Pathfinder Player Companion: Cohorts & Companions (PFRPG)

3.80/5 (based on 4 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Cohorts & Companions (PFRPG)
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Prepare for your adventures to get twice as exciting with Pathfinder Player Companion: Cohorts and Companions! Double the daring and fun with all-new rules for turning your adventurer into part of a dynamic duo. Whether you’re growing a towering treant to serve as your monstrous cohort or organizing a grand heist with your fellow thieves, Cohorts and Companions gives you the rules you need! New options allow you to make the most of your allies, or even make your allies from scratch! From binding outsiders to winning over artist patrons, this volume has cohorts ideal for any character concept.

Inside this book, you’ll find:

  • Character options to help class abilities benefit from a cohort’s assistance, from bardic harmonies to ally-oriented rogue talents.
  • Multiple new ways to gain and use cohorts, including using magical beasts to serve as animal companions, conscripting teams of low-level recruits, and using magic items as cohorts.
  • New archetypes that allow characters to focus on their cohorts, such as the esquire for cavaliers, construct rider for alchemists, and instructor for wizards.
  • Tables arranged by theme listing dozens of new monster cohorts of many different creature types, along with their effective cohort levels.
  • New campaign-focused rules allowing you to secretly recruit teams of criminals during downtime, win the love of enthusiasts of the arts, and arrange for contingency services!

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-734-5

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3.80/5 (based on 4 ratings)

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Nice breadth of options

4/5

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the Leadership feat. It’s a feat that requires some careful adjudication, but it’s also one that can add an interesting dynamic to the game. Overall, Cohorts and Companions does a good job expanding the options for cohorts without exacerbating the more difficult parts of Leadership (it’s already potentially one of the most powerful feats in the game). The best part of Cohorts and Companions, however, is that it provides so many non-Leadership-based options that increase the way PCs can gain allies. I’m often wary of Player Companion books these days (indeed, I ended my subscription to them quite some time ago and don’t have any of the ones from the last couple years) because they add so many options that just go unused and forgotten. However, I see potential for Cohorts and Companions to see more use than many do, which definitely makes the book worth having.


Average

4/5

As suggested by the name, this book introduces several feats, and archetypes that expands on the leadership concept. Not likely to show any promise in PFS games, EXCEPT FOR THE BEST CHANNELLING FEAT SINCE SElECTIVE CHANNELLING; but for homegames I expect that this can provide a way to improve the world's economy, or allow options to players to play in small er groups.


A grudging three stars...

3/5

This book has little to offer anyone who already gets to play at tables or settings with that allow leadership. 3.5 and third party material provide far more than what's found here and there's very little that's new or innovative. Unfortunately, a lot of it is necessary catch-up, such as providing a mechanical means of allowing a paladin to get a pegasus, or a druid to bond with a worg or winter wolf, an ability already suggested in the 3.5 core rulebook and often awarded during play, but not captured in terms of game mechanics. Also, the title is somewhat... obfuscating; "companions" in this book often refers to your fellow players as often as it does hirelings or cohorts, and much of it is devoted to what essentially amount to teamwork feats/traits/abilities.

There are a couple real high points, with some very unique archetypes that stand head and shoulders above the crowd, like a wizard that takes an apprentice, and alchemist construct-mounts. The book does expand on hirelings a bit more for nature-lovers as well, adding mechanics for growing plant allies.

As a whole it makes a very valiant effort to include something for almost every player or class, and like I said there are some high points. It still lags behind much of the other material out there, but it's a fair investment for a Pathfinder-only table.


Creative but expected more

4/5

When I first saw the summery, I was really excited and as a whole the book has validated my hopes but it has also dashed some of them in regard to society play.

For home games, this book is great and has some nice creative uses for companions.

The construct rider cannot pick anything but horses and other traditional quadrepeds as a mount, wich ruins my dream of a gnome with a power loader but that is beside the point.

If you are looking for some unique oppertunities for your characters, look no further.


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Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber
filgaiasguardian wrote:
xavier c wrote:
1)What is the Bonded Wizard and what does it get?
The bonded wizard must take the item option for arcane bond. The item gains hardness and hit points as the wizard levels. They get the ability to alter the type (weapon, ring, amulet, etc.) and aura of the bonded item. They get a pool of "force points" that they can spend to duplicate the effects of mage armor, shield and spiritual weapon. They also get the ability to repair damage to their bonded item.

Huh, that sounds kind of attractive.

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
xavier c wrote:
3)What is the Proselyter and what does it get?

Loses heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency but gains proficiency with deity's favored weapon. They gain a list of spells that basically control emotions. Can deal nonlethal damage using sacred weapon damage. They get "conversion bonuses" for every NPC they convert to their religion. Last, they get the ability to use a major blessing to communicate with any creature that has a language.

xavier c wrote:
4)What is the Dread Investigator and what does it get?

Dread Investigator gains inspiration, studied combat and studied strike at delayed levels. They gain a list of necromancy spells as extracts to effect dead bodies as the infusion discovery. Gain a bonus against death effects, negative levels and negative energy. When taking the alchemical discovery talent, they can choose from alchemical zombie, mummification, or preserve organs. They gain the undead anatomy series of extracts and can use them to mess with dying people. This is so gross. xD

xavier c wrote:
5)What is the Esquire and what does it get?

They gain a cohort that has a few limitation on class selection. Whenever the cohort is adjacent to the cavalier, they gain any teamwork feats the cavalier has. The cavalier can share his challenge bonuses with the cohort. The cohort can carry your banner for you providing the same effect to everyone and double the effect for the cohort. The cohort can avenge the cavalier if he is killed or otherwise out of commission and gains the ranger's quarry ability. The capstone staggers enemies the cavalier and cohort crit on the same round.


kevin_video wrote:
Not needing it to sing and dance. Just wanting the animal companion so I can make use of the PFS boon.

Would this work for you? As marked by the name, it is PFS legal. It's from the book "Faith's and Philosophies". Two feats and you have an animal companion.


Any expanded options for Hag cohorts/Witch covens?


What are the New campaign-focused rules?

Grand Lodge

Albatoonoe wrote:
kevin_video wrote:
Not needing it to sing and dance. Just wanting the animal companion so I can make use of the PFS boon.
Would this work for you? As marked by the name, it is PFS legal. It's from the book "Faith's and Philosophies". Two feats and you have an animal companion.

No. It specifically states no bears.

Silver Crusade

Samasboy1 wrote:
Any expanded options for Hag cohorts/Witch covens?

Not seeing anything specifically for witches nor any hag cohorts.

xavier c wrote:
What are the New campaign-focused rules?

Unscrupulous characters can use downtime to manipulate evidence for their crimes, prepare resources or discretely recruit people for your nefarious deeds.

You can also hire people for contingency services which are like contacts, but are usually only used for one specific event prepared ahead of time such as breaking into a building, finding a creature or body in the wilderness or fighting bodyguards to get to your party. You negotiate with people for services and the DC varies by how dangerous the situation is. You can also trust hirelings with emergency funds to pay for things like spellcasting or bribes, but if their loyalty is low, they may embezzle your money!


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

What can you tell me about tauric eidolons? What free evolutions do they have? The basics would seem to cast at least six evolution points.

Also, are there any mechanics for gaining a cohort without also gaining followers?

Silver Crusade

3 people marked this as a favorite.
David knott 242 wrote:
What can you tell me about tauric eidolons? What free evolutions do they have? The basics would seem to cast at least six evolution points.

Tauric eidolons start as small unless you pay 2 evolution points to make them medium. Free evolutions are claws, limbs (arms) and limbs (legs)x2.

David knott 242 wrote:

Also, are there any mechanices for gaining a cohort without followers?

The Divine Guardian (paladin), Esquire (cavalier), and Instructor (wizard) archetypes all provide unique cohorts as class features that do not come with followers. The Recruits feat lets you gain a number of cohorts equal to half your character level, all of which must be 4 character levels below you. No "followers", but the cohorts are more like followers than cohorts so I guess it doesn't count. Finally, if you have an animal companion, you can swap it out for a magical beast cohort via Monstrous Companion feat. I think that covers all the means of gaining cohorts in the book.


filgaiasguardian wrote:
Barachiel Shina wrote:

That could be where you are wrong. I don't believe animal companions are allowed to take class levels. Which means neither should Monstrous Companions.

So Monstrous Companion will get you the Unicorn that increases via like an animal companion.

And Leadership gets you a unicorn you can advance via class levels.

Unless I am mistaken, I do not have the details of the book so maybe intelligent magical beasts that are companions are allowed to take class levels...?

That is incorrect. When you take Monstrous Companion, you no longer have an animal companion. You have a magical beast cohort with stats straight from the bestiary and progresses via class levels. It does not progress as an animal companion and only gets the share spells, devotion, etc. abilities if they gain enough class levels. They get no bonus strength or dex, natural armor, tricks, nada. Although I'm thinking since it's not an AC and most of these cohorts have high intelligence that you don't need to use handle animal/tricks anyway. So that's a perk.

Well that's weird...what's the difference between that and taking Leadership? Other than not having followers?


Barachiel Shina wrote:
Well that's weird...what's the difference between that and taking Leadership? Other than not having followers?

Well, I haven't read the book, but leadership imposes limitations (like when you have animal companions or no home base) and feeds off charisma.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Barachiel Shina wrote:


Well that's weird...what's the difference between that and taking Leadership? Other than not having followers?

The Monstrous Companion is weaker than a cohort gained through Leadership and they can gain the AC's link and share spells, evasion and devotion abilities, but only if the character level of the cohort is low enough to have 1, 3 and 6 class levels respectively.

For example, a blink dog (ECL 4) with 6 class levels would have all the animal companion abilities and only require you to have 17 druid levels. Yup. Imagine a druid sending a 9HD blink dog after a CR17 monster with an all of +10 bite and 14 AC... At least it can dimension door at will to gtfo, right?

To put it even more in perspective, a normal dog animal companion at druid level 17 has 14HD, +16 Bite and 24 AC.

That dimension door, though!


So I believe that the Instructor wizard is the only archetype which has yet to be detailed. Could we please have any spoilers for that as well?


I'm looking forward to seeing what they've got in the organization side of things. The more material to flesh out dealing with all those followers, the better. Likewise, the more ways to involve hiring people and building organizations *without* having to spend the feat, the better.


Would someone kindly explain the harmonies?
Bard teamwork feats, correct? Sounds like another use for Battle Hymn of the People's Revolt!

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Tonlim wrote:
So I believe that the Instructor wizard is the only archetype which has yet to be detailed. Could we please have any spoilers for that as well?

The instructor starts out with an apprentice cohort who starts as a commoner, but eventually becomes a real wizard. It still uses a Leadership score to determine how strong your cohort can be, but it's based on Int rather than Cha. When the wizard gains a bonus feat, they can choose a Teamwork feat that they share with the apprentice as long as it's nearby.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Fourshadow wrote:

Would someone kindly explain the harmonies?

Bard teamwork feats, correct? Sounds like another use for Battle Hymn of the People's Revolt!

Basic Harmony (teamwork) - You can use aid another to help the performance check of another with this feat. The bonus to the other's perform check increases the higher your aid roll is.

Charming Performance - You can use perform as diplomacy to improve the attitude of an NPC toward you or another person.

Compelling Harmonies (teamwork) - You can spend a round of bardic performance to increase the DC of another with the feat's performance.

Counterpoint to Inspiration (teamwork) - Increase an ally with this feat's moral bonus from their performance by performing the same song yourself.

Rouse Emotions - You can use Charming Performance on a group of people and opt to have it influence their attitude toward a well-known group or organization.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
zergtitan wrote:
What does the alchemist construct rider archetype get/do? And what abilities does it replace?

re-posting a question I put up earlier. what does it get?

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

3 people marked this as a favorite.

*looks at Binding Ritual Mythic universal path ability*

*looks at WotR diabolist*

*cackles*

Dark Archive

Ross Byers wrote:

*looks at Binding Ritual Mythic universal path ability*

*looks at WotR diabolist*

*cackles*

Yeah I was like sweet more mythic stuff! YES!!!!!!

Silver Crusade

zergtitan wrote:
zergtitan wrote:
What does the alchemist construct rider archetype get/do? And what abilities does it replace?
re-posting a question I put up earlier. what does it get?

Construct Rider gains the ability to build their own mount based on an animal. It advances as an animal companion (gaining str/dex bonuses, natural armor, etc.) but has no constitution score and gains hit points as a construct based on HD. It also has construct immunities except mind-affecting effects because it does have a mind. The alchemist can use craft (alchemy) instead of Handle Animal for all things related to the construct. The number of extracts they can prepare is reduced. Finally, they get a few discoveries unique to the archetype that can do things like add potion tanks to the construct or use bombs to create breath weapons.

Silver Crusade

Nice! The Player Companion line continues to provide fantastic and flavorful options for the alchemist!


filgaiasguardian wrote:
Fourshadow wrote:

Would someone kindly explain the harmonies?

Bard teamwork feats, correct? Sounds like another use for Battle Hymn of the People's Revolt!

Basic Harmony (teamwork) - You can use aid another to help the performance check of another with this feat. The bonus to the other's perform check increases the higher your aid roll is.

Charming Performance - You can use perform as diplomacy to improve the attitude of an NPC toward you or another person.

Compelling Harmonies (teamwork) - You can spend a round of bardic performance to increase the DC of another with the feat's performance.

Counterpoint to Inspiration (teamwork) - Increase an ally with this feat's moral bonus from their performance by performing the same song yourself.

Rouse Emotions - You can use Charming Performance on a group of people and opt to have it influence their attitude toward a well-known group or organization.

Thank you very much! Intriguing for bards with bardic cohorts or...a BAND!


what does the Binding Ritual Mythic universal path ability do?


How do you win the love of enthusiasts of the arts with the new rules?

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

xavier c wrote:
what does the Binding Ritual Mythic universal path ability do?

Adds planar binding and related support spells to your spell book and/or spells known. Let's you spend mythic power to cast them, even if you're not a spell caster.

Liberty's Edge

Any way to get tiny elementals as familiars from level 1?


Can we get a list of the "dozens of new monster cohorts"?

Dark Archive

Samasboy1 wrote:
Can we get a list of the "dozens of new monster cohorts"?

There are a lot of them, all in sidebars and I am not going to type out each one. It is also overlapping with old material too.

The sidebars are

spoiler:
Performer Cohorts, Bestial Cohorts, Cohorts from beyond, Construct Cohorts, Undead Cohorts, Equipment Cohorts, Familial Cohorts, Plant Cohorts, Heroic Cohorts, Cohorts of Faith, Cohorts in Crime, Mercenary Cohorts, and Student Cohorts

Dark Archive

Samy wrote:
Any way to get tiny elementals as familiars from level 1?

I did not see anything for this. Sorry.

Dark Archive

xavier c wrote:
How do you win the love of enthusiasts of the arts with the new rules?

Enthusiasts:
perform 30 dc check then divide by 3 for your leadership score. You gain "followers" as the leadership feat. It is more like friends and admirers then the followers of the normal feat. You also do not gain a cohort with this stuff either but that looks fine as it is not really spending a feat from what I can see.

Can I know something more on "Familial Cohorts"?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Bardess wrote:
Can I know something more on "Familial Cohorts"?

I don't have my copy with me, but they introduce the 'family' trait category, which unlike other traits they specifically spell out as being open to multiple selections from the same category. Beyond that, i don't recall much.


Info on Outsider cohorts would be awesome!

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Bardess wrote:
Can I know something more on "Familial Cohorts"?

Familial Cohorts:
It just says these would be good cohorts from a distant branch of the family tree. Faun, Soulbound doll, Soulbound mannequin, Incubus demon, half-dragon relative.

and then as Irnk said it talks about family traits. It also has a new shaman spirit, Ancestors

Edited

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.
QuidEst wrote:
Info on Outsider cohorts would be awesome!

Outsider cohorts are in more then one location. But I will give you the mean set from

Bound from Beyond:
the cohorts for them are nightmare, vulpinal, hellcat, ceustodeamon, janni, shadow demon, ogre mage, movanic deva, einherji, and valkyrie.

That chapter also talks about binding outsiders.


brad2411 wrote:
Bardess wrote:
Can I know something more on "Familial Cohorts"?

** spoiler omitted **

Edited

I rather like this idea. A lot.

But couldn't almost any undead or outsider be some sort of lost family relative turned cohort, especially if we're getting into long-gone ancestors?

Dark Archive

I see Ogre Magi, but what about regular Ogres?


Hullo, I would like some information on the Channel options! Channel Surge and such.


brad2411 wrote:
It also has a new shaman spirit, Ancestors

That seems....odd, how does that look to interact with the speaker for the past ?

Dark Archive

nighttree wrote:
brad2411 wrote:
It also has a new shaman spirit, Ancestors
That seems....odd, how does that look to interact with the speaker for the past ?

After looking up speaker of the past (i have never made or really looked at the shaman.) It looks like they would work just fine together as one is an archetype and the other the spirit. The only thing I see that does not over lap is that the ancestors shaman spirit animal gets to speak and understand a number of bonus languages equal to the shaman's charisma bonus. I could be missing something because of me being uninformed about the shaman.

Dark Archive

Justin Sluder wrote:
I see Ogre Magi, but what about regular Ogres?

Just did a search there are no other ogres in the book except for the word progress.

Dark Archive

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Secret Wizard wrote:
Hullo, I would like some information on the Channel options! Channel Surge and such.

Channel Options:
Channel surge is use 2 uses to do 50% more damage. Blazing channel catches undead on fire dealing holy damage.

This book was a fun read. I got tons of neat character ideas from it, especially in conjunction with the Andoran Campaign Setting book. An Esquire Eagle Knight, or one of the Eagle Knight naval guys with Recruits that he picks up and drops off at various ports.


I love this book!

I like the idea of a rogue character with the Recruits Feat training his partners. Now only if they gave us a Cohort Level for Darkcreepers (since the Dark Dancer and Dark Stalker are both there), =)

One minor thing I found:
Under Unicorn, on the Heroic Cohorts Table, there is an unexplained asterisk. The table shows Cohort Level 9. whereas the Bestiary shows Cohort Level 8. Is the asterisk to show an official updated Cohort Level?

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

The cohort level tables raise a lot of questions for me. Mostly, how to figure out those levels - For instance, a Silvanshee is four levels higher than a harbinger archon, despite having the same CR, general role, and being accessible at the same level as an Improved Familiar instead of cohort.

Or how a bearded devil has a cohort level of 13 (requiring a 15th level character) despite being CR 5 (and being accessible via planar binding at 9th level). Outside of teleportation, its abilities are not so impressive that I'd rather have a bearded devil instead of, say, a 13th level warpriest.

The Exchange

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I've always had those problems with the Monster Tables... That being said, the Valkyrie is an excellent Monster Cohort. One of the few examples I have no issue with.


Quote:
Outside of teleportation, its abilities are not so impressive that I'd rather have a bearded devil instead of, say, a 13th level warpriest.

Which one is more badass though? :P

By the way, greater teleport at will is fantastic for all kind of game breaking. I can think on so many uses for that, that it wouldnt even be fair with my GM.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

I should add that I realize CR is a poor proxy for power on the PCs side of the table - certain spell-like abilities (especially ones accessible at-will) are certainly justification for making the PCs wait until higher level for a cohort. As are certain defenses and whatever. The cohort level tables ave all the same problems that evaluating 'ECL' did in 3.5 - Pathfinder was wise to jettison ECL.

But looking at the silvanshee and bearded devil, the only offending abilities would appear to be the self-only teleportation. And I have no framework to evaluate if that's fair or not - or if it's merely a typo (for instance, maybe a different agathion was supposed to be cohort level 8 and was swapped at the last minute.)


"Self-only" is not exactly correct either, as you can put living creatures inside a bag of holding. They can survive for as long as they have breath, and i believe the bag has enough air for 10 minutes for a single creature.

Im not sure if i forgot any rule that prevent this, but im sure the bag is an object for all that teleportation cares about.

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