Animal Companion choice stragegy

[lukelightning]

This is an extension of my "what animal companion do you like?" poll.

In addition to personal species preferences, I see one of the main decisions in chosing a druid's (or ranger's) animal companion is what "level" of animal to get. A lower level category of animal will get bonus HD, stats, natural armor, etc. faster than a higher level animal. Some people like to have a super buff dire rat, others prefer to go for the bigger and better rhino.

When you have a character with an animal companion, do you go for a lower-level animal to get the bonuses, a high-level animal, or in between?

(in contrast with that other poll I did with 55 choices...I'm gonna keep this one simple with three).

 

[devilbat]

A far as I'm concerned ,it's all about the role-playing, and the bonuses are an after thought. I look for an animal companion that fits the character concept and style. Whatever bonuses the companion gives is groovy.

 

[lukelightning]

A far as I'm concerned ,it's all about the role-playing...

Bah! Your non-munchkinny, non-minmaxing realistic roleplaying has no place here!

I guess I could have put in a choice "I choose by species" but I was more interested in the focusing on the "small but buffed or big and tough" choice. I'm normally for big-and-tough myself though like the idea of a druid with a really tough dire rat.

 

[JustaPlayer]

Yep, take the biggest and baddest toad I can find.

 

[TroyXavier]

I tend to like slightly stronger ones like Dire Wolverines or Dire Lions.

 

[Thaniel]

My Halfling Druid (with racial substitution levels from RoW) will stick with his riding dog as long as he can.

 

[eris404]

It just depends on so many things - character concept, setting, etc. Sometimes having the biggest, baddest animal just doesn't help you when you're trying to convince the villagers that really you are a nice guy. No, really! Sometimes having a polar bear in a mostly desert setting isn't going to cut it either. But of course, if your animal friends keep getting killed by orcs, that's no fun either.

I tend to go for animals that I like in RL anyway - ravens, dogs and bears for some reason. That seems to be the driving factor more than anything else.

 

[qstor]

I'd stay stick with one animal till you can get a large sized animal, then stick with that animal till the DM says your druid/ranger is too high level to play in the game, IMHO. That way the large sized animal will benefit from the HD and stat bumps...

Mike

 

[Stalker0]

If I'm going for the power gaming, got to go with the big and bad. The bonus HD don't make up for the fact my creture is huge, has con and str out the wazoo, and has a grapple check higher than a divine powered stone giant/cleric's BAB

 

[sniffles]

A far as I'm concerned ,it's all about the role-playing, and the bonuses are an after thought. I look for an animal companion that fits the character concept and style. Whatever bonuses the companion gives is groovy.

I'm with Devilbat here. I run a druid/ranger in one campaign, and she has two dogs. I picked them because I like dogs. I never really look at the animal's stats until I've already chosen one. It's all about what seems right for the character. Even if I were going to munchkin it, the choice would be based first on what seems appropriate to the character, and then what's the coolest kicka$$ critter I can find.