Aid Another

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[edit] Individual Events

Even in some cases where several characters attempt the same action, with each succeeding or failing as a result of separate checks, characters can assist one another. By offering advice, guidance, or simply leading by example, a character can effectively share some of her expertise with her comrades. However, this activity comes at a cost, since the character’s concentration is split between multiple tasks (and thus she isn’t as capable at the task as she would normally be).

A character with 5 or more ranks in a skill who is engaged in a task using that skill can voluntary accept a -4 penalty on the check in order to grant a +2 circumstance bonus on the same skill checks made by nearby allies engaged in the same task. For example, Lidda the 2nd-level rogue can help her allies sneak through a dungeon. By accepting a -4 penalty on her Hide and Move Silently checks, Lidda grants Jozan, Tordek, and Mialee each a a +2 circumstance bonus on the same checks. While Lidda isn’t as quiet and hidden as she’d normally be, the group overall is more stealthy than they would be without her help.

At higher levels, a character can grant more assistance, but at a greater cost. A character with 15 or more ranks in a skill can accept a -10 penalty on the check to grant a +5 circumstance bonus on the same skill checks made by nearby allies engaged in the same task.

An ally must be within 30 feet of you to gain the bonus, and you must be able to see and hear each other. Using the previous example, if Lidda were invisible, she couldn’t grant the bonus to any character who couldn’t see her; if Mialee were invisible LIdda couldn’t grant her the bonus unless she could see invisible creatures (but she could still grant the bonus to the other characters).

Typically, only the following skills can be assisted in this manner: Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Hide, Move Silently, Ride, Search, Survival, and Swim. In special circumstances, then DM may rule that other skills can benefit from this form of assistance even when using the skills described above.

[edit] Aid Another

The Player’s Handbook describes how a character can help another character achieve success by aiding him with a skill check of the same type; a successful DC 10 check by the first character grants a +2 circumstance bonus on the second character’s check to use the same skill (see pages 65-66 of the Player’s Handbook). This section expands on that rule by allowing more skilled characters to grant greater assistance.

When a character with 5 or more ranks in a skill uses the aid another action to assist another character’s skill check, he can grant a higher bonus than that described in the Player’s Handbook. For every 10 points of the helper’s check result above 10, the circumstance bonus increases by 1. Thus, a result of 10-19 would grant a +2 circumstance bonus (as normal), a result of 20-29 would grant a +3 circumstance bonus, a result of 30-39 a +4 bonus, and so on. (To determine the circumstance bonus quickly, simply divide the helpers check result by 10, round down, and add 1).

This higher bonus is available only to helping with at least 5 ranks in the skill being used. Only experienced characters have the ability to provide the extra assistance. This rule can also be extended to using the aid another action in combat to improve an ally's attack roll or AC. Any character with a base attack bonus of +5 or higher can grant a greater bonus on an ally’s attack roll or AC as described above. This rule rewards the tactic of experienced combatants helping each other in a fight (often the best option when fighting a monster with an extremely high AC or attack bonus).

[edit] Skill Synergy

In addidtion to helping a character’s own skill checks, skill synergies can be used to aid the checks of allies as well. A character with 5 or more ranks in a skill that offers a bonus on another skill due to synergy can make a check of using the first skill to aid the skill that would normally receive the bonus from synergy. For example, Soveliss the 2nd-level ranger could make a Handle Animal check to aid Jozan’s Ride check (using the aid another rules described above and in the Player’s Handbook), because a character with 5 ranks in Handle Animal gains a +2 bonus on Ride checks due to synergy. See Table 4-5: Skill Synergies, page 66 of the Player’s Handbook.

The normal rules for aiding another still apply. For instance, even if Krusk the barbarian had ranks in Handle Animal, he couldn’t use it to aid Vadania the druid’s wild empathy check, because Krusk can’t make a wild empathy check himself. Some combination may be diffucult to imagine, but the DM should allow any synergistic aid another attempt that seems reasonable. For instance, it might seem odd at first glance for Mialee to use Spellcraft to assist Lidda’s Use Magic Device check when reading a scroll – until you imagine the wizard leaning over the rogue’s shoulder, helping her sound out the tougher words.

...from the Complete Adventurer, pg 96