Can a particle emitter be mounted to a player using script?

I'd like to add a smoke emitter to a lava AI, so that it looks like it's smoldering.

I've seen resources and forum threads for mounting a particle emitter to a player using C++/source changes, but I'm not a programmer. Can it be done in script, and if so, any suggestions on how? If not, why not?

Thanks!

Tony

"Something is only impossible until it is not." - Jean-Luc Picard