Zardnaar
Legend
Whats in a name? The Mahout IRL is an Elephant handler and this class can do that but its more of a Beastmaster type class where the pet is its main class feature. As a name the Mahout is not the best but it is far from the worst. As a general rule when it comes to reviewing a class I look at its 1st 5 levels, then the next 5 etc in terms of power. This is because people will play level 1-5 a lot more than 15-20 and some games might not even make it to level 10 so any class that starts out weak and gets better later will get reviewed lower. I'll also look at the classes role which is basically warrior, expert/skirmisher, support or artillery as all the PHB classes fall into one (or more) of those categories. Half casters will be compared the Ranger and Paladin, full casters with the existing ones, martial types with the ones in the PHB. The Mahout is a bit different here as it fit in with none of the 4 main categories very well although I suppose it is a type of Warrior as it will be using its pet in the role. The last 2 classes I reviewed one was a negative (Steamknight) while one was somewhat positive (the Gemini) and I currently have a 5th level Gemini in an actual game.
So the Mahout is attempting to have an effective pet based class in 5E. The Beastmaster Ranger is widely regarded as weak because I suspect they did not have that muh design room in the Ranger subclass features and they did not want a repeat of the 3.5 Druid where the pet was competitive with some of the actual warrior classes. The mahout is not a primary caster and is is built from the ground up. D&D has traditionally struggled with pets for several reasons. Typically they are because the pet is to good (3.5 Druid), to weak (2E Ranger companion), or you have to many of them ( Druids with a fur army of charmed animal 1E to 3E, early ENworld Diabolist). The only edition where they may have got the concept half right was 3.5/Pathfinder where the Rangers pet was weaker than the Druids but not a total lost cause. One of these days I might have to tell the story of Clive the Elephant a pet from 2E and the Elepult (think catapult+ Elephant).
The Mahout gets a 1d12 hit dice (great), light and medium armor+ shields, dexterity and wisdom saves (2 good saves is odd not the 1st EN5ider class to do this), and 2 skills+ back ground plus animal handling for free along with tamers tools proficiency. It doesn't get martial weapon proficiency though and a lance could be useful. At level 1 you get a regimen (what type of critters you get to play with), a pet (CR 1/4), and sense pets which lets you find critters within 60'. The pet can scale up to CR 8 at level 20 which is a T-Rex or Savager from Tome of Beasts so its a little bit better than wildshape in terms of CR options as you get CR 6 at level 15. You get an extra regimen at level 5,10,15, and 20 and they give you a variety of assorted options for what you can tame. The Beast regimen is any beast you like while the oddball and monstrous options giving you a limited selection with Wyverns, Hydra, Winter Wolf, Owlbear, and Griffons being some stand out. One odd thing I noticed was you can get 5 regimens but only 3 are provided in the Mahout and advanced options article so the class seems incomplete. The pets do not seem to deal magic damage however so that might also limit them and punish the Mahout later. I'm not sure if you get an extra pet per regimen either I think you can only have 1 pet but are not 100% sure. You also have to locate and find the pet you want to train and you it takes a standard action to command it which become a bonus action at level 5, then no action at level 11. In effect you are trading a fighters multiple attacks for bossing your pet around although the Mahout also gets an extra attack at level 11 and an extra dice of damage when using whips at level 7. Your pet also can't have more hit points than you which is a bit of a downside.
Most of the Mahouts classes abilities are tied to making your pet better with only a few that improve the actual Mahout itself. This raises a big potential problem with the class which is what happens if you pet dies? The Mahout is a lot weaker without a pet than say a spellcaster without spells as they still have a few class features and cantrips. The other problem is a lot of the pets of higher CR are size L,H and G which means they may be to big to take anywhere, if you have played a moon druid and wildshaping into bigger critters is a problem the Mahout will have this problem all of the time. How good the Mahout is is also dependent on if the DM is using other books such as Volos Guide to Monster or Tome of Beasts which has more options in it. Is the Mahout broken? I don't think it is although it may be situational. If you allow Moon Druids into the game or the Xanathars summoning Druid into the game you may as well allow the Mahout. I have doubts to how good the Mahout is in a dungeon hack but in something like X1 The Isle of Dread and wilderness adventures the Mahouts pet could be very useful. Potentially useful things to do would be a fighter dip for the protection fighting style+ marital weapons if you wanted to ride you pet, the mounted feat, or things such as the magic initiate feat as you will only have 1 attack until level 11 so something like Green Flame Blade could be useful along with a ranged cantrip.
So is the Mahout a good class? This is a difficult one to answer as it requires testing and as I said the class might not be that good at dungeon delving due to the physical size of the pet. Also you are giving up almost everything to get that pet which is a major problem if it dies and the pet can't deal magic damage either so the pet might actually be out right useless. You weapon options are also limited and you can't even have a horse as your pet and use a lance. The class may also be missing some regimens or someone did not think things through when they printed the class with 5 regimens but only included 3. The class has a lot of interesting features though and is a very interesting take on a new martial concept along with the pet class. The major downside is unlike the Druid your pet can't have more hit points than you and the class is basically hopeless without the pet being a worse fighter type than a Valor Bard with worse weapon options. Dead pet= more or less a Druid with no spells or wild shape levels of fighting ability at least until level 11 where you gain a 2nd attack. Still at level 5 you can command a CR 2 pet to attack as a bonus action and have a single attack yourself (or cast s a spell if you have MC or have the arcane initiate feat) and that is not that bad. The class is not a dumpster fire but overall I suspect it is probably a bit weak (probably weaker than a beastmaster ranger type weak). Although I can see situations where your pet+ you goes to town there will be other situations where your pet can't fit, is blocking the party due to its size or it is dead. Replacing the pet can also be inconvenient as you have to locate one and that can vary by your location. On the Isle of Dread its a pet dinosaur, in a desert or urban environment your options are very limited.
Also at level 1 it seems to be ask your DM in terms of starting with a pet but a pet ape, axebeak, black bear, crocodile etc could be very useful (anything beast up to CR 1/2, CR 1 at level 3). Said beastie is probably only going to have 14 or 15 hit points though and a low AC so it can stretch party healing even thinner. I also kind of do not get the hit point limitation either as its something the Druid doesn't have to worry about and sure the pet is around all of the time vs the Moon Druids wiled shape its also still a primary caster so letting the pet keep its original HP makes sens although as you level up the pets hp will scale a bit better, the level you unlock a new CR pet though odds are it has more hit points than you in its original form. At level 2 for example you pet should have its full hit points but at level 3 you get CR 1 critters and it might have more HP than you. The class should also have martial weapons IMHO and have a weak saving throw to bring it into line with the PHB class design.
Conclusions. Does the Mahout pass the would I play it test. Probably not but that is more due to the reason I'm not really a pet class type of person. Mechanically it looks OK assuming your pet is alive and around. It has some issues and I am not convinced the class is that viable for some adventure types such as Princes of the Apocalypse. A large beastie for example will block a 10' corridor and the damage 5E monsters do is a lot so the pets tankiness is an issue IMHO. Its interesting though and I suspect some people really want a pet based class. Still once upon a time Bob 37 was a fine horse Bob 1- Bob 36 all coming to a messy end and the pet might have a similar fate. Bob being a series of horses from an old 2E game 6 of them died to a fireball.
So the Mahout is attempting to have an effective pet based class in 5E. The Beastmaster Ranger is widely regarded as weak because I suspect they did not have that muh design room in the Ranger subclass features and they did not want a repeat of the 3.5 Druid where the pet was competitive with some of the actual warrior classes. The mahout is not a primary caster and is is built from the ground up. D&D has traditionally struggled with pets for several reasons. Typically they are because the pet is to good (3.5 Druid), to weak (2E Ranger companion), or you have to many of them ( Druids with a fur army of charmed animal 1E to 3E, early ENworld Diabolist). The only edition where they may have got the concept half right was 3.5/Pathfinder where the Rangers pet was weaker than the Druids but not a total lost cause. One of these days I might have to tell the story of Clive the Elephant a pet from 2E and the Elepult (think catapult+ Elephant).
The Mahout gets a 1d12 hit dice (great), light and medium armor+ shields, dexterity and wisdom saves (2 good saves is odd not the 1st EN5ider class to do this), and 2 skills+ back ground plus animal handling for free along with tamers tools proficiency. It doesn't get martial weapon proficiency though and a lance could be useful. At level 1 you get a regimen (what type of critters you get to play with), a pet (CR 1/4), and sense pets which lets you find critters within 60'. The pet can scale up to CR 8 at level 20 which is a T-Rex or Savager from Tome of Beasts so its a little bit better than wildshape in terms of CR options as you get CR 6 at level 15. You get an extra regimen at level 5,10,15, and 20 and they give you a variety of assorted options for what you can tame. The Beast regimen is any beast you like while the oddball and monstrous options giving you a limited selection with Wyverns, Hydra, Winter Wolf, Owlbear, and Griffons being some stand out. One odd thing I noticed was you can get 5 regimens but only 3 are provided in the Mahout and advanced options article so the class seems incomplete. The pets do not seem to deal magic damage however so that might also limit them and punish the Mahout later. I'm not sure if you get an extra pet per regimen either I think you can only have 1 pet but are not 100% sure. You also have to locate and find the pet you want to train and you it takes a standard action to command it which become a bonus action at level 5, then no action at level 11. In effect you are trading a fighters multiple attacks for bossing your pet around although the Mahout also gets an extra attack at level 11 and an extra dice of damage when using whips at level 7. Your pet also can't have more hit points than you which is a bit of a downside.
Most of the Mahouts classes abilities are tied to making your pet better with only a few that improve the actual Mahout itself. This raises a big potential problem with the class which is what happens if you pet dies? The Mahout is a lot weaker without a pet than say a spellcaster without spells as they still have a few class features and cantrips. The other problem is a lot of the pets of higher CR are size L,H and G which means they may be to big to take anywhere, if you have played a moon druid and wildshaping into bigger critters is a problem the Mahout will have this problem all of the time. How good the Mahout is is also dependent on if the DM is using other books such as Volos Guide to Monster or Tome of Beasts which has more options in it. Is the Mahout broken? I don't think it is although it may be situational. If you allow Moon Druids into the game or the Xanathars summoning Druid into the game you may as well allow the Mahout. I have doubts to how good the Mahout is in a dungeon hack but in something like X1 The Isle of Dread and wilderness adventures the Mahouts pet could be very useful. Potentially useful things to do would be a fighter dip for the protection fighting style+ marital weapons if you wanted to ride you pet, the mounted feat, or things such as the magic initiate feat as you will only have 1 attack until level 11 so something like Green Flame Blade could be useful along with a ranged cantrip.
So is the Mahout a good class? This is a difficult one to answer as it requires testing and as I said the class might not be that good at dungeon delving due to the physical size of the pet. Also you are giving up almost everything to get that pet which is a major problem if it dies and the pet can't deal magic damage either so the pet might actually be out right useless. You weapon options are also limited and you can't even have a horse as your pet and use a lance. The class may also be missing some regimens or someone did not think things through when they printed the class with 5 regimens but only included 3. The class has a lot of interesting features though and is a very interesting take on a new martial concept along with the pet class. The major downside is unlike the Druid your pet can't have more hit points than you and the class is basically hopeless without the pet being a worse fighter type than a Valor Bard with worse weapon options. Dead pet= more or less a Druid with no spells or wild shape levels of fighting ability at least until level 11 where you gain a 2nd attack. Still at level 5 you can command a CR 2 pet to attack as a bonus action and have a single attack yourself (or cast s a spell if you have MC or have the arcane initiate feat) and that is not that bad. The class is not a dumpster fire but overall I suspect it is probably a bit weak (probably weaker than a beastmaster ranger type weak). Although I can see situations where your pet+ you goes to town there will be other situations where your pet can't fit, is blocking the party due to its size or it is dead. Replacing the pet can also be inconvenient as you have to locate one and that can vary by your location. On the Isle of Dread its a pet dinosaur, in a desert or urban environment your options are very limited.
Also at level 1 it seems to be ask your DM in terms of starting with a pet but a pet ape, axebeak, black bear, crocodile etc could be very useful (anything beast up to CR 1/2, CR 1 at level 3). Said beastie is probably only going to have 14 or 15 hit points though and a low AC so it can stretch party healing even thinner. I also kind of do not get the hit point limitation either as its something the Druid doesn't have to worry about and sure the pet is around all of the time vs the Moon Druids wiled shape its also still a primary caster so letting the pet keep its original HP makes sens although as you level up the pets hp will scale a bit better, the level you unlock a new CR pet though odds are it has more hit points than you in its original form. At level 2 for example you pet should have its full hit points but at level 3 you get CR 1 critters and it might have more HP than you. The class should also have martial weapons IMHO and have a weak saving throw to bring it into line with the PHB class design.
Conclusions. Does the Mahout pass the would I play it test. Probably not but that is more due to the reason I'm not really a pet class type of person. Mechanically it looks OK assuming your pet is alive and around. It has some issues and I am not convinced the class is that viable for some adventure types such as Princes of the Apocalypse. A large beastie for example will block a 10' corridor and the damage 5E monsters do is a lot so the pets tankiness is an issue IMHO. Its interesting though and I suspect some people really want a pet based class. Still once upon a time Bob 37 was a fine horse Bob 1- Bob 36 all coming to a messy end and the pet might have a similar fate. Bob being a series of horses from an old 2E game 6 of them died to a fireball.
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