Check My Math? - Animal Companion

[Imagicka]

Greetings...

I am a little confused. I was looking at the rules for creating an Animal Companion, and I would like to know if my thinking is right on this...

I'm am designing an Druid's Animal Companion. In particular, I have a 3rd level druid who's taken a dog as his animal companion. So... a typical dog is this:

Dog
Size/Type: Small Animal
Hit Dice: 1d8+2 (6 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0/-3
Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft
Special Attacks: none
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Jump +7, Listen +5, Spot +5, Survival +1*
Feats: Alertness, TrackB
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary or pack (5-12)
Challenge Rating: 1/3
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: --
Level Adjustment: --

• So, at first level, the animal companion will know 7 tricks... 6 due to Handle Animal Tricks, and the Dog's INT is 2. Plus the additional trick due to Animal Companion.
• It's HP is going to be (using just averages) 6 (4+2).
• Melee Attack is going to be +2 (+1 due to BAB = Druid's Level , +1 STR bonus, +0 Dog's BAB)
• AC should be 15 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 12[
• As well as the Link and Share Spells abilities.
  
• At Second level, the animal companion gets 6 more average hit points, making the total 12.
• Tricks remain at 7.
• Melee Attack is +3 (+2 Druid's lvl, +1 STR bonus, +0 BAB)
• AC is 15 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +1 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 12

Now at level three, the animal companion gets a few new things.

• +1 to STR and DEX, which ups both attribute bonuses, and AC
• BAB +5 (+3 Drd's lvl, +2 STR)
• AC is 18 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +3 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 14
• +2 HD, which becomes 3d8+3, and then makes the total average HPs 27 (12+15)
• Tricks become 8.
• Gains Evasion

At First level, shouldn't the A.C. have a melee of +4? (+2 Dog's Melee/STR, +1 Drd's Lvl, +1 Size)?

Should I be factoring in the animal's size, and giving a +1 to Melee attack bonuses, thus making it +6 at lvl 3 for the druid?

Shouldn't the animal also get a HD bonus Feat? Such as Improved Natural Attack (Bite) or something like that?

So, what I would end up with is something like this:

Dog (Animal Companion/3rd lvl Drd)
Size/Type: Small Animal (Magical Beast)
Hit Dice: 3d8+2 (27 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +3 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+0
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d4+1) (+2 BAB, +3 STR, +1 Size)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft
Special Attacks: none
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +2
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Jump +7, Listen +5, Spot +5, Survival +1*
Feats: Alertness, TrackB
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary or pack (5-12)
Challenge Rating: 1/3
Alignment: Neutral
Advancement: --
Level Adjustment: --

 

[VonRichthofen]

Just gave this a short look, but there are several faults already:

AC's attack bonus is not a full fighter progression, it's a rogue/druid progression.
Thus, your 3HD companion has a BAB +2.

Your Druid level has NOTHING to do with your AC's BAB.
You factor the AC's HD as normal, and then you grant him a BAB of a cleric/druid/rogue of the same HD - not your own!

Your HP are factored wrong. 3d8+6 = 23 on average.

Your stat increases are not reflected in your 2nd writeup.

Btw, ability bonuses, feats, et. al. don't count towards BAB.
Thus, your Str 20 Half-Orc barbarian 1 doesn't have a BAB +6/+1 but still +1, he only gets a +5 Str bonus to attack/damage. Same with your dog or any other creature.

...and so on. I leave it to others to find more.

 

[Darklone]

You didn't include the attribute increases.

 

[ElectricDragon]

Try this:

DOG
Small Animal
Hit Dice: 3d8+6 (19 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +3 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+0
Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d4+2)
Full Attack: Bite +7 melee (1d4+2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +2
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Jump +8, Listen +6, Spot +6, Survival +1*
Feats: Alertness, TrackB, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Temperate plains
Organization: Solitary or pack (5–12)
Challenge Rating: Companion
Advancement: —
Level Adjustment: —
The statistics presented here describe a fairly small dog of about 20 to 50 pounds in weight. They also can be used for small wild canines such as coyotes, jackals, and African wild dogs.
Combat
Dogs generally hunt in packs, chasing and exhausting prey until they can drag it down.
Skills: Dogs have a +4 racial bonus on Jump checks. *Dogs have a +4 racial bonus on Survival checks when tracking by scent.
Animal Companion Abilities
Link (Ex): A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The druid gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion.
Share Spells (Ex): At the druid’s option, she may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) she casts upon herself also affect her animal companion. The animal companion must be within 5 feet of her at the time of casting to receive the benefit. If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the animal companion if the companion moves farther than 5 feet away and will not affect the animal again, even if it returns to the druid before the duration expires.
Additionally, the druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A druid and her animal companion can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion’s type (animal).
Evasion (Ex): If an animal companion is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, it takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw.
Tricks: Base 6, Bonus 2.

Ciao
Dave