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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 9538080" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>Some questions you might want to consider:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are you providing them with bears, or is it on them to acquire the bears in play? Having the first few levels be "befriend these bears" might be pretty impactful, but you also might just want to give them free bears.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are you running them through dungeons? The game usually assumes a Medium creature, but if you maximize bear time, your party's usually going to be Large. This puts a bit of a damper on dungeon crawls, trap-filled warrens, abandoned crypts, and the like. The bears might have to stay outside in those instances. Which can be fine, but,  y'know, something to consider. It's part of why paladins now summon their mounts - you can mount up when it makes sense, but you can also translate that slot into a smite if it doesn't make sense to mount up. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are the bears "controlled" mounts, or "independent" mounts? Controlled mounts don't contribute to damage, but are pretty good for mobility. Independent mounts can do their own thing and add damage, but it's not much at higher levels.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Starting level? Are you starting before paladins can summon mounts? Because that might impact how your party selects their classes. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mount Fragility. RAW, mounts are pretty juicy targets most of the time - low AC's, HP's that aren't too big, some bad saves (an illusionist will wreck every bear you rode in on). Clerics, paladins, battle masters, and (to a certain degree) rangers can all mitigate this, since mounts are allies and can be buffed and healed, but a lot of resources can be spent trying to keep those bears alive if they don't advance on their own a bit. Paladin summoning will mitigate that, since the critter scales. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Melee or ranged? RAW, there's not great options for ranged mounted characters - the rules assume you want to charge into melee with a lance, not take potshots from range with a longbow like a Khan. This might lead to a melee preference for your characters. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter balance & pacing. Depending on if you let the bears take their own actions, you could have DOUBLE the PC turns if every bear gets an attack. At low levels, this will make fights easier and increase fight duration. At high levels, this might just be tedious. </li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>

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