"My beast companion rolls to Aid me..."

[Dr. Confoundo]

I've got a player with a beast companion who wants his wolf to automatically use Aid Another on any skill check that the wolf has trained (specifically Perception). As the wolf will almost never fail the roll to Aid, that basically means that he's got a permanent +2 bonus to this skill.

Am I missing something in the rules where this is specifically allowed/disallowed? It would probably go for familiars as well.

 

[Bold or Stupid]

Well aid another target is now 10+half level so that may help, but to be honest he has a trained dog, that should help with finding stuff so I wouldn't really quibbe that much about it.

 

[MrMyth]

As mentioned above, the DC for Aid Another now scales with level - it also now has a penalty for failure (-1 on the check instead of +2) so if he doesn't auto-make it, there could be a downside.

But if his pet is good enough at Perception for it not to be a problem, and the situation is one where it can reasonably help, it seems fine.

 

[keterys]

Technically, it takes an action for the wolf to aid him, and an action for him to make his own check. Both out of his own pool of actions.

For many checks, these are both standards, so no go. For some, it's only a minor for his check and a standard aid.

So, generally speaking it doesn't do him any good.

 

[fba827]

speaking just from memory (so this could be wrong) but don't beast companions use your actions. Thus, if it's a standard action to make your check, you'll lose every other round doing this ...
ie.. round 1: you do nothing, companion uses your standard action to aid your next check (note the increased aid another DC as well as chance of penalty)
round 2: you use your standard action for the check, companion does nothing
round 3: you do nothing with your standard action, companion uses your standard action to aid your next check..
and so on..
or if it's not a standard action then not, or if they don't share action allotments, then never mind. as said, just speaking from memory, so i could be off...

 

[Saeviomagy]

I remember a 3e character I had who used the spell animal companion to have trained rat buddies. Every level I got 4 rats and a dire rat as companions. All of them had "help me search" as a trick, so my search results would get massive benefits.

 

[Verision]

IIRC, the beast companion should have (or should be able to get) something called "shared perception", or something like that. It gives a +2 to perception checks when your beast companion is within X squares of you (I think it's 5 or 10 squares).

I mention this because you said "(specifically Perception)". I think that's the best your PC is going to get.

Also, if, for whatever reason, the PC can't get shared perception (or whatever it's called) let him take a feat that gives him the effect.

 

[Ferghis]

What about a conjuration, such as a wondrous figurine. It takes a minor action to make them do anything, so wouldn't it be a (PC) minor action to get the figurine to, for example, aid another in melee, and then the PC can attack with +2. Right?

 

[fba827]

What about a conjuration, such as a wondrous figurine. It takes a minor action to make them do anything, so wouldn't it be a (PC) minor action to get the figurine to, for example, aid another in melee, and then the PC can attack with +2. Right?

Aid another in melee is a standard action. nothing (that i recall off the top of my head) allows a wondrous figurine to do that particular act as a minor action. Thus, it would be a standard action for the figurine as well.

So not counting use of an action point to do it all the same round, it would take two rounds to pull that off (but frankly, i'd say go for two attack attempts yourself unless you really need the +2 to hit it)

 

[Ferghis]

Aid another in melee is a standard action. nothing (that i recall off the top of my head) allows a wondrous figurine to do that particular act as a minor action. Thus, it would be a standard action for the figurine as well.

it would certainly be a standard action for the figurine, but ordering that standard action only costs the PC a minor action (ordering any figurine action costs a minor action).

The scenario is that the player who has a PC that can spare minor actions will keep a cheap figurine near a target, and use a minor action to have the figurine aid another, and a standard to attack the target. I'm not sure that this is that problematic since figurines usually have very few hp, and if they are of relatively low level will have low defenses, and therefore shortlived. Plus, they'll often be out of position, so there may not be a minor to spend on getting them to aid another. Still, it's a smart tactic, and bound to raise some DMs' eyebrows.