Bodyguard

[Zefren]

Hello everyone, Ive been visiting these forums for some time but as you can see this will be my first post, and its a question :smallbiggrin:

I am going to start playing in a campaign with a friend and we've decided that we want our characters to start together (usually we always play a party where no one knows each other in the beginning). Our idea was to create a wizard and his bodyguard, me being the later.
Can nyone tell me what class/prc would be good for a bodyguard? I want my char to be kind of a mercenary so any type of "knight" class is not very good.
And also what feats would be useful?

[NecroPaladin]

Well, you could play it safe with fighter...but less orthodox tactics might even warrant a rogue or a monk. At the most extreme, I'd suggest a barbarian or an urban ranger.

There are a number of feats dedicated to protecting others...There's some luck feat which allows you to take damage for a teammate in Complete Scoundrel, and as well Cityscape has a few defense-oriented feats.

[storybookknight]

Fighter is a good one to take, but if your wizard also needs someone who can keep him out of trouble in a more subtle sense, ranger or rogue might also work.

If you go fighter, I would suggest feats like Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, and Improved Trip, maybe with a polearm and armor spikes for area control. Rangers or rogues might want to focus on skill use; Rogues might take Improved Feint for sneak attack action.

[Bag_of_Holding]

Fighter seems to be a natural choice to me. If you have an access to PHBII, you might like to consider Knight class as well.

[Emperor Tippy]

Depending on starting level, see if you can play as an awakened iron golem. That is fun. :D

[NecroPaladin]

Well, I've always had a penchant for the undead. Maybe you could play a mummy? That would be a bit far-fetched, though, at best...

[Dausuul]

Hello everyone, Ive been visiting these forums for some time but as you can see this will be my first post, and its a question :smallbiggrin:

I am going to start playing in a campaign with a friend and we've decided that we want our characters to start together (usually we always play a party where no one knows each other in the beginning). Our idea was to create a wizard and his bodyguard, me being the later.
Can nyone tell me what class/prc would be good for a bodyguard? I want my char to be kind of a mercenary so any type of "knight" class is not very good.
And also what feats would be useful?

Depends on what splatbooks you have access to.

If you have the Tome of Battle, a swordsage with Setting Sun is an excellent option. Setting Sun gives you lots of maneuvers that let you throw opponents about and otherwise control the battlefield. Pick up some Shadow Hand for the short-range teleports, and Stone Dragon for the "you can't move" strikes, and you can be very good indeed at keeping the enemy away from your arcanist buddy.

Clerics and favored souls, of course, are excellent bodyguards thanks to their combination of defensive buffs, healing magic, and tolerable melee capacity (even discounting things like divine power).

A druid with wild shape and a beefy animal companion is a good two-for-one deal, providing two sturdy melee fighters to guard the wizard on both flanks. Dip Beastmaster from Complete Warrior (I think, might be Complete Adventurer) for extra animal companion beef... but be careful lest you make any other melee-ers in the party feel utterly wussy.

If you're not set on striding into battle personally, the Dread Necromancer from Heroes of Horror is a distasteful but effective bodyguard; just make the enemy wade through a horde of skeletons to get to you and your charge. Add the Corpsecrafter feat from Libris Mortis for extra unnatural win. Doesn't work until level 8 though.

[Raum]

I'd recommend Crusader, Warblade or even a Cleric. It will depend on what you envision your bodyguard doing though...if you plan on taking some of his damage, Cleric or Paladin can use the Shield Other spell. Both Crusader and Warblade have access to the White Raven discipline which grants abilities oriented towards group combat.

[Zefren]

Thanks everyone, Ill take a look at tome of battle and try some feat combos for a fighter, I really want the bodyguard to be a martial merc type with lots of defensive capabilities.
Now those manuevers and stances will be hard to understand :smalleek:

[Quietus]

Also, depending on how far into the "bodyguard" angle you want to go, you might look back at the Sword and Fist class "Devoted Defender".

[Kel_Arath]

pally... the lawfulness will show his devotion to protect him, and maybe some healing isnt bad eh?

[Stormcrow]

Theres a class in complete warrior that should do the trick, cant remember the name off the top of my head something like "I'll jump infront of you if arrows are coming".

[SpiderBrigade]

Also, depending on how far into the "bodyguard" angle you want to go, you might look back at the Sword and Fist class "Devoted Defender".Seconded. That class really, really needs an update to 3.5. It actually lets a huge-AC fighter do the Tank thing, because you can actually prevent your ally from being hit.

[MellowMelon]

I personally really like the whole Thayan knight/ Red wizard combo. They are campaign setting specific but found in non-campaign setting sources. (CW and DMG)

[Person_Man]

Honestly, I think you should just play a Knight and change the fluff. The mechanics of a Knight are perfect for a bodyguard (high hit points, high AC, Test of Mettle, Shield Ally, etc). Just call yourself a mercenary and use the class. You can even break your Knight's code on a regular basis with very little impact (you only lose uses of your challenge for that day, not such a big problem if you have a high Cha).