D&D 3E/3.5 3.5 animal companions

[GuJiaXian]

I'm looking to build a RAW character who specializes in animal companions, eventually taking the Beast Master PrC from CA. However, I'm not sure about the best way to do it--should I go ranger (coupled with Natural Bond) or druid? I don't see this character as really specializing in magic, so the druid's spellcasting ability isn't a huge draw to me, but the druid's animal companion is, by definition, better than a ranger's.

This character will be 5th level, and I'm thinking that a halfling would be fun to play (especially since he could ride his animal companion into battle).

So, any advice here would be great. Thanks!

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Druid is probably better for full companion advancement. Look into the Devoted Tracker feat in C. Adventurer for stacking animal companion and paladin's special mount into a single entity, I think Druids can qualify, even though the feat's meant for Paladin/Rangers. Of course, to be a Paladin/Druid at all requires some alignment shenanigans...Ranger/Paladin with Natural Bond may be the easier path. In any case, you would then go into Halfling Outrider prestige class (C. Warrior), which advances animal companion AND special mount abilities. Google "super mount" for the build.

Another option might be Wizard/Druid/Arcane Heirophant (it's in Races of the Wild, a dual casting progression class). AH lets you combine your familiar and animal companion into a single entity and get the benefits of both class features.

 

[tommyss4l]

Isn't there a class variant that lets you forgo spell casting as a druid for more wild shapes or better animal companions. I think it's for wild shapes. It's a thought if you really have no interest in a druid's spells.

 

[GuJiaXian]

Isn't there a class variant that lets you forgo spell casting as a druid for more wild shapes or better animal companions. I think it's for wild shapes. It's a thought if you really have no interest in a druid's spells.

This would work perfectly. Any ideas on where this variant can be found?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Don't know what tommy's talking about, but... There's a Totem Druid variant in dragon mag that lets you trade out regular wildshape for a weaker version called "Totem Shape" which ONLY lets you assume the form of your totem animal. On the plus side, you get Natural Spell as a bonus feat, get Totem Shape earlier and more times/day, and your animal companion (must be of your totem, so some sort of Bear if you chose bear totem) can basically get advanced forms (like brown or polar bear, for example) 2 levels earlier than normal.

Overall a weaker option due to the tremendous versatility lost, but if all you want is an awesome animal companion...

I saw it in the crystalkeep base classes index, which unfortunately right now has been "withdrawn" for reasons I don't know. I can post the specific info if you want and your DM doesn't need any sort of reference at all.

 

[Torq]

This might have some useful information for you:

The Handle Animal Guide