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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Valuing a Companion character (Animal Companion, Familiar, Cohort)
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<blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 7617364" data-attributes="member: 53980"><p>Arguably, they should deal less damage if they have higher durability (I say durability, because if the pet user has double hp but less AC, for example, they effectively don't have double hp). That assumes everything else being equal, as some classes have less combat ability in exchange for greater versatility in the other pillars.</p><p></p><p>The tricky thing is, the double hp concept really only works if the hps are one pool. If they're divided into two pools, it becomes significantly more difficult to estimate what the effective durability actually amounts to. The pet user will fare far differently in a fight against single target damage (where double the durability is double durability) vs AoE damage (where the "double durability" is likely to not be double at all).</p><p></p><p>I'd guess the right amount to be 1.5 times the durability and damage of a solo class (assuming it's evenly divided between pet and master, whenever the pet is defeated the master functions at 3/4ths of solo capability). If you go 100% master and 50% pet, the pet is too expendable, and likely won't factor in too often. Flipped the other way, and it's the PC that becomes expendable.</p><p></p><p>IMO, pets are tricky to design unless baked into the game's assumptions (ie, if you give all the classes pets, it becomes relatively easy to balance). </p><p></p><p>Having played a Revised Ranger Beastmaster a few months back, I can say that the balance was very wobbly. When my pet was in the fight I felt like a beast, but it could get taken out fairly easily, and then I'd feel like a wimp. Still, I'd say it was in the right ballpark, at least for a pet class.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fanaelialae, post: 7617364, member: 53980"] Arguably, they should deal less damage if they have higher durability (I say durability, because if the pet user has double hp but less AC, for example, they effectively don't have double hp). That assumes everything else being equal, as some classes have less combat ability in exchange for greater versatility in the other pillars. The tricky thing is, the double hp concept really only works if the hps are one pool. If they're divided into two pools, it becomes significantly more difficult to estimate what the effective durability actually amounts to. The pet user will fare far differently in a fight against single target damage (where double the durability is double durability) vs AoE damage (where the "double durability" is likely to not be double at all). I'd guess the right amount to be 1.5 times the durability and damage of a solo class (assuming it's evenly divided between pet and master, whenever the pet is defeated the master functions at 3/4ths of solo capability). If you go 100% master and 50% pet, the pet is too expendable, and likely won't factor in too often. Flipped the other way, and it's the PC that becomes expendable. IMO, pets are tricky to design unless baked into the game's assumptions (ie, if you give all the classes pets, it becomes relatively easy to balance). Having played a Revised Ranger Beastmaster a few months back, I can say that the balance was very wobbly. When my pet was in the fight I felt like a beast, but it could get taken out fairly easily, and then I'd feel like a wimp. Still, I'd say it was in the right ballpark, at least for a pet class. [/QUOTE]
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