Midgame Bodyguard build?

[LockePhilote]

Are there any decent builds for a character to protect or guard another pc? My character recently gained an ingame, pc girlfriend who was elected party leader during that same session. She also happens to be our resident flanker. Or was, until the DM pulled a fast one on us and turned the campaign mostly undead. As she is a swashbuckler/rogue multiclass with a focus on critting and sneak attack, her character has been turned into an ineffective shadow of what it once was, at least until we can get enough funding to enchant her weapons.

In the meantime, my character realizes this ingame, having had to drag her out of situations several times and realizing that she is perhaps the only thing preventing the party from splitting up. If that happens, it is game over both ingame and out of game. We are facing enough vampires and the like to make the possibility of her being possessed or turned into vampire spawn or the like kind of probable. It is not that she is particularly squishy, but rather that she is unable to deal enough damage to down before it seriously wounds her or drops her.

Thus, in game and out of game, I would like to bodyguard her. I'm currently a Bard 3/ Ranger 3, with 2 weapon fighting as my style. My favored enemy is undead and I already serve as a second line fighter. Are there any prC's or feats or, well, anything that I can do to prevent her from dying or becoming an undead and screwing us all over?

[Deadline]

Let's see, there's a couple of ways of doing the bodyguard routine:

* Rings of Friend Shielding
* Ability to cast Shield Other
* The Cautious Guardian and Dutiful Guardian feats from Drow of the Underdark
* The Devoted Defender PrC from the 3.0 Sword and Fist supplement

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

See if the bad-vs-undead rogue can switch out her Trap Sense class feature for Death's Ruin in Complete Champion, per PH2 retraining rules.

[TuggyNE]

See if the bad-vs-undead rogue can switch out her Trap Sense class feature for Death's Ruin in Complete Champion, per PH2 retraining rules.

Or Lightbringer Penetrating Strike from … I want to say Ravenloft.

*casts Sudden Extended Summon Curmudgeon*

[Karnith]

Or Lightbringer Penetrating Strike from … I want to say Ravenloft.

*casts Sudden Extended Summon Curmudgeon*
I am no Curmudgeon, but the Lightbringer's Penetrating Strike rogue ACF is indeed from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft. It replaces trap sense.

[Greenish]

Let's see, there's a couple of ways of doing the bodyguard routine:

* Rings of Friend Shielding
* Ability to cast Shield Other
* The Cautious Guardian and Dutiful Guardian feats from Drow of the Underdark
* The Devoted Defender PrC from the 3.0 Sword and Fist supplementAside from those, the Devoted Spirit discipline (ToB) has some tricks for discouraging people from attacking anyone but you, from inflicting penalty to attacks not targeting you to making such provoke AoO. Easiest way to access it is multiclassing to Crusader, but you can also pick some of the stuff up with feats.

Bonus points for bard entry from Song of the White Raven, which allows bard levels to stack with crusader levels for the purposes of Inspire Courage bonus.

[nedz]

Three options

Death's Ruin (CC, p 51): Lose trapsense. Can use sneak-attack on undead, at one half normal.

Lightbringer Penetrating Strike (ECR, p 208): When flanking a creature normally immune to sneak attack damage you still deal half your sneak attack dice in damage. Does not effect creatures immune to flanking, and can only be used against flanked creatures.

Penetrating Strike (DS, p 13): Lose trap sense. Whenever you sneak attack something normally immune to sneak attack damage, do half your normal dice of sneak attack damage.

[Zombulian]

Are there any decent builds for a character to protect or guard another pc? My character recently gained an ingame, pc girlfriend who was elected party leader during that same session. She also happens to be our resident flanker. Or was, until the DM pulled a fast one on us and turned the campaign mostly undead. As she is a swashbuckler/rogue multiclass with a focus on critting and sneak attack, her character has been turned into an ineffective shadow of what it once was, at least until we can get enough funding to enchant her weapons.

In the meantime, my character realizes this ingame, having had to drag her out of situations several times and realizing that she is perhaps the only thing preventing the party from splitting up. If that happens, it is game over both ingame and out of game. We are facing enough vampires and the like to make the possibility of her being possessed or turned into vampire spawn or the like kind of probable. It is not that she is particularly squishy, but rather that she is unable to deal enough damage to down before it seriously wounds her or drops her.

Thus, in game and out of game, I would like to bodyguard her. I'm currently a Bard 3/ Ranger 3, with 2 weapon fighting as my style. My favored enemy is undead and I already serve as a second line fighter. Are there any prC's or feats or, well, anything that I can do to prevent her from dying or becoming an undead and screwing us all over?

• Knight base class
• Goad feat
• Devoted Defender PrC