Which is better?: familiar, anim.companion or paladin mount?

[Driddle]

I think Unearthed Arcana included a variant swapping option for certain spellcasters: Instead of a familiar, the character can take an animal companion. There might have been more details to the trade, but I can't remember them right now.

Makes me wonder what the relative strengths of the critters are in the average campaign, and how swappable they are as balanced game components for fine-tuning a character to a non-standard concept.

What are your thoughts on this?

And if a player wanted his character to have more than one critter of the same type (two familiars, for example), what would be an equivalently valued resource to give up?

 

[gfunk]

It depends what you are looking for. A familiar has a lot of unique abilities and can be drastically improved with feats such as Improved Familiar and Celestial Familiar. However, they are fragile, impossible to replace (a year and a day!?), and expensive to lose via the XP hit.

If it is a bodyguard or meatshield you are looking for, go animal companion. They have more hps and better attack bonuses and damage. And best, they can be replaced after a mere 24 hr. In our current campaign our druid is ~10th level and has gone through a half-dozen animal companions.

A Paladin's mount is not terribly useful unless you plan on focusing on mounted combat by taking the appropriate feats.

 

[diaglo]

And if a player wanted his character to have more than one critter of the same type (two familiars, for example), what would be an equivalently valued resource to give up?

his sanity. it would be like having to bickering old ladies with you stuck in the middle having to listen to both of them all the time in the case of multiple familiars.

the familiar is the most improveable.

the animal companion can be tough if you try and go out of their normal environ...like taking a Grizzly bear (a Large type) into a small sewer system...with room to only squeeze Small or Mediums in....

same problem with the Pokemount. but they fixed it a little in 3.11ed for Workgroups. now it really is a Pokemount. :\

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I think it depends on what you want... A human paladin riding into battle on his toad familiar is going to get laughed at.

More seriously, my 2 cents:

I think it does depend on what you want.

Animal companions/Paladin mounts are better for combat - Purely by the rules - they tend to be bigger and meaner, easier to replace and don't cost you a bucket of XP if they die... With the 'Poke' ability - Paladin mounts are 'better'... IIRC get more bonuses - just have the limitation that you must be able to ride them - get more choice of animal with a companion.

Familiars are far better for scouting and character interaction - generally they're smaller, smarter and can communicate better...

 

[Driddle]

As a pet owner of many years, I take a very personal, protective view of animals in my care, even imaginary animals. I simply can't buy into the idea of a 'disposable' animal companion, or a critter you throw at monsters as though it were merely a weapon. In that sense, a druid's animal companion is less valuable to me as a battle buddy because I'm very reluctant to let it get hurt; after that first hit, I send the animal away to hide.

I like the paladin mount concept, up to a point: It feels more like a game mechanic for travel/fighting and less like a 'real' animal.

 

[Felon]

Familiars are trash. The benefits they provide are so meager (mostly bonuses to cross-class skills), and they die with such ease, that it's highly questionable whether they're worth bothering with.

Animal companions, OTOH, are quite effective. Or rather I should say druid companions are; ranger companions are noticably weaker. The fact that an animal companion is utterly disposable because you get a new one the next day is a little too generous on the part of the designers. Getting an animal companion killed should incur some hassles.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

It depends what you are looking for. A familiar has a lot of unique abilities and can be drastically improved with feats such as Improved Familiar and Celestial Familiar. However, they are fragile, impossible to replace (a year and a day!?), and expensive to lose via the XP hit.

If it is a bodyguard or meatshield you are looking for, go animal companion. They have more hps and better attack bonuses and damage. And best, they can be replaced after a mere 24 hr. In our current campaign our druid is ~10th level and has gone through a half-dozen animal companions.

A Paladin's mount is not terribly useful unless you plan on focusing on mounted combat by taking the appropriate feats.

I agree. It depends what you are looking for. Animal Companions as a rule are easier to send into dangerous situations, and can take a lot more damage, and their loss does not cost you (at least not as far as I know) XP. My druid has a wolf, and she sends him into combat and it is useful.

Familiars have their own unique abilities. The communication is better, they can sometimes help with spells, etc. But don't send your familiar into battle unless you really think he can handle it.

I don't like sending any of my PCs animals into danger, but I'm not as concerned about the wolf, since he can kind of hold his own (he has more HP's than I do) and my PC would take his death as an act of bravery and/or the natural cycle of life. My familiars are both samll animals whose main purpose is scouting ahead and providing info to me I'd otherwise be unable to obtain.

Don't know much about Paladin Mounts. You could always take a spell that calls a magical mount for you for a short period, on top of having a familiar.
(The name of the spell escapes me at the moment)