Unusual Bodyguarding

[CBIrish]

So, while discussing possible infiltration scenarios with my ST, the following situation was brought up:

I play a Changeling descended from Doppelgangers.  I specialize in stealth and infiltration for the rest of my team, who are all wizards of the White Council.  If the need to impersonate a magic user of some sort arose (which has happened before), I speculated that I could use my Lesser Glamours to disguise him, then use my True Shape-shifting to become the wizard's trench coat (or some other item of clothing) in order to maintain the disguise.  Using Modular Abilities, I proposed that I would buy an available Toughness power (with Cold Iron as the Catch) to provide greater protection (should things go horribly wrong, which has also happened before). 

The question that arose was this: how would you handle a combat situation in which the wizard would otherwise be hit (assuming that the strike was somewhere I covered)? Would we use the Assist an Ally rules? Would I count as armor (with stress levels)?

We agreed to put the question before you - our fellow gamers - to see what the consensus was.

[Sanctaphrax]

Huh. I really don't know what the best way to do this is.

An Endurance Block against attacks, maybe?

[polkaneverdies]

Frankly I would discourage this because it seems like a boring way to have a pc spend a combat.
If you are completely dedicating your character's actions to being clothes, then I would have you take the hit outright. It is the only thing that makes sense to me in that scenario.

He would get his normal dodge roll and if he botched it, you get smacked and have to deal with taking the damage.
I would also allow the npcs to make maneuvers or declarations to bypass you and hit him outright. A few examples would be  "unarmoured face" or "exploding room".

Pretty much you surrender your defense rolls to him and then eat the punishment.

[Haru]

I would probably not allow a toughness power for a trenchcoat, since I would like to see a power like that reflected in the shifted form somehow. Scales on a dragon, thick hide on a bear, stuff like that. And in your description of a "Stealth and infiltration Specialist", there is probably a compel in there somewhere, too. I know, not exactly part of the problem, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

Now, despite the fact that your friend is actually wearing you as cloth, I would not make a difference between that and you standing in front of him, covering him with your body. You put up a block against him, using your body as a shield, you are not actually moving, so endurance would be the way to go. But instead of eliminating the stress, the stress that does not hit your friend will hit you. And I would probably compel you out of your form, once you took a consequence.

[Sanctaphrax]

Since you've got Modular Abilities, it might be possible to represent this by taking a custom power. The closest thing I've got is Hollow, which is similar to but not the same as what you want. Regardless, here it is. Maybe it'll inspire you or something.

HOLLOW [-1]
Description: You are hollow. There's enough space inside you for a person to curl up in.
Skills Affected: None
Effects:
Hollow. You may hide objects inside your body. This gives a +4 bonus to any attempt to conceal something.
Living Armour. You may place another character inside your body, if they are willing or helpless. While a character is inside you, you make their physical defense rolls for them. In addition, add your physical armour to theirs. Obviously, a character who is inside moves when you do. A character who is inside you may not take any non-mental actions without first escaping.
Size Limit. A normal-sized character with this power may contain up to one normal-sized human or an equivalent volume and mass of other matter. Diminutive size divides storage capacity by 10, while Hulking Size multiplies it by 10, Titanic Size multiplies it by 100, and Unthinkable Size multiplies it by 1000.
Bigger Inside [-1]. Multiply your storage capacity by 10.
Limited Freedom [-1]. Characters inside you may take social actions. This allows them to make maneuvers in combat.
Full Freedom [-1]. (Requires Limited Freedom) Characters inside you may act normally, with one exception: they may not move outside of you without first escaping.