Animal Companion

[bml5099]

Hey guys!

I'm back with yet another noob question, haha! This time it concerns the Ranger's Animal Companion ability. I understand that it works the same as the Druid's except the Ranger's effective Druid level is one half of his Ranger level.

I'm playing a level 6 Elven Ranger in one campaign (v3.5), and that means that I would be looking at the "3rd-5th" row on the table on page 36 to see what extra stats my companion would receive. I chose an Eagle for the companion (MM-1 pg. 272), and his natural HD is 1d8+1. Adding the bonus +2 from the companion chart would make it 3d8+1, correct? If I roll this out, I receive an 18.

What's confusing me is the Base Attack Bonus and Saves that the companion receives based on this HD. The reading says, "An animal companion’s base attack bonus is the same as that of a druid of a level equal to the animal’s HD. An animal companion has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD)."

Even if I'm dividing that 18 by 2, it still seems a little wrong that my companion is receiving the bonuses that my actual character has yet to receive, which makes me think I'm going about this all wrong. Anyone have any kind of input that can help me out?

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

"An animal companion’s base attack bonus is the same as that of a druid of a level equal to the animal’s HD. An animal companion has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD)."

I think you're looking at hit points (HP=18), when you ought to be looking at hit dice (HD=3).

See if that gets you numbers that make a little more sense!

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

What you're looking for specifically is the rules for advancement for animals.

Take a gander at the Animal Type.

At 3 HD, your Eagle will have a BAB of a 3rd level cleric (+2) and base saves of Fort +3, Ref +3, and Will +1. He'll also gain 2 skill points and a feat.

Finally, as an Animal Companions, he gets a +2 bonus to his natural armor, +1 to Str and Dex, 2 bonus tricks (see the Handle Animal skiill) and Evasion.

Hope that helps.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

The mention Druid BAB because it's a medium (or "3/4") BAB progression, same as an animal gets. Your BAB for your companion is 3/4 its HD, rounding down. Which is a lot simpler to just look at the druid table, treat the animal's HD as druid level, and take the BAB from that line.