Knight of Argenis
Corim Danex
Warlord
6676 Posts
    
West Valley City, Utah
 | | 04/16/2006 2:46 AM |
| I've never seen a druid over first level in a D&D RPG (3.5 edition). My wife's elven fighter had the unfortunate experience of dying due to a fumble which, by our house rules, randomly ended up being a critical hit from the ranger which killed her. She was 6th level. She has decided to make a druid instead of having the fighter raised.
My question is (and I'm not a power gamer)--
which animals make better choices as animal companions? Any you think are the best choice? | |
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zenthrus
Commander
4905 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 04/16/2006 3:10 AM |
| The selection of an animal companion should be based on a couple of factors:
1) What does the player want? A wolf might be the standard druid companion but perhaps the player wants a dire rat instead...
2) What role does the player intend to use their animal companion for?
If the animal companion is meant to act as a combatant I'd recommend (from the standard companion list) going with a medium dog (not riding) since they're a very strong combatant. Since you're looking at a 6th-level druid alternatively a Bison, Black bear, Dire Badger, or Wolverine would make a good combat-oriented choice.
If, on the other hand, the animal companion is intended to act as a scout/spy I'd strongly consider a Dire Rat, Eagle, Hawk, Viper Snake, or from the alternate list a Dire Bat, Cheetah (speedy, has Scent), or Leopard (not as fast as the Cheetah but has better stealth/spying skills). | |
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IanB
Commander
3112 Posts
| | 04/16/2006 4:41 AM |
| | Cats and bears are typically your strongest combat options in the long term. | |
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Link
Warrior
314 Posts
Netherlands
| | 04/16/2006 5:34 AM |
| As a 6th level druid, you have a lot of options:
An important choice you have to make is whether you want to have a powerful animal with less bonuses due to druid levels, or a less powerful animal (like the 1st level wolf) with more extra powers due to druid levels. I'd go for the middle: a black bear is a good one, but also consider the wolverine: when it rages it can get pretty powerful. Only with the wolverine you really have to invest in handle animal.
If you play a small-sized character, the best choice imo is the riding-dog: pretty good in battle, and you can ride it too. If you play a halfling you can even think about pusuing the halfling outrider PC longterm. | |
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Wayne
Underboss
1371 Posts
| | 04/16/2006 9:08 AM |
| Keep in mind that animal companions are fragile in the kinds of combat 6th-level characters will face. (Fireball, anybody?) They can be made combat worthy, but doing so all but requires two or more rounds of buffing. (Rounds not spend increasing the power of the druid or the remainder of the group.)
IMO, go for an animal companion as a scout. Dogs make a great choice, if you've got a fair DM ... who looks twice at a stray dog? Birds of prey are a good choice, too, especially owls, which have the surveillance skills to serve watch duty at night. | |
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kestrel.ca
Underboss
1678 Posts
| | 04/16/2006 12:06 PM |
| After many years of playing, I played a druid in our last campaign. My initial choice for animal was based on character concept -- not power gaming. As a dwarf, I went for a burrowing animal and picked the badger. I think by 7th level, I had "upgraded" to a dire badger which ended up being a reasonably potent melee combatant. In one of our tougher fights, the badger managed to hold off the fodder long enough for the rest of the party to escape to safety before mounting a counter-attack. Sadly, I don't think he survived that fight.
I also considered bears and wolverines as companions, but wasn't sure if I wanted to go to large size with the dire versions. Having an animal companion that is medium size is handy. Other than that, go with what fits the character best. | |
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maijstral
Underboss
2105 Posts
| | 04/16/2006 2:23 PM |
| from a pure roleplaying point of view large or Dire animals can be a problem. Unless you are in a campaign that is exclusively in the wilderness or underdark at some point you will be in a city or town or other civilized enclave that may not except a bear or dire wolverine wandering around as a companion.
In the above case you would have two equally bad choices, leave the druid and his animal companion behind thus denying her the roleplaying in town. You could just leave the animal behind but how wise would it be to leave a large dangerous wild animal (in the view of the odd hunter or farmer that stumbles across it) roaming around on the outskirts of a town.
The other choice is to bring the animal with you but suitably nuetered and/or passified to appease the town folk and this would probably go against everything the druid believes.
So from a metagame point of view you should also concider where a large portion of your adventures will take place.
Now this is just my opinion based on a campaign I ran out of a mining town set in the wilderness and one of the players insisted on playing a druid with a bear animal companion. I had no problem with the Druid (he always wants to play a druid) but the bear thing caused some problems when they had to interact in the town and had adventures there (corrupt sheriff, barfights, local church under attack etc...).
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 04/16/2006 2:26 PM |
| As stated alot depends on what you want. I tend to take animal companions such as eagles or birds that will be used more for spotting/scouting etc.
I've had a player before use a wolverine and as they get up in levels they can become pretty hardy combatants. | |
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Knight of Argenis
Corim Danex
Warlord
6676 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 04/16/2006 3:43 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by AesophDarkfable
As stated alot depends on what you want. I tend to take animal companions such as eagles or birds that will be used more for spotting/scouting etc.
She's thinking about the eagle right now. She's wondering how good the eagle will be at (1) being smart and knowing what it's seeing the same way a character would; (2) communicating with the druid.
For example, does it spot creatures and only have the impression of predator or prey? Does it spot stuff and just return and can't really communicate unless the druid casts speak with animals? Or does it recognize hobgoblins from dragons from lizardfolk (etc.) and is able to come back and tell the druid there are six hobgoblins near a cave? | |
"Look to God and live." Alma 37:47
Vindicated Champ of Hippogriff (Arcadian Hippogriff) and Uncommon Horse | |
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The Defenestrator
AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 04/16/2006 4:30 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Corim Danex
quote:
Originally posted by AesophDarkfable
As stated alot depends on what you want. I tend to take animal companions such as eagles or birds that will be used more for spotting/scouting etc.
She's thinking about the eagle right now. She's wondering how good the eagle will be at (1) being smart and knowing what it's seeing the same way a character would; (2) communicating with the druid.
For example, does it spot creatures and only have the impression of predator or prey? Does it spot stuff and just return and can't really communicate unless the druid casts speak with animals? Or does it recognize hobgoblins from dragons from lizardfolk (etc.) and is able to come back and tell the druid there are six hobgoblins near a cave?
They are limited by intelligence, and there can be communication problems if you dont use speak with animals. Exact counts and the like arent likely to happen (until you use awaken). | |
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zenthrus
Commander
4905 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 04/17/2006 2:14 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Corim Danex
For example, does it spot creatures and only have the impression of predator or prey?
Pretty much.
quote:
Does it spot stuff and just return and can't really communicate unless the druid casts speak with animals?
Again, pretty much. Druids gain no ability to speak with their animal companions. That's the realm of familiars.
quote:
Or does it recognize hobgoblins from dragons from lizardfolk (etc.) and is able to come back and tell the druid there are six hobgoblins near a cave?
Nope. This is the province of a familiar. The magical nature of the link between arcanists and their familiars is substantially stronger than the link between druids and their animal companions. Druids are great at influencing animals to be friendly. Unfortunately the animals are still Intelligence 2 (albeit friendly) critters.
Even with Speak With Animals you're still limited by the animal's intelligence for communication. This is the reason the majority of druid's I've gamed with have chosen more combat-oriented animal companions. The druids wild-shape into flyers and cast spells (via the Wild feat that allows you to cast while in wild shape) from a safe distance while the bear, etc. stands in for the druid in melee combat.
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