Shirt Guy John said:
I was wondering if the caster levels included those that the Tamer of Beasts gains during the level progression of the class?
Since it specifically says "the caster level of Animal Friendship" then yes it would, unless you use those levels to raise your caster level of a class other than the one which grants you the Animal Friendship spell (Druid or Ranger, depending on the character.)
I.e. a Druid/Bard that takes the class could use the spellcasting progression to raise their bard caster level. In that case, however, the extra caster level wouldn't affect the Animal Mastery ability. The class levels would still raise it, though.
Actually, after I reread the section, it seems that the writers themselves are confused. If you go solely by the description of the ability, then yes, it would affect it if you raise your Druid or ranger spellcaster level. However, the example that they give (Druid7/Tamer of Beasts3) is said to be able to befriend 20 HD worth of animals. But since he has a caster level of 8, plus the PrC level of 3, he ought to be able to befriend ((2*8)+(2*3))= 22 HD worth of animals. I'd say that the example given is incorrect.
Though you might want to ask the Sage on this one... Hmm...
