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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Obryn" data-source="post: 5513527" data-attributes="member: 11821">One step ahead of you. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  A few weeks back, the party earned themselves a henchman of sorts; they had been instrumental in helping South Ledopolis, so one of the local dwarves made guarding the party his Focus.My goal: Make a super-simple henchman, probably about as useful as a Rare item or Artifact but less useful than a full NPC, that needed neither dice nor difficult decisions.  Here's what I came up with...GAROSLevel 5 Ally, Dwarf GuardStr 16 (+5)  Con 18 (+6)  Dex 10 (+2)  Int 8 (+1)  Wis 14 (+4)  Cha 10 (+2)Skills: Heal +9, Endurance +13AC 22    Fort 20    Ref 16    Will 18HP 57 (Bloodied 28, Surge 14, OOOO surges/day)Garos is focused solely on defense, protecting the party in general and his charge in specific.  He does not view offense as a substitute for defense, will not scout ahead, and will not voluntarily leave his charge’s side.  If his charge falls unconscious, he will stand guard and try to use Heal checks to revive them.  If his charge dies, he will guard the body.  He can be persuaded to switch charges after a short rest, but he will never guard a defender.  He is most likely to guard primarily ranged attackers in general.Note: Garos has no basic attacks, so he cannot make charge attacks and cannot be the target of abilities which would allow him to take a basic attack.Actions: Garos takes actions as normal, though his repertoire is limited.  He acts on his charge’s initiative.Move* In combat, Garos always moves adjacent to his charge, if possible.  Speed 5.  He can move however is necessary, so long as he can end up adjacent to his charge at the end of his move.  If he cannot end his turn adjacent to his charge, every step must take him closer to his charge by the most direct route, provoking OAs if it is necessary to do so.  He can shift, stand, or crawl if need be.  He will sacrifice his Standard action without hesitation to get closer to his charge.  He can run, but will only do so if he cannot get adjacent by using two other move actions.  He prefers to end his move between his charge and any enemies, so his charge can gain cover from his presence.Standard* Shield Bash - One enemy adjacent to Garos takes 5 damage and is pushed 1 square.Opportunity Actions* Hammer - If an enemy adjacent to Garos takes an action that would provoke an Opportunity Attack, it takes 8 damage.Immediate Actions* Bodyguard  O  (Enc, interrupt): Garos becomes the target of a successful melee or ranged attack against his charge.  He must be adjacent to his charge for this to function.Equipment: Stone warhammer, hide and chitin shield, bone scale armorGaros is the son of Mazur, the South Ledopolis Bridgeguard commander.  As such, he is familiar with Dwarves and is well-known to many.  His presence grants the party +2 to all Diplomacy checks with Dwarves, and +5 to all social checks involving Dwarves from Ledopolis.  He is generally silent, intensely literal, and both single-minded and stubborn when it comes to fulfilling his focus.  He is neither known for brilliance or creativity, and perhaps as a result, is surprisingly difficult to trick.I added in basic advancement rules; his damage increases by 1 every 2 levels, starting at 6th, his defenses increase by 1/level, and his HPs scale at 6/level, always staying 1 level behind the PCs.He's been helpful so far. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />-O</blockquote>

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