Alternative Beast Master: Beta 0.1

[Xeviat]

Yeah, ritual casting for a lot of those little out of combat things would be good, help them to feel magical.

 

[jodyjohnson]

Giving Help as an at-will action seems a bit more of a boost than I prefer.

I feel like rebuilding the beasts changes too much considering how many places these stats are printed. But that's mostly from a preference to avoid house-rule bloat.

I prefer the companion feel more like a special bond with a natural animal, but I would add a spell to overcome non-magical weapon resistance or immunity (Magic Fang), and possibly some sort of magic items.

 

[Xeviat]

Magic fang would be good. I could also make that the level 7 benefit, I hadn't thought of it.

At will help at third level balances against the Hunter's colossus slayer, and it already exists at level seven. But if it's a preference thing, I understand.

I chose to modify the animals only because they're so all over the board. Like I said, the giant poisonous snake clocks in as a CR 1 creature, not CR 1/4, and with the +2 damage from ranger proficiency iris dealing 19.5 damage Ina hit and a failed save. The hunter ranger deals 17.5 with twfing and colossus slayer base; also, base can't utilize twfing and beast master features at the same time.

 

[jodyjohnson]

At will help at third level balances against the Hunter's colossus slayer, and it already exists at level seven. But if it's a preference thing, I understand.

I'm going to pick on this just to remind everyone that it isn't just about DPS.

Don't forget that the Beastmaster has an entire extra entity on the table with the following options (without any house rules or giving up actions required (post errata):

The companion can:
1) make perception checks (often with advantage)
2) move
3) have reactions, and make Opportunity atacks
4) block movement
5) be a target (and soak some decent damage at higher levels)
6) heal a limited amount on a short rest
7) heal to full on a long rest
8) make death saves
9) and act as a replacement character any rounds where you character is down

Right there I think we're flush with an extra +1d8 damage on some rounds, or a sometimes extra attack (especially as Rangers are mainly two weapon, duelist, or ranged).

I will also note that I house rule GWF and SS so those big damage spikes from feats are off the table for comparison.

 

[Xeviat]

The wizard's familiar can do the perception checks and move. It's hp is terrible, though, so it's a weak comparison.

All the healing and HP the pet is capable of adds up to less than Lay on Hands from the paladin, and the paladin gets more damage to boot.

 

[jodyjohnson]

All the healing and HP the pet is capable of adds up to less than Lay on Hands from the paladin, and the paladin gets more damage to boot.

In a low encounter per day campaign the Paladin is just plain better. That has no bearing on the balance between the Hunter and Beastmaster.

The Paladin's Spike damage and healing outclasses the Fighter and the Ranger in the "one encounter per day" style, and especially the "one or two encounters per day" style with no short rests. In a "many encounter, several short rest per day" paradigm, the Fighter and Ranger can hold their own. At this point the Animal Companion can bring its own HD into the mix, and more with the houseruled versions (a potential bonus of 8-10 hp/level average).

I've been thinking about class tweaks for campaigns with 'variant' encounters/day styles. I think the Fighter especially comes up short in a 1 or 2 encounter per day style at the mid-levels.

 

[Xeviat]

Well, hunter vs beast master, by the book, has their damage being nearly equal if you choose certain companions (giant poisonous snake really). But that equality is 3 hp/level away from going away, and it doesn't work with Hunter's Mark. Both yours and my variants fix that.

Where we differ is that I think the animals, which were likely finalized before the DMG guidelines for CRs was completed, aren't balanced against each other. There are clear winners, and those clock in at CR 1/2 or even CR 1 in the case of the giant poisonous snake (+6 to hit, 16 AC, up to 17.5 damage, with 10 ft reach! Add on the beast master's +2 proficiency bonus and it goes way overboard). Granted, it only has 3 hp/level, and takes the time of a long rest to bring back.

You and I both agree that they need more hp. We simply disagree on the balance of the animals. I've buffed doe and nerfed a few.

 

[jodyjohnson]

in the case of the giant poisonous snake (+6 to hit, 16 AC, up to 17.5 damage, with 10 ft reach! Add on the beast master's +2 proficiency bonus and it goes way overboard). Granted, it only has 3 hp/level, ...

Is the MM version different from the DM Basic Rules version?
(Beastmaster Level 3 version in parenthesis) I'm seeing AC 14 (16), Hit Points 11 (12), Perception +2 (+4), Bite +6 (+8), reach 10. Hit 1d4+4 (1d4+6) plus poison 3d6 (3d6+2). Average damage 16 (20) or 17 (21) if rolled. It has 4hp/Ranger level per Beastmaster default. 2 HD for short rest recovery.

The House ruled version (HD=Ranger level) would have 16 hp (3d8+3). 3 HD for short rest recovery. A 3rd Level Ranger with a +2 Con bonus (MAD with Str/Dex and Wis needed) would have 28 hit points for comparison. Unless the
Ranger had very high Con, this would be better than the 'half Ranger HP' method of the latest UA Ranger.

 

[Xeviat]

That looks right, I don't have my MM with me. Though most people say to not add the +2 damage to the poison. Either way, it outstrips the other companion animals by quite a bit.