What is the "standard" unoptimized cohort?

[Coidzor]

I'm currently working on some homebrew that is still relevant to combat but not going to be at the same level as cohorts... But in order to do that, I kinda need a baseline of comparison that's somewhere above entirely useless and below demi-ubercharging.

I imagine it's something more like a fighty cohort taken by a wizard to act as a bodyguard/personal meatshield that a DM would make to be useful but not enough to tip the balance on his own(given the assumption that something like lockdown or demi-ubercharging's damage output would do so) rather than the result of a player getting another character 2 levels beneath his to custom-build to fulfill a certain task.

But I'm not really sure what that looks like. Is it like a Knight with the elite array and a high enough charisma to occasionally use goad? A sword and board Fighter that mostly just takes the weapon focus feat chain to the end? A tripper that ends with Improved Trip and maybe Knockdown but without any way of getting big?

If anyone has any character sheets of such NPCs they'd care to share as examples, I'd be especially interested in those. Though I'd also like some thoughts about the sorts of feats such Fighters/Melee Types would take and what they'd avoid as well, please.

On a semi-related note, a well-chosen Animal Companion for a druid is supposed to be about comparable to or slightly better than an "unoptomized" fighter or cohort, right?

[Godskook]

Marshal with high charisma is an *EXCELLENT* cohort. Add in a dip into cleric with the magic domain for nearly full wand/scroll access, and you've got a superb support character that won't be stealing spotlight, but rather adding more bulbs so that the PCs shine better(Cause let's face it, everyone forgets about the buff-bots).

[Coidzor]

Marshal with high charisma is an *EXCELLENT* cohort. Add in a dip into cleric with the magic domain for nearly full wand/scroll access, and you've got a superb support character that won't be stealing spotlight, but rather adding more bulbs so that the PCs shine better(Cause let's face it, everyone forgets about the buff-bots).

Point.

Hmm... I wonder if it's harder or easier to calculate the expected contribution/impact of a buffer or a direct combatant...

As, in addition to personal toughness, my interest is in what they bring to the table, especially since they're lower level than the party proper.

[WeeFreeMen]

In my experience, buff bots are always better off than Guys with big Sticks, just has Battlefield Control is usually superior to Blasting.

Let the Cohort buff your party into Oblivion, making them look good and you look like a team player.

[Coidzor]

In my experience, buff bots are always better off than Guys with big Sticks, just has Battlefield Control is usually superior to Blasting.

So would you say that buffbot cohorts are above the kind of baseline of competent but not crucially effective cohort I'm trying to get a feel for or that non-optimized beatsticks are below competent for the purpose of comparing new content?

While I can think of a couple of metrics to use for comparison, like average HP based upon elite array with the secondary stat in Con & HD size or the expected DPR against opponents of whatever that standardized AC per CR formula based upon either what extra damage they add in the form of buffs (or damage they negate from a similar metric) or the direct damage they deal themselves... I'm not exactly sure what of them I should be looking at most closely to compare.

So I kind of want to know what I should be looking at as well as how I should be comparing it, or at least, I'm curious to hear what others think on the subject.

Heck, I'd even like some help finding where people have gone through and crunched the numbers and demonstrated the claim about the comparison between an animal companion and a party Fighter. My forum and google-fu in regards to this has been rather weak. :(

[Gwendol]

Bard. Just inspire courage and do some occasional spell slinging, typically buffing or healing. Use a bow and stay out of trouble. Write about the fantastic heroic deeds your main character perfoms and sing about it in taverns and towns to attract more "work".

[Quietus]

I don't think there's a standard cohort, because there's no standard party. What you should be aiming for depends on what your group can do. A fighter with the weapon focus line of feats would be less than useless in a group with an incantatrix, a druid, an ubercharging frenzied barbarian and a craven-weilding rogue/swordsage/factotum. That same Fighter might be too much if the group consists of a blaster wizard with no metamagic, a healbot cleric, a fighter taking weapon focus himself, and an archer rogue without any way of getting sneak attack reliably.

Besides all that, the player getting the cohort (I'm assuming this is through a Leadership-type ability) should have some input. Maybe not be able to design the entire character sheet, but if they're taking the feat, they probably have some idea what they want to get out of it. If the Wizard is wanting to get a bodyguard and you give him a buffer, he's not going to be happy. The only way around this is to ask your player what they're hoping for, and work with them.

Once you know what they're expecting, you look at what your party can do, and design the cohort to that level. If they want a buffer, do they get a straight bard, for some Inspire Courage and the occasional Haste? Or do they get a cha-heavy Marshall? Or is the group strong enough that an incantatrix is appropriate? All depends on what the group includes.

[big teej]

not sure if this helps, but so far, I have 2-3 characters slated to take Leadership.
and I"m likely among the least op'd playgrounders.

example 1:
I'm playing a Knight, and he'll be damned if he doesn't have a herald and a horde of flunkies.

ergo: Leadership - cohort = Bard.
The bard's major purpose is to announce my presence and inform people of how awesome I am. in combat, he will hang in the back and inspire courage/competence/whatever and cast spells when he is threatened or the followers are threatened.

example 2:
A barbarian with dreams of raising a great horde to carve out a kingdom
cohort = some form of spellcaster to make up for things he can't do. preferably a cleric for religious advice or a mage for magic gear.

hope that's helpful...

[KoboldCleric]

My group has always used cohorts to actually give each player a second character and to expand the scope of the game in that way (I.e. the knight builds a town, the followers are the residents, the cohort is his wife or second in command who protects the town while he's off adventuring), so cohorts are largely of the same power level as the PCs (except 2 levels lower and somewhat less equipped).

As far as the standard tag-along cohort, I would think that depends on the power level of your group. The group I play with on Saturday nights has 2 PHB-only archer rangers, a sword & board aristocrat/fighter, a barbarian without power attack, and my buff/heal-bot Divine Bard/Crusader; I really don't think cohorts would work out for us at all.

In general, I'd hazard a guess that your sword & board, weapon focus tree fighter is probably the general expectation; more or less just another warm body to distract a minion or two while the PCs do cool PC things.

[Telonius]

Several games I've been involved in have used cohorts. They're usually used to shore up weaknesses in the party when there are only three PCs or so. So, what the cohort does is usually dictated by party composition.

There are a few general unspoken rules our groups have used. Cohorts should never overshadow main characters. Druid, Wizard, and Artificer (if Eberron is available) are frowned on, unless it's in combination with something else that dilutes the power. Cleric cohorts should generally be healbots and status removers. Rogues, Bards, Fighters, and Knights are preferable. Keep multiclassing to a minimum (unless we're talking about the Big Three, as above), and don't dip PrC's.

Feat selection should be approximately what a middle-of-the-road optimizer would take (i.e. Power Attack is obvious for melee; no stupid "+2 to two skills" feats; but no dipping seventeen different sourcebooks, a Dragon article, and an un-updated 3.0 feat).