Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
It could be more versatile like A stampede of Wildebeests or area appropriate herd beasts which you sent your Wolf companion to herd this way ;p
D&D 4E Ranger: Beastmaster New Powers
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Your eagle companion calls his friends to come and they pick up the whole party and carry them 100's of miles to their destination in a few hours, etc. Yup. 
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
could be integrating a martial practice that provides a mountYour eagle companion calls his friends to come and they pick up the whole party and carry them 100's of miles to their destination in a few hours, etc. Yup.
If we want "powers per beast", we should probably provide them in an essentials-like way.
The idea would be that the Ranger could pick a beast power instead of a Ranger encounter power at a given level, and it would scale somehow.
Rituals/Martial practices attached to a beast form would also help.
Bear + Primal Defender
Mighty Bear protects her cubs.
Based off Brawler Fighter. Its attacks mark. Has Grabs, taunts, etc.
Challenging Roar + Blast 5 vs will, enemies pulled and attacked.
Savage Claws + Daily aura 1, deals [ B ] to adjacent foes.
Bear Hug + Attacks 3 small, 2 medium or 1 large or greater foe, vs Fortitude. Grapples.
Wolf + Primal Striker
Savage Wolf brings the pack's foes down.
Hunting Howl + Tag foes as prey. Get a damage bonus on first attack on each.
Pack Tactics + Knock a foe adjacent to an ally prone, repeat whenever they try to get up.
Go for the Throat + Damaging attack with larger crit range. If the foe is under certain HP the foe dies. Has a chance to recharge if the foe isn't killed.
Eagle + Primal Leader
Majestic Eagle leads, if you will follow.
Overwatch + Creates a zone where allies can make OAs on foes.
Bannerbird + Lands on an allies shoulder, creates an aura around them.
Distracting Swoop + Immediate action, makes a foe miss / gives ally an attack against them.
Coyote + Primal Controller
Trickster Coyote messes with your enemies plans.
The idea would be that the Ranger could pick a beast power instead of a Ranger encounter power at a given level, and it would scale somehow.
Rituals/Martial practices attached to a beast form would also help.
Bear + Primal Defender
Mighty Bear protects her cubs.
Based off Brawler Fighter. Its attacks mark. Has Grabs, taunts, etc.
Challenging Roar + Blast 5 vs will, enemies pulled and attacked.
Savage Claws + Daily aura 1, deals [ B ] to adjacent foes.
Bear Hug + Attacks 3 small, 2 medium or 1 large or greater foe, vs Fortitude. Grapples.
Wolf + Primal Striker
Savage Wolf brings the pack's foes down.
Hunting Howl + Tag foes as prey. Get a damage bonus on first attack on each.
Pack Tactics + Knock a foe adjacent to an ally prone, repeat whenever they try to get up.
Go for the Throat + Damaging attack with larger crit range. If the foe is under certain HP the foe dies. Has a chance to recharge if the foe isn't killed.
Eagle + Primal Leader
Majestic Eagle leads, if you will follow.
Overwatch + Creates a zone where allies can make OAs on foes.
Bannerbird + Lands on an allies shoulder, creates an aura around them.
Distracting Swoop + Immediate action, makes a foe miss / gives ally an attack against them.
Coyote + Primal Controller
Trickster Coyote messes with your enemies plans.
Last edited:
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Oh I like ...
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Yeah, those are good ideas. Build it into the basic at-will repertoire where possible, and otherwise grant some encounter stuff, etc. I'm not sure why the way Essentials did it (with no choices and unleveled powers) was 'better' than core 4e, but whatever, it works either way. I agree that some scaling is nice, and I think that in a lot of cases the scaling 4e provided was insufficient (better to scale than to need to retrain to higher level powers).
In terms of @Garthanos first comment I definitely favor providing 'practices' of all flavors which do basically the same thing for different flavoring. So it might be a pack of eagles for the beast master, and a wind walker for the wizard, a pack of wild hippogryphs for the druid, and a mystical running trance for the ranger, but either way the party gets to where it wants to go post haste.
In terms of @Garthanos first comment I definitely favor providing 'practices' of all flavors which do basically the same thing for different flavoring. So it might be a pack of eagles for the beast master, and a wind walker for the wizard, a pack of wild hippogryphs for the druid, and a mystical running trance for the ranger, but either way the party gets to where it wants to go post haste.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
I am very fond of seeing design notes btw.
AbdulAlhazred
Legend
I think design notes are a good thing to include in rules (that being said I haven't done that with my own game, oh well....).
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
When I do development for 4e I am showing how what I have done integrates with what already exists and where I am taking a divergence but also goals that are being sought. The allowing role flexibility by way of ones companion selection above is intriguing at a broad level but also how a particular element evokes or parallels an existing thing to increase confidence from someone wanting to perhaps use your material.
Similar Threads
