Animal Companion feats

[Hypersmurf]

If you really want feats that need skill points there is Open Minded.

You could also take feats from either the Book of Nine Swords or Magic of Incarnum.

With the first you can get a once per battle option plus an extra class skill and then you can follow up with a stance, +2 to everyones will save would be funny.

I figured there would potentially be interesting stuff in Bo9S, but I don't own it...

If there's one to make Jump a class skill, it could potentially open up Leap Attack... especially if the DM was happy for you to rework the base 2HD wolf's initial feat and skill points.

-Hyp.

 

[Zurai]

IIf there's one to make Jump a class skill, it could potentially open up Leap Attack... especially if the DM was happy for you to rework the base 2HD wolf's initial feat and skill points.

-Hyp.

Jump is the associated skill for the Tiger Claw discipline, and taking Martial Study to pick up a maneuver from a discipline gives you the associated skill as a class skill for all of your classes.

As a bonus, you'd get a Tiger Claw maneuver to use 1/encounter; unfortunately, RAW, the only one you could take before your 6th HD is Wolf Fang Strike (attack with two weapons as a standard action), which is, ironically, completely and totally useless for a wolf. If you were able to wait til that 6th HD, you could snag Claw at the Moon (+2d6 damage on a successful Jump check) or Rabid Wolf Strike (+4 to hit, +2d6 damage, -4 AC), both of which are nice maneuvers.

 

[blargney the second]

Shape Soulmeld is awesome for animal companions. Heck, just Wormtail Belt gets it +2 natural AC! Soulspeaker Circlet lets it understand one language, which is actually quite cool if you think about it.
-blarg

 

[Jack Simth]

Theoretically, Improved Unarmed Strike gives your animal companion iterative attacks. Plus, it's a prerequisite for Improved Grapple, which is very handy on the Large+ sized animals (as they tend to have very good grapple checks, but a low enough AC such that the attack of opportunity spoils the grapple).

 

[irdeggman]

Not trying to hijack the OPs thread, I'm just currently making a druid who is also focuses on animal companions. So I'll add my ideas in and see what others think.


I'm about to start a ebberon setting druid, for the age of wyrms campaign. So please no spoilers.

My son is playing a shifter druid using racial substitution levels from races of eberron in my AoW game.

That is one sweet set up - that racial substitution level shifter druid. Check it out - you will be amazed at what you can get (basically for losing an animal companion and getting a beast spirit instead).

 

[akbearfoot]

I only own the campaign setting ebberon book sofar.

What is the gist of the shifter sub levels?

 

[blargney the second]

The shifter druid substitution levels make you forgo the animal companion and wild shape in favour of drastically improved shifting abilities.

 

[Pinotage]

The Animal Type description states: "Proficient with no armor unless trained for war."

I've seen two suggestions in the past - one is that it costs a trick for War Training (proficient with all armors, riding dogs can trip, horses and ponies can make proper hoof attacks); the other is that it costs a trick for War Training, Light (proficient with light armor, riding dogs can trip, horses and ponies can make proper hoof attacks), and then extra tricks for Medium and Heavy armor.

Warhorses are obviously trained for war by default.

-Hyp.

That's the quote I was looking for. Warhorses are trained for war, by default, but I'd also include riding dogs in that. The description says under the equipment section that a riding dog is 'brave in combat like a warhorse' which I've always assumed meant it was trained for war. Then again, lots of DMs assume that taking the Combat training via Handle Animal trains an animal for war, and hence gains it the armor proficiencies.

Pinotage

 

[irdeggman]

The shifter druid substitution levels make you forgo the animal companion and wild shape in favour of drastically improved shifting abilities.

Plus a whole bunch of other non-shifting based benefits:

Alertness
Ability bonus to Str, Dex or Con (when preparing spells +2 at 3rd level up to +6 at 18th level)
Add +4 to wild empathy and Handle animal checks
Transfer spirt to any animal that he has summoned
Rapid summoning (at 12th level) - standard action vs full-round

Get the book it is almost a mandatory book if playing the setting because of all the goodness contained within.

 

[escaflowne777]

What's improved natural attack, and where?