PF - DMNPC, how to make it well

[Man on Fire]

I decided to break my own rule, sort of, and design a DMNPC to join the party. Sorta plot-related reasons (will tie to Druid's subplot, allows me introduce paladin to the group), sorta that I have party of 6th level wizards who almost got killed by one 6th level ranger.

Now, I do nto want thsi DMNPC to overshadow the party. As my guys love summons and touch attacks and will be now aided by Paladin, I decided to give them a military buffer, who will support them passively. I'm going with Human Cavalier, Standar Bearer and Strategist Archetypes, order of Dragon 6 (so equal to rest of the party). Aside from Mounted combat all feats they have are going to be teamwork. I'm going with following: Precise Strike, Paried Opportunists, Shake it Off, back to Back and Improved Back to Back. In combat I'll let party go in their way and support them with Strategist abilities to give them and summoned monsters his teamwork feats and banner. This should also let me throw a bit stronger enemeis at them, eventually letting cavalier act as a shield for one of the casters, taking attacks on themselves.

Do you have any advices on what else do and what to avoid with such character? Maybe some ways to improve the buffing/supporting way of this build?

[Golden Ladybug]

I've done something similar recently, with my RL Red Hand of Doom campaign. The party lacked the capacity to heal themselves; not a single player, at the time I introduced this NPC, was able to provide a means of dealing with hit point damage.

So, I gave them a Healbot; Brother Mary, the Aescetic Human Healer 4. He was simple, had a distinctive (and very silly) voice and would pretty much do whatever the Party told him to do, Healing wise. He was so bloody affable and agreeable, the only thing he'd refuse to do would be participate in combat (in fact, he'd run and hide somewhere when the fighting started). Everyone really loved him, not just because he played a role that none of them wanted to play, but also because he was funny. He never took his own initiative in much of anything, and more often than not he'd just stand still and wait for the Party to finish whatever they were doing.

I never actually intended for him to be a "DMPC", per se, he arose to fill a role in the party that needed filling (because they kept getting hurt so badly that they ended up almost dying all the time. They went through their wand of CLW so fast...).

I tried to use him in the lowest impact way possible; he healed wounds after the battle, while I made silly voices that got progressively higher pitched the more healing magic he expended at once.

Last session, he died to Greenspawn Razorfiend. Woops.

I dunno, advice wise, I'd just say that if you're using a DMPC, use them lightly and without much impact on the game. They're there to help the Players out, when and if they need it, not to be the star of the show.

[grarrrg]

Now, I do nto want thsi DMNPC to overshadow the party. As my guys love summons and touch attacks and will be now aided by Paladin, I decided to give them a military buffer, who will support them passively. I'm going with Human Cavalier, Standar Bearer and Strategist Archetypes, order of Dragon 6
Do you have any advices on what else do and what to avoid with such character? Maybe some ways to improve the buffing/supporting way of this build?

Standard Bearer is a fairly "meh" archetype, at least until level 11 (and even at 11 it's still fairly 'meh').
Strategist...really doesn't get you ANYTHING useful until level 14, and for that you're giving up your "greater banner" ability (which the Standard Bearer would probably want to have yet).
Heck, the Banner ability itself is almost worthless in a group of Casters anyway. It grants a bonus vs. Fear (a Will save, which Casters have), and to-hit bonus when charging (which casters don't do).

My advice? If you're going to stick with the Cavalier idea, go with Cavalier 4 (not Standard Bearer or Strategist), Bard 1, Battle Herald (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/a-b/battle-herald) 1. Grab the Horse Master feat at level 7, so your Mount keeps gaining.
Battle Herald can select from a good variety of bonuses that help the whole party. If desired, you can always go back and grab Cavalier 5 for the Banner ability (although Battle Herald gets it eventually, and they do stack for bonuses).

Speaking of 'party of casters', go with Order of the Staff (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/cavalier/orders/paizo---cavalier-orders/order-of-the-staff). Challenging can reduce an opponent's Saves, and the 2nd level ability can give your allies a boost to a caster level check.