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*Dungeons & Dragons
Beastmaster's animal companion: can it survive for 2 rounds?
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<blockquote data-quote="Juriel" data-source="post: 6371807" data-attributes="member: 68368"><p>Still, no. Your change puts more onto the GM, asking every turn 'hey, will you <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> my class feature over by having my beast run from every fight?'. And CR 1/4 beast is still weak, only leaving a few valid options, and this still has the ambiguous 'get a new beast' phrasing...</p><p></p><p>I think you need to rewrite the whole archetype from the ground up. I'll present two considerations.</p><p></p><p>First, I think treating the animal companion as a regular entity with stats and physical space and all is a boneheaded design decision. I'd rather abstract it, by deciding what it is the Ranger should be getting from the animal, and give those to them as special abilities - think Battlemaster Maneuvers or Warlock Invocations. Your pet has 'poisonous', you can add that to an attack once per encounter. Your pet has 'genius', yay, you can send it to run even complex errands on its own. Your pet has 'mental link', congrats, you can see and hear everything through it. No worry about extra actions, no worry about where it physically is, no worries about it dying all the bloody time - it's just a part of what your character is.</p><p></p><p>Second, if we were going to try and fix the regular version... sigh.</p><p></p><p>Rather than reference MM and CRs, you should pick a type of animal, and that gets it its (intended to be balanced with one another) stats. Like, if you have a 'flier', then it can be a crow/vulture/giant bee, whatever you want it to be, all with the same statline. Then same for 'sneaky critter' and 'pack hunter', etc. Restricting player options/theme, by gimping the hell out of their intended Ferretmaster concept, serves no valuable reason, when we're dealing with a game that has Str 20 Halflings weighing 30 pounds anyway. So what if ferret being a 'sneaky critter' gets it the same stats as a Panther, look at that halfling.</p><p></p><p>The animal needs to be its completely own entity in actions, but the GM should not have to worry about deciding what it does. Just let the player direct their pet, because it's their bloody class feature. It's all they're getting from their archetype, while casters can get 8 times the actions through a single summon spell.</p><p></p><p>The Ranger needs to have some kind of a bond with their animal companion, right away. At the very least 'can communicate telepathically, in images and feelings' from lv2, preferrably full-on 'see through their eyes across any distance'. This is something a Chain Warlock can do, so come on, this is a bigger part of the Beastmaster than their familiar is.</p><p></p><p>The animal companion needs to be immortal, not be a class feature that you can actually lose and never get back (because you're in a dungeon/desert/different plane, and the GM just says 'sorry, no beasts here'). Just say 'animal companion runs away from combat if reduced to 0 hp, but will return to after the next short rest' or something, because that's the same as getting a new one, but completely different in feel if you're supposed to have a bond with this one particular animal that is your COMPANION, not just a random meatpuppet you picked up off the streets for today's dungeon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Juriel, post: 6371807, member: 68368"] Still, no. Your change puts more onto the GM, asking every turn 'hey, will you :):):):) my class feature over by having my beast run from every fight?'. And CR 1/4 beast is still weak, only leaving a few valid options, and this still has the ambiguous 'get a new beast' phrasing... I think you need to rewrite the whole archetype from the ground up. I'll present two considerations. First, I think treating the animal companion as a regular entity with stats and physical space and all is a boneheaded design decision. I'd rather abstract it, by deciding what it is the Ranger should be getting from the animal, and give those to them as special abilities - think Battlemaster Maneuvers or Warlock Invocations. Your pet has 'poisonous', you can add that to an attack once per encounter. Your pet has 'genius', yay, you can send it to run even complex errands on its own. Your pet has 'mental link', congrats, you can see and hear everything through it. No worry about extra actions, no worry about where it physically is, no worries about it dying all the bloody time - it's just a part of what your character is. Second, if we were going to try and fix the regular version... sigh. Rather than reference MM and CRs, you should pick a type of animal, and that gets it its (intended to be balanced with one another) stats. Like, if you have a 'flier', then it can be a crow/vulture/giant bee, whatever you want it to be, all with the same statline. Then same for 'sneaky critter' and 'pack hunter', etc. Restricting player options/theme, by gimping the hell out of their intended Ferretmaster concept, serves no valuable reason, when we're dealing with a game that has Str 20 Halflings weighing 30 pounds anyway. So what if ferret being a 'sneaky critter' gets it the same stats as a Panther, look at that halfling. The animal needs to be its completely own entity in actions, but the GM should not have to worry about deciding what it does. Just let the player direct their pet, because it's their bloody class feature. It's all they're getting from their archetype, while casters can get 8 times the actions through a single summon spell. The Ranger needs to have some kind of a bond with their animal companion, right away. At the very least 'can communicate telepathically, in images and feelings' from lv2, preferrably full-on 'see through their eyes across any distance'. This is something a Chain Warlock can do, so come on, this is a bigger part of the Beastmaster than their familiar is. The animal companion needs to be immortal, not be a class feature that you can actually lose and never get back (because you're in a dungeon/desert/different plane, and the GM just says 'sorry, no beasts here'). Just say 'animal companion runs away from combat if reduced to 0 hp, but will return to after the next short rest' or something, because that's the same as getting a new one, but completely different in feel if you're supposed to have a bond with this one particular animal that is your COMPANION, not just a random meatpuppet you picked up off the streets for today's dungeon. [/QUOTE]
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Beastmaster's animal companion: can it survive for 2 rounds?
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