Quick clarification on Beastmaster?

[imdahman]

Just a quick question. It wasn't totally clear in the MP book.

A player of course gets the standard set of moves:
Standard Action
Minor Action
Move Action

Is this what a beast gets?
Standard Action
Move Action

Is that right? I was confused because I was unclear if it was a beast making one of those moves ie, either just a move OR just an attack. Is it that a beast makes a move and a standard(attack) action?

Thanks everyone for the clarification!

 

[Siberys]

No.

The beast gets no actions of its own. If a player wants his beast to do something, he must spend his own actions to command the beast to do it. For example, if the player wants the beast to make a basic attack, the player must spend a standard action.

This is to preserve something called the economy of actions - basically, if something has more actions available, it is more powerful. It's VERY hard to balance the economy of actions if some players can take more actions than others - and giving a player a beast would essentially do just that.

 

[imdahman]

It does say in the MP book the following:

Defend (Standard Action):​

​

​

​

​

Your beast companion
or both of you go on total defense. If you are
adjacent to each other, the bonus to defenses is +3
rather than +2.​

Move (Move Action):​

​

​

​

​

Your beast companion or
both of you take a move action. The move actions​

need not be the same.

How do those work? It seems to imply that BOTH of you can do these things? IE I can move towards an enemy then I could command my beast to circle around and flank - then at that point either myself or my beast could attack.

 

[themilkman]

In addition, if you are unconscious or dying, your beast can take whatever actions you want it to. If you are dying, though, I think it has to move over to protect you. It's all laid out in MP.

 

[Siberys]

Those are all very specific exceptions to the rules. For everything else, though, the beast essentially has no actions of its own.

 

[imdahman]

How about what I just posted directly from the MP book?

 

[Kordeth]

How about what I just posted directly from the MP book?

Read the entire paragraph before those examples:

Your beast companion doesn’t usually take its own actions during combat. It acts on your turn as you direct it, using the options below. To command your beast companion, you take the action specified for a command, and the beast must be able to see or hear you. If you don’t command your beast companion, it remains where it is, as long as you are conscious and present in the encounter. If you are unconscious or aren’t present, your beast companion can act independently (see “Beast Companion Independent Actions” below).

Even though there are commands you can give the beast that allow both of you to do something, the beast itself has no actions. You must spend the action to command the beast, even if that command allows you to do something as well. If, for example, you are unconscious or suffering from some other condition that does not allow you to take actions, your beast will not move, even though you can use a move action to allow both it and you to use a move action.

 

[Siberys]

It works exactly as written. You, the player, spend a move action, and then one or both of you may move. If you still have a standard action, the player can;

a) Make a basic attack
b) Command the beast to make a basic attack
c) Use any other action that uses a standard action; This may cause BOTH you and the beast to attack, if you are using a power like synchronized strike.

EDIT: Ninja'd, though there are exceptions for unconscious. Reference MP 42. How would that work if you, the ranger, were denied actions, such as through being dominated?

 

[imdahman]

Don't worry about being ninja'd Siberys, your answer was MUCH less confusing. The previous answer just confused me more, lol.

If I move, my beast moves; if I don't move my beast doesn't move either - that was the answer I was looking for not that 'my beast has no actions' which confused the hell out of me because isn't moving an action?

 

[Siberys]

I guess a better way to say it would be "A beast has no actions of its own. A beast cannot spend actions on its own, except under the circumstances explained on page 42."

Also note; You don't have to move for your beast to move; you just have to spend a move action. As long as you spend that move action, you could move 0 squares and your beast its full speed, or vise-versa.