ASI/feat help for a newly 8th level Champion Ftr bodyguard type

[Glarnog]

Hu. Variant Ftr Champion with Protection style, and Shield Master fest. Str 20, Dex 14, Con 19 with an Amulet, Int, Wis, and Chr all 12. He's npc foe, turned follower, turned "cohort". He follows a HElf Evoker.

I'm unsure what feat to pick for him. His natural Con with out the Amulet is 7. He currently wields a Staff of Striking, though there is a chance he'll end up with Wave. He wears Plate armor. I'm pretty sure a feat would be better than an ASI. I am trying to choose which feat. I'm mainly considering, Heavy Armor Master, Polearm Master, or Sentinel. I can also so value in Charger, Mobile, and or Toughness. I'm torn between trying to keep a "cohort" simple, vs as effective as possible.

He tries to stay near the Evoker to protect, however due to him being our only Ftr/tank with type the party he's often tasked with charging up and holding a line away from the Evoker for the party

Thanks all.

[CTurbo]

Sentinel is great and fits the theme, but would directly compete with your Protection style, so I think Polearm Master would be my pick.

Also,

Every good Fighter should probably consider Res(Wis) at some point. I LOVE Ritual Caster: Wizard for Fighters and it fits the theme of following and protecting an Evoker. You could rp it as he's teaching you simple ritual spells along the way. The same could be said for Magic Initiate: Wizard. It's really useful, fitting, and thematic.

Heavy Armor Master is decent, but the +1 Str part would be wasted of course. I wouldn't consider Charger.

Lucky, Alert, and Mobile are always good on any character.

[iTreeby]

Sentinel is great and fits the theme, but would directly compete with your Protection style, so I think Polearm Master would be my pick.

Also,

Every good Fighter should probably consider Res(Wis) at some point. I LOVE Ritual Caster: Wizard for Fighters and it fits the theme of following and protecting an Evoker. You could rp it as he's teaching you simple ritual spells along the way. The same could be said for Magic Initiate: Wizard. It's really useful, fitting, and thematic.

Heavy Armor Master is decent, but the +1 Str part would be wasted of course. I wouldn't consider Charger.

Lucky, Alert, and Mobile are always good on any character.

Protection fighting style is not good.. I second the fote for alert though

[DrKerosene]

Protection fighting style is not good.. I second the fote for alert though

If UA options are allowed, I would suggest taking the Interception fighting style. Basically the monk ability to deflect missiles, but against yourself or an ally in range (if you wield a shield or weapon), and it also works against melee attacks.

I would probably go with Durable for the simplicity. It’s better than +2 to Constitution if you end up in an AMF, or disarmed of gear, and it works with the amulet too. Though Alert is probably better as a support character..

[SLOTHRPG95]

Protection fighting style is not good.. I second the fote for alert though

An NPC bodyguard is the one obvious time that taking Protection is actually totally fine. It'd be a lot better if it just guaranteed a miss on one attack, or maybe redirected it to yourself, but it's still serviceable as extra defense for your ward.

As to OP, I'd keep it simple and just take the Tough feat. Especially if your cohort ever loses that amulet or finds themself in an AMF, they'll be hurting for hit points with 7 Con. This mitigates the issues there, along with providing enough hit points to take an extra hit or two under normal conditions, which is never a bad thing for a bodyguard.

[Glarnog]

Thank you all so much. I wish I could have planned this npc out better. Never thought he'd make it past 3. Polearm master competes with Shield Master. Sentinel with Protection. I went with Toughness for now. I'll ask if I can pick up that one from U/A if he gets another. I tried to get him a cursed shield of Arrow Attraction, but a PC wanted it. Of course that PC hasn't played since. lol.

Thanks

[iTreeby]

If UA options are allowed, I would suggest taking the Interception fighting style. Basically the monk ability to deflect missiles, but against yourself or an ally in range (if you wield a shield or weapon), and it also works against melee attacks.

I would probably go with Durable for the simplicity. It’s better than +2 to Constitution if you end up in an AMF, or disarmed of gear, and it works with the amulet too. Though Alert is probably better as a support character..

If UA is allowed, mariner style is probably the way to go.

An NPC bodyguard is the one obvious time that taking Protection is actually totally fine. It'd be a lot better if it just guaranteed a miss on one attack, or maybe redirected it to yourself, but it's still serviceable as extra defense for your ward.

As to OP, I'd keep it simple and just take the Tough feat. Especially if your cohort ever loses that amulet or finds themself in an AMF, they'll be hurting for hit points with 7 Con. This mitigates the issues there, along with providing enough hit points to take an extra hit or two under normal conditions, which is never a bad thing for a bodyguard.

The issue is that sentinel is much better, and defense style has synergy (if the opponent can't get to their intended target, they attack the guard). Protection style doesn't as stop attacks as consistently. I suppose if the target has a high AC it would be better to impose disadvantage rather than relying on a attack to connectbut, the protection style necessarily makes the party more vulnerable to area attacks.

[SLOTHRPG95]

The issue is that sentinel is much better, and defense style has synergy (if the opponent can't get to their intended target, they attack the guard). Protection style doesn't as stop attacks as consistently. I suppose if the target has a high AC it would be better to impose disadvantage rather than relying on a attack to connectbut, the protection style necessarily makes the party more vulnerable to area attacks.

The bodyguard doesn't have the Sentinel feat, so I don't see how that's relevant. Furthermore, reducing incoming damage vs. returning a strike are two different strategies for discouraging your enemies from targeting your ward, but their relative effectiveness will rely on hit points, AC, damage output, etc. One isn't clearly better than the other, if you're just looking at the reaction from Sentinel as a bodyguard feature. Sentinel also doesn't help if someone can get past you, or if they weren't within your reach to begin with, e.g. a far-off archer. It'd be even better if the bodyguard instead had the Oath of Crown or Cavalier's 7th level feature, but on a straight Champion, Protection isn't bad for a bodyguard build.