Anyone can have a normal mount, a ranger is just given the choice into making his mount a companion. This has certain benefits, Hit dice increase, smarter mount, more tricks, etc.

Or the Ranger can go with a normal mount (base stats, etc) and another type of animal companion.

As far as I know, there is no feat or class feature that allows the Ranger to 'split' his levels up betten different animal companions.

Thx for the reply. The ability to split your levels (effective druid levels actually) between animal companions comes with the Beastmaster archetype in the APG. But, according to your reply, it must be only related to animal companions BESIDES your normal mount animal.

If a Ranger chooses to ride a mount AND have an animal companion, does he have to 'split' the levels of those animals in the same way that he would if he just had two normal combat companion animals? That is to say, would I have to split the levels if I only used the mount animal to ride and the other companion animal for combat?

Thanks for the help!

Can anyone tell me if this book has item lists/tables for towns? For example, does it have generation tables of any kind for towns and various size towns? I realize the Core Rulebook has a way of generating town magic equipment lists. I'm wondering about any more info/help this book gives in generating lists of equipment and gear including magic items, too. Thanks for the help!

Thx for the help. You all have given me some good info to work with.

I've run a few modules, but I'm beginning a new group with the Anniversary Edition of Rise of the Runelords. This will be my first AP to ever run.

At the beginning of each chapter and each section of chapters, there is a short description and usually some kind of backstory. I was wondering if it is a good idea to summarize this content and actually give it to the PC's before you begin the individual encounters. Or, is this content just backstory for myself to have in order to fully comprehend and build the story for PCs as they progress?

Any advice is much appreciated.

For those that actually have the new Anniversary Edition, can you tell me if I will need all the bestiary books in order to run this AP? I only have the original bestiary 1 and was hoping I didn't have to buy the other bestiaries just to run this AP.

Also, can anyone please tell me how many total maps will I need to be concerned with scanning and printing for the entire AP?

I have a decent quality laser printer that I used to print out the maps from the free GM module. However, when I copied it from the .pdf and expanded it for print, it pixellated and lost a lot of the quality and resolution - of course.

Question is, has anyone ever compared the quality of printing from an adventure path .pdf (copied, expanded and printed out) versus the quality of scanning the non-.pdf maps - included in the printed AP book - using a higher res setting on the scanner in order to have better printed/blown-up versions for printing?

Thx for the help and quick responses!

I have never run an Adventure Path as a GM. In fact, I'm pretty new to Pathfinder and have GM'd a few modules for my kids at this point. However, I have looked at some Adventure Paths at my local store and cannot tell if the monsters included in each are the only ones the adventurers will encounter. Are these simply included to be used in addition to 'normal' bestiary monsters I would throw into the mix or are they essentially the only monsters that need to be included in the adventure?