Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 6163290" data-attributes="member: 6696971">I'm not sure how many folks use them but my small is collectively a big fan of the Companion Character rules in the 4e DMG2.  As the title indicates, they've really done wonders in rounding out our small group's tactical assemblage, specifically in BBEG/high stakes combat encounters where they are almost exclusively deployed (they're relegated to color in standard combats).  They also play a role now and again in non-combat, conflict resolution.  When they are involved in either type of encounter, the encounter budget is adjusted (and XP dispensed) to account for another full-fledged character.  Beyond these advantages, they also provide supplementary support to thematic archetype rendering; where some folks feel that 4e has fallen short.  A Ranger's trusted, loyal dog, a Druid's mystical, primal connection to an animal, a Wizard/Warrior's magical sword all come further to life as companions/familiars.  We create ours slightly different than the pure 4e DMG2 guidelines.  Instead of just using a stock monster and rounding it out via the companion rules, we start by creating our own monsters and then rounding out the companion.  Feel free to follow along with my step by step instructons.  We make creating companion characters...FUN!1st, make an S...ok, a bit more seriously:1 - Pick a role (eg Defender) and create an assemblage of combat traits and powers, including an MBA or RBA, that support that role with as little mental overhead/table handling time as possible.2 - We aren't worrying about fully statting up ability scores as we really just want some easy derivative modifiers.  Depending on role/thematic archetype, put a 15/13 in Con/Dex.  This will determine HPs/Surge and Init modifier.  I would probably give it a 6 speed if you went with the high Con and 7  speed with the high Dex.3 - Hit the target numbers by level and adjust as needed to fit the role.  This includes AC, NADs, to hit, damage expressions, and relevant DCs.4 - Choose 3 skills and give them a modifier where you are successfully hitting a Hard DC on a 12, 13, and 14.5 - Give the companion a vision type and 2 non-combat abilities/features/powers that either facilitate group success in either Skill Challenge or Transition Scenes.Alright, now that that is out of the way, I'll do a few examples of the Companions that have been featured in my home game.  Beyond these two there has been a Silver Dragon Paladin mount (Striker, controller), a sentient, family heirloom blade as familiar (Leader, controller) amongst others.  However, these are two big D&D staples, so I'll outline them and maybe someone will get some use out of them in their home game...especially the home games that feature less than an ideal number of PCs (such as my game) that would be well serviced by an easy companion to round out the roster.  Feel free to steal these for your campaigns and please post any Companion Characters that you have successfully used in your games.  Our game is in the Epic tier of play, but I'll post the 10th level versions as it appears Paragon play is rampant (given polls).Target numbers at 10th level for reference:DCs - Low 13, Med 18, High 26Damage Expressions Mean - Low 13, Med 18, High 22, Encounter 26Atk vs Def - 14 (+ 1 vs standard monsters 13)Average AC:NAD - 25:23</blockquote>

Verification