (Advanced Player's Guide) allows you to use attacks of opportunity to provide an aid another action to a party member you're adjacent to. Since the prerequisite is Combat Reflexes it's entirely possible that you can save the entire front line from a world of hurt without even taking up your actual action during the round.

You can also add Harrying Partners, which says once given, your aid another bonus lasts for a round instead of that single action.

Who's useless now?

As always, thanks for stopping by Improved Intiative's crunch section! If you'd like other helpful guides then check out this list of alchemical items every party should have. If you want to keep up to date with Improved Initiative and all of my other projects then feel free to follow me on Facebook and Tumblr, or to plug your email address into the box on the top right. If you'd like to help keep this blog going toss a tip into the jar by clicking the "Bribe the DM" button, or going to my Patreon page and becoming a patron today!

Playing By The Book: Some Pathfinder Rules Players Keep Forgetting

The entire purpose of creating a rules system for a roleplaying game is so that all players are on the same page, so to speak. A unified system that describes the world ensures that all players (and more importantly all of the monsters and villains) are running on the same engine. No one gets helped or hindered. While the person running a game reserves the right to change or disallow anything in the book, that's a power that should be reserved for when a genuine problem is being created by a rule in question.

This is the first installment in what has become an occasional, ongoing series. The full list of installments, calling attention to more than 25 often-overlooked rules, includes:

- Playing By The Book: Some Pathfinder Rules That Players Keep Forgetting
- MORE Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting
- Even MORE Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting
- Still More Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting
- 5 More Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting

Also, I've recently begun a new series of character conversions entitled Gotham Knights. If you're interested you can check out my Batman character build right here, and the accompanying Robin character build right here.

Stay tuned for more!

#1: Natural 20s Aren't Always Automatic Successes

A natural Mu on the other hand trumps everything.

The fabled natural 20 and the dreaded natural 1 are the yin and yang of d20 RPGs everywhere. It's often one of the first things a player learns; a 20 means success, and a 1 means failure.

Or do they?

Not according to the rules. A natural 20 is always a hit in combat, and it's always a critical threat. A natural 20 is also an automatic save on any saving throw. The opposite is true of a natural 1 in both of these cases. Those are the only two incidents where the rule of automatic success and automatic failure are mentioned; this 5% chance to succeed or fail despite the rules and all logic doesn't apply to initiative, skill checks, or any other use of a 20-sided die (even though a storyteller may decree that they do).

The logic here is pretty sensical, really. A gunslinger or ranger who has tuned his or her nerves to a fever pitch to sense ambushes should logically go before the wizard who always has his nose in a book, even if by chance he happened to notice a sound or a flash of metal. A bard who's spent a lifetime mastering the art of song can have a bad day, but under no circumstances should random chance decree that the singer's voice just cracks and falls apart like an apprentice song-smith.

Also, critical fumbles are not a part of Pathfinder; they're a relic from the days of 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons. Once again if a DM decrees that a natural 1 gives players penalties then that is his or her call. However, there is nowhere in the book that says players have to roll a second time to confirm a natural 1, and that if the character fails to hit the weapon breaks, the character cuts herself, etc., etc. A natural 1 in combat is simply a miss, and the round goes on.

#2: Unless It Says So, You Can't Stack It

Competence bonus connected to the morale bonus, connected to the...

Bonuses are the bread and butter of making a character more effective. Magic bonuses, trait bonuses, competence bonuses, luck bonuses, alchemical bonuses, and the list goes on and on. With so many to choose from it's quite possible to build some impressive number castles, but it's easy for some players to forget that unless the book gives you express permission you can never stack bonuses of the same type, even if they're from different sources.

Here's a good example: shadow armor provides a +5 competence bonus to the wearer's stealth, and so does the cloak of the bat. Even if a character wears both of these items, because they each offer a competence bonus the player can only apply the highest.

While that might sound limiting, it often isn't. For instance, a barbarian's rage gives him a +4 morale bonus to strength and constitution. The spell bless grants a +1 morale bonus to attack. Because the one is specifically for a stat, and the other is to attacking, both still apply, even though said barbarian is likely attacking using his strength. As someone who has seen what happens when stacking rules are ignored, I can fully support this one being remembered.

As a side note, untyped bonuses and dodge bonuses are the only ones that stack without express permission. Lastly, concealment percentages don't stack. If you're in pitch blackness in a smoke cloud, you still have only a single 50% miss chance according to page 197 in the Core Rulebook.

#3: You Can Hold a Spell Charge

You can hold it until you touch something... well, anything, really.

Casting spells in combat is one of those skills that adventuring magicians and clerics tend to learn on the fly. Casting magic defensively is par for the course, but when it comes to touch spells it's important to remember that you can cast the spell as a standard action, move, and then deliver the touch as a free action. Not only that, but if you miss with your initial touch then you can still hold the charge and try next round. Rules for this are in the Core Rulebook, page 185 and 186.

It's important to remember that you can only hold one charge at a time, and that if you touch anyone or anything that it goes off. Remember that in the event that someone grapples you while you have shocking grasp ready to go off.

#4: You Can Punch People in The Face With Spells

An accurate representation of what it looks like before you're punched by a wizard.

When the magus was released in Ultimate Magic players everywhere were left shouting, cheering that finally they could combine an attack with a spell.

I hate to burst your bubble, but you always could. Provided you had the ability to deliver an unarmed attack.

Page 186 of the Core Rulebook states that a caster may choose to make an unarmed strike against an opponent to deliver a touch spell. The strike follows all of the same rules for punching an opponent (it's no longer a touch attack), and if you land the blow you deal unarmed strike damage plus the spell. If you miss, the spell is still held. Sure it's not that impressive... unless your spellcaster has the ability to stack other types of damage onto an unarmed attack. Multi-class monks never looked so appealing, and now you have a definite use for the draconic sorcerer's claws.

#5: 'Aid Another' Saves Parties

Seriously, you need a +2 just to open your frigging canteen?

We've all been in one of those combats. At least one player is frustrated because his character isn't spec'd for the kind of fight you're in, and no matter what he does he just can't get a moment in the spotlight. The next time that player throws up his hands, direct him to page 197 of the Core Rulebook and point out the aid another action.

Players seem to forget that this rule exists a lot, and thus keep banging their heads against the wall by taking actions that simply won't work. In short if you and an ally are engaged in melee with a single opponent you can take a standard action and attack an AC of 10. If you succeed you are hampering the opponent in some way which provides a bonus to your ally in the form of either a +2 to hit or a +2 to armor class against the opponent's next attack against them (provided it comes before your next turn).

There are two main reasons players don't use this action. The first is that they don't know it exists. The second, and this is really more prevalent in my experience, is that most players want to be the hero. They want to cast the spell or swing the sword that brings down the foe so they can revel in the glory that follows. It's important to remember that the party who stays together slays together, and that if concerted effort is made to use strategic moves, rather than hoping for that 5% chance of a natural 20, combats are going to end a lot more quickly a lot more often.


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