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Animal Companion woes...
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<blockquote data-quote="Terraism" data-source="post: 1867333" data-attributes="member: 278"><p>I've got two - mainly unrelated - concerns about animal companions, or something like them. Looking for any advice people have.</p><p></p><p>1. In a campaign I'm currently running, one of my players is going to be playing an urban ranger (UA variant,) and, though we've discussed it quite a bit, an animal companion doesn't seem to fit his character. What could a suitable - balance-wise - replacement be? I've had this issue before, where for some roleplaying reason, the character wouldn't have a companion, and I've never been sure what to do. I believe the classes that grant companions are balanced to account for them, and by voluntarily forgoing this... what might work as a substitute? A feat every five levels, perhaps? (Every ten for an urban ranger, who gets 1/2 of a companion. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />) Something else?</p><p></p><p>2. In a campaign I'm <em>playing</em> in, I'm running a wizard who's also an exceptional rider, and he is rather fond of his horse. Unfortunately, I'm starting to see survivability issues, and I'm looking for advice as to how to best protect her. Both general advice and suggestions for magical means are welcome. I'd thought about something similar to the progression animal companions gain, but otherwise am firmly commited to being a wizard (taking levels of druid or ranger wouldn't fit the character.) Also thought about taking her as a modified familiar, but I've already got one of those well established. <em>Complete Arcane</em> includes a feat for gaining a familiar - would having two familiars we awkward? Would a similar feat that gives an animal companion instead be balanced?</p><p></p><p>(Big overall question here is how powerful, balance-wise, an animal companion is. Worth a feat? Three? Not even?)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Terraism, post: 1867333, member: 278"] I've got two - mainly unrelated - concerns about animal companions, or something like them. Looking for any advice people have. 1. In a campaign I'm currently running, one of my players is going to be playing an urban ranger (UA variant,) and, though we've discussed it quite a bit, an animal companion doesn't seem to fit his character. What could a suitable - balance-wise - replacement be? I've had this issue before, where for some roleplaying reason, the character wouldn't have a companion, and I've never been sure what to do. I believe the classes that grant companions are balanced to account for them, and by voluntarily forgoing this... what might work as a substitute? A feat every five levels, perhaps? (Every ten for an urban ranger, who gets 1/2 of a companion. :)) Something else? 2. In a campaign I'm [i]playing[/i] in, I'm running a wizard who's also an exceptional rider, and he is rather fond of his horse. Unfortunately, I'm starting to see survivability issues, and I'm looking for advice as to how to best protect her. Both general advice and suggestions for magical means are welcome. I'd thought about something similar to the progression animal companions gain, but otherwise am firmly commited to being a wizard (taking levels of druid or ranger wouldn't fit the character.) Also thought about taking her as a modified familiar, but I've already got one of those well established. [i]Complete Arcane[/i] includes a feat for gaining a familiar - would having two familiars we awkward? Would a similar feat that gives an animal companion instead be balanced? (Big overall question here is how powerful, balance-wise, an animal companion is. Worth a feat? Three? Not even?) [/QUOTE]
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