Falconer + Boon Companion


Rules Questions


Boon Companion says:

"The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were 4 levels higher, to a maximum effective druid level equal to your character level."

The Ranger Falconer Archetype has it's companion start at half hit points, but gets the rest as a class feature at ranger level 4, and get a bonus trick at ranger level 6.

If I take Boon Companion with 2 levels of falconer, and treat the ranger class as 4 levels higher for determining the abilities of the animal companion, do I include the abilities the animal companion would gain due to the character's class features within those four levels?

Liberty's Edge

The standard Ranger states that once he gains 4th level, his effective Druid level for determining the power of the companion is his Ranger level -3. Both the Beastmaster and Horse Lord archetypes state that the Ranger's effective Druid level for determining the power of the companion is his Ranger level -3.

However, the Falconer archetype does not mention anything about the Ranger's effective Druid level. It looks like it is the same.

Remember, the Boon Companion feat cannot raise his effective Druid level about his Ranger level. So, the feat is helpful for a standard Ranger, Beastmaster, and Horse Lord; but it isn't useful for Falconer.


RedDogMT wrote:

The standard Ranger states that once he gains 4th level, his effective Druid level for determining the power of the companion is his Ranger level -3. Both the Beastmaster and Horse Lord archetypes state that the Ranger's effective Druid level for determining the power of the companion is his Ranger level -3.

However, the Falconer archetype does not mention anything about the Ranger's effective Druid level. It looks like it is the same.

Remember, the Boon Companion feat cannot raise his effective Druid level about his Ranger level. So, the feat is helpful for a standard Ranger, Beastmaster, and Horse Lord; but it isn't useful for Falconer.

The cap for boon companion is character level, not class level. So in general it will have utility for a multiclassed falconer (I realize I didn't specify initially, but I didn't think it was relevant). The question is which abilities count.

Scarab Sages

Since this never got an answer, I'm bringing it up again.

If my Ranger (Falconer) were to multiclass into Fighter and then take Boon Companion, would my hawk get full HP at Ranger2/Fighter2, or not until Ranger4/Fighter4? Same question in regards to Swoop For The Kill.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Whapow wrote:

Since this never got an answer, I'm bringing it up again.

If my Ranger (Falconer) were to multiclass into Fighter and then take Boon Companion, would my hawk get full HP at Ranger2/Fighter2, or not until Ranger4/Fighter4? Same question in regards to Swoop For The Kill.

If you are Ranger 2 Fighter 2, then Boon Companion is giving +2 (So as if Ranger 4 for AC effect.)

If you are Ranger 4 Fighter 4, then Boon Companion gives full +4.


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This might ease the confusion. First there are no special rules for ranger fslconer as far as boon companion goes. I asume the confusion comes from the fact that the bird has half hps until level 4?

Boon companion will not help the falconers bird in regards to stuff traded out for the archetype. You neef to get 4 levels of the falconer to get full hp.

The Exchange

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

is it settled anywhere whether the feathered companion advances as Ranger Level = Druid Level, or that the EDL of the feathered companion is between levels 1 and 3 , or beyond?

I've seen discussion on the UC Errata thread asking for the EDL to be listed, and i've seen mention of "functions as druid animal companion ability" being interpreted as Ranger Level = Druid Level, instead of stating "your effective druid level for this ability is equal to your class level" etc. or something like that.

the two options i'm seeing GM's or players arguing over are :

option 1
levels 1 - 3 : a 1/2 hp bird @ 2hd ( average 4-5hp ),
level 4: a full hp 2 HD bird ( average hp 9-11 )
[ keeps advancing at Ranger Level - 3 as normal ]

option 2
level 1: 1/2 hp bird w/ 2hd. ( ~4-5hp)
level 2-3: a 1/2 hp 3 HD bird. (~8hp)
level 4: a full hp 4HD bird ( ~22hp )
[ keeps on advancing at EDL = Ranger Level which is not explicitly stated in the archetype ]

option 2 would make Boon Companion unnecessary unless you're a multi-class Falconer/Something. There's better ways of writing the EDL of the companion at levels 1-3 if its option 1, like the sorcerer bloodline ability which indicates that its class level -3 ( minimum 1 ).
but the EDL progression of this archetype isn't listed anywhere, while every other Animal Companion archetype or ability does explicitly list what the EDL is, or how it impacts EDL.


RAW answer: There is no "RAW" in this case. It depends on what the phrase "the abilities of your animal companion" means.

Feathered Companion counts as Animal Companion, but with -50% HP. Gaining full HP comes from the Hunter's Bond archetype.

Thus, no amount of progressing "Feathered Companion", or the animal companion class feature, will remove the 50% HP limitation.

BUT: Boon companion does not advance the animal companion class feature. "The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were 4 levels higher". Technically, any class ability that improves your animal companion counts.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

It's Option 2, no help from boon companion. Pupsocket explained it well why.

That it is Option 2 can be very surprising (to me as well). If you're reading the ability expecting a ranger animal companion, it doesn't pop out at you that it's as a druid. Makes the archetype far more reasonable in power level as well.


Here we go I actually looked at the archetype rather than going by memory. Two things first book companion only references the chart in the druid section. It doesn't matter what level compa ion you get if the ranger class feature says the animal has 50% hp the hp do not change unless you get a ranger class feature that changes that.

Second although this references my last statement. The bird gets full hp when he gets the hunters bond class feature.
Hunter’s Bond (Ex)

At 4th level, a falconer must select an animal companion when he gains hunter’s bond. He does not gain a new companion at 4th level; rather, his feathered companion gains full hit points.

Boon companion does not give you this.


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If hit points are "an ability of the animal companion" - and I find it hard to argue that they're not - Boon Companion grants full HP to a Falconer Ranger's Bird. Because Boon Companion does not progress the Animal Companion class feature, it progresses every class feature relevant to the animal companions abilities.

By the same logic, a 1.st level Hunter (from the ACG revised playtest) who takes Boon Companion and a teamwork feat at first level should be able, AFAICT, to share the teamwork feat with his companion.


Majuba wrote:

It's Option 2, no help from boon companion. Pupsocket explained it well why.

That it is Option 2 can be very surprising (to me as well). If you're reading the ability expecting a ranger animal companion, it doesn't pop out at you that it's as a druid. Makes the archetype far more reasonable in power level as well.

I'm perfectly willing to believe this is the case, but I'm a bit confused by the text. Is the "equals druid level" part of the Feathered Companion feature? Because the modified Nature Bond feature doesn't mention a difference in level.

Granted this would create a bizarre situation where you have a Druid-3 falcon with half HP then go to a Druid-1 falcon with full HP at level 4, but I'm still not quite understanding this.

Liberty's Edge

I've got a Barbarian 5/Falconer 1 who is about to level up (he'll be Barbarian 6/Falconer 1) and will get a new feat. If I take Boon Companion for my feat my effective Falconer level will now be 5 (1 + 4 for the feat). My understanding is that the result of this will be the following but I would appreciate any guidance on whether I've got this all correct. I've scoured the threads looking for confirmation of what I've written below but most of the discussion of Boon Companion is about Rangers and others whose Animal Companion effective level is normally -3; that's not the case for Falconers. They get a very weakened AC at Level 1 that jumps in power at Level 4. My understanding is that taking Boon Companion will have the following effects:

a) My owl animal companion will gain full hit points (rather than the 50% that he gets until Falconer 4) and that this will correspond to 5HD.

b) Per Table 3-8 in the Core rulebook for Animal Companion stats, his BAB, saves, skills, tricks, feats, etc. will all increase to what's listed for a Class Level 5 animal companion.

c) Because he'll get an ability score increase (at Level 4) I can raise his intelligence to 3 which will let me give him a skill rank in Linguistics. He can then learn Common. He still won't be able to speak it, but he'll understand it (admittedly at the not too bright level of a 3 INT).

d) He'll have two new feats to assign (one from CL 2, one from CL 5). The first one will have to be drawn from the list of Animal Companion feats because at CL 2 he didn't yet have a 3 INT but the second one can be from any legal PFS source (I'm playing him in PFS).

e) I think this also means that he can't take a Feat (like Fly By Attack) that is available on the Monster Feats list because ACs cannot take feats from this list. (Is this correct?).

f) He will now have the ability to learn up to 11 Tricks (9 for 3 INT plus 2 bonus tricks). One of the bonus tricks has to be either Roam or Distract (whichever I chose when I first got him). The other bonus trick can be whatever I want from the list of legal tricks, or does it have to be the other one of Roam and Distract? RAW says "Whichever trick the falconer does not pick then can be picked as a trick later." (emphasis added). I don't have much use for Roam so I'd rather skip it.

f2) Because my Handle Animal is +12, I can take 10 on all of the Train new Trick checks between PFS sessions and have him fully "tricked out" with a complete complement of 11 tricks before his first adventure following taking Boon Companion. Is this PFS legal?

g) Also, although the Swooping Charge trick isn't available yet as a bonus trick, can I still train him in it (following all the usual rules for using Handle Animal checks to train new tricks of course) as a non-bonus trick? Or is it only available once it comes as part of the Falconer's CL 6 Swoop For The Kill class feature?

h) If I need to replace him due to death or retirement, I replace him as a CL5 animal companion (still a bird). Does he still have to be the Bird listed on p. 53 of the CRB or can I choose any bird of prey from other sources? The rule says "At 1st level, a falconer earns the trust and companionship of a bird of prey. The bird can be of any type of large hunting or scavenging bird (even a vulture)." but my understanding is that this is intended to provide role-playing flavor but doesn't alter the characteristics of the bird, which always begin as those found on p.53. Or is that wrong? The same page of the CRB says "The animal companions listed here are by no means the only ones available - additional animal companion types can be found in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary." So, can I replace him with a Roc, Giant Vulture, or some other fierce bird of prey?

i) When I replace him as a CL5 AC, since his INT will be 3, can I give him three feats from any legal source, or do two of them (the ones he gets from CL 1 and CL 2) still have to come from the Animal Feats list?

j) Any suggestions about whether/how I can use him as a flying mount? I've seen posts online that suggest that it's possible but I haven't seen how. My character is Medium size and I'm not planning on taking any further levels in Falconer to raise him up to CL 7 (when some ACs get bigger) so presumably I would need some magic, skills, feats, and/or special equipment of some kind to make this work.

k) Any suggestions about magic items or equipment more generally that would go well with a bird AC? So far I have a wand of mage armor that I ask wizards to use on him but I'd love to hear any other ideas.

Many thanks in advance for any guidance anyone can provide. This is my first post on the forum - sorry to make it so long but these are questions that I couldn't seem to find answered anywhere.


Yuri the Berserker wrote:

I've got a Barbarian 5/Falconer 1 who is about to level up (he'll be Barbarian 6/Falconer 1) and will get a new feat. If I take Boon Companion for my feat my effective Falconer level will now be 5 (1 + 4 for the feat). My understanding is that the result of this will be the following but I would appreciate any guidance on whether I've got this all correct. I've scoured the threads looking for confirmation of what I've written below but most of the discussion of Boon Companion is about Rangers and others whose Animal Companion effective level is normally -3; that's not the case for Falconers. They get a very weakened AC at Level 1 that jumps in power at Level 4. My understanding is that taking Boon Companion will have the following effects:

a) No, you dont have the hunter's bond class feature, your AC has 1/2 *5HD hit points

b) yes

c) yes

d) yes

e) no, you can still take monster feats

f)The falcon will have 12 Tricks, 9 for 3 INT, 2 bonus tricks, and 1 free of Roam or Distract(this trick is in addition to the standard bonus tricks), you do not have to select the other.

g)Swooping Charge is only available to 6th lvl falconers, and would not count against your normal trick allotment

h)You must take the same type of bird companion again

i)2 must come from the animal list, you rebuild the AC level by level

j)The bird companion is small, and never grows, and cannot be used as a mount barring an magical effect that increases its size to large, and I am not even sure one exists.

k)Birds can have armor, belt, chest, eyes, headband, neck, ring and wrist items, see the Animal Archive chart. I would recommend an agile amulet of mighty fist and a dex belt and maybe a mithral shirt to replace the wand (0 acp means no proficiency penalty)

Liberty's Edge

Thanks much for your fast and thorough answer! Two follow-up questions:

1. Re a) above, per RAW, at Level 4 the Falconer gets: "Hunter’s Bond (Ex)
At 4th level, a falconer must select an animal companion when he gains hunter’s bond. He does not gain a new companion at 4th level; rather, his feathered companion gains full hit points." I interpret that as meaning that for levels 1-3 the bird has half HP but at level 4 he gets his full number of HP (for 4HD). With the Boon Companion feat the character will be Falconer 5 (for the purpose of determining the characteristics of the bird), which would give him 5HD. If he still only gets half the HP at that point it will make Boon Companion much less appealing so would you please tell me the reasoning for why it remains half? I've seen that elsewhere on the boards but from my reading it seem fairly clear that it should be full HP from 4th level onwards.

2. Re h) above, can you please point me to where the rules (or messageboards) indicate that the replacement AC needs to be the same? I see that as a falconer his AC always has to be a bird of prey but I haven't found any rule that suggests that it has to be the same. And it appears (but maybe I'm mistaken about this?) that druids and others with ACs can change them over time. Mostly, I'm contemplating the possibility of a Roc AC, which I didn't know about when I first made the character. Tempting, and since he would become Large at Level 7 I think that would give me the chance to make him a flying mount? If it's not allowed I'll have to give up the idea but I can't find anything that indicates it's not, as long as I stay within the parameters of "The bird can be of any type of large hunting or scavenging bird (even a vulture)."

Thanks again for your guidance and all the other clarifications as well - very clear and helpful!


Your confusing something.

Falconers have two class features here. They have feathered companion. And hunters bond.

Your character has a single level of ranger boon companion advances nothing other than your animal companion. Hunters bond is a wholly seperate class feature.

Boon companion can raise your effective Druid level but it will not give you hunters bond any more than it gives endurance or a combat style.

Your feathered companion class feature stipulates what animal company ion you can have a roc is not on that list.

Liberty's Edge

Hmm, I'm still perplexed. The Falconer archetype clearly says that the bird gains full hp when the falconer reaches 4th level. The Boon Companion clearly says that the character should be considered 4 levels higher (for the purposes of determining animal companion abilities). It seems to me that not only does BC give him Hunter's Bond, but if he were a 2nd level Falconer it would also give him Swooping Charge (which he gets at 6th level). All - of course - depending on having enough total character levels, which he does. That's quite different from him gaining endurance or a combat style, since Boon Companion explicitly states that it is only a boost in effective character level for calculating the abilities of the AC. "The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were 4 levels higher, to a maximum effective druid level equal to your character level." If my falconer level were 4 levels higher it would be 5. A 5th level falconer has Feathered Companion and Hunter's Bond. A 6th has Swooping for the Kill. All of those relate to the "abilities of your animal companion." Endurance or combat styles or Favored Terrain - none of them relate to the animal companion so they don't matter for the BC feat, because of course the feat isn't actually making the character a 5th level Falconer, it's just determining what the characteristics of his AC are.

Regarding the question of having a Roc, sadly I have to accept that you are right. Despite what the Falconer text says about vultures and large birds, I see that a close reading clearly indicates that "the falconer must take the bird animal companion" which seems to suggest not just 'a companion who is a bird' but 'the specific companion from the list of companions that is called ~bird~' So much for my dream of being a raging dwarf flying around on a bird...

Thanks for your input and it would be great if you or anyone can point me to an explanation of why Boon Companion doesn't give the Falconer Hunter's Bond (or Swooping for the Kill at effective level 6). I've seen other posts on the boards that seem to suggest this but it seems to me to be the opposite of what the Boon Companion text says.

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

This seems like one that is still in need of a ruling from Paizo. The crux of the issue: What effect does Boon Companion have on a multiclass character with one or two levels in Falconer? Does the animal companion of a Falconer 1 with Boon Companion get full hit points? Does the animal companion of a Falconer 2 with Boon Companion get Swoop for the Kill?

The Boon Companion feat states "The abilities of your animal companion or familiar are calculated as though your class were 4 levels higher, to a maximum effective druid level equal to your character level."

The Falconer ranger archetype has three class features:

At 1st level

Feathered Companion:
"At 1st level, a falconer earns the trust and companionship of a bird of prey...This ability functions like the druid animal companion ability (which is part of the nature bond class feature), but the falconer must take the bird animal companion, and that companion has only half the normal hit points..."

At 4th level

Hunter's Bond:
"At 4th level, a falconer must select an animal companion when he gains hunter’s bond. He does not gain a new companion at 4th level; rather, his feathered companion gains full hit points."

At 6th level

Swoop for the Kill:
"At 6th level... His feathered companion gains the following trick as a bonus trick..."

According to the feat, you "calculate" the animal companion as if the character "class were 4 levels higher." A Falconer 1 is considered a Falconer 5 (as long as he has at least 5 total character levels of course) for the purpose of determining what kind of bird you have. Obviously, the Boon Companion feat doesn't change the Falconer's actual level, so he gets no access to other Ranger class features that would normally come from leveling up from level 1 to 5; in other words, the class features Combat Style Feat (lvl2), Endurance (lvl 3), and Favored Terrain (lvl3) are all irrelevant to Boon Companion because they have nothing to due with the "abilities of your animal companion." A Falconer who wants those class features will have to earn the xp to level up just like any other ranger. But the class features Feathered Companion, Hunter's Bond, and Swoop for the Kill are all relevant to calculating the abilities of the animal companion. So although a Falconer 2 with Boon Companion doesn't yet have the Hunter's Bond or Swoop class features (just as he doesn't have Combat Style Feat, etc.), for the purpose of calculating "the abilities of your animal companion" he is considered like a Falconer 6, i.e. a Falconer with those class features. Thus, a Falconer 1 with Boon Companion calculates his animal companion as if he had Hunter's Bond (i.e. he receives full hit points). And similarly, a Falconer 2 with Boon Companion receives Swooping Charge as a bonus trick for his bird.

This seems to me to be very clearly what the Boon Companion feat actually says, although it is not what most of the responses up-thread have had to say about it. Many responses (here and elsewhere on the Paizo boards) go into the question of how Boon Companion changes the animal companion of someone like a Ranger who has an effective druid level of -3 for purposes of his animal companion, but this is irrelevant for the Falconer because he gets his animal companion at level 1 just like a Druid (albeit with reduced hp until level 4).

Some responses (such as those of Calth and Mojorat just above) also suggest that Boon Companion only affects the Falconer's first class feature (Feathered Companion), so that a Falconer 1 with Boon Companion now has a 5HD bird but the 1/2 hit point penalty is still in effect (and a Falconer 2 with Boon Companion would have a 6HD bird with 1/2 hit points and no access to Swoop). But Boon Companion doesn't say anything about only applying to the first class feature of the character class; it simply says that you should calculate your bird's abilities as if you were 4 levels higher than you actually are.

All of this, btw, is basically just an expanded discussion of the question that the thread starter began with almost a year ago. It seems to me that an official ruling on this from Paizo would be helpful so if you agree please click the FAQ button on this post.

Thanks for reading and for any help you can provide in sorting this out. I need to level up my character to play this weekend and the question of how to apply this feat will basically determine whether or not I take Boon Companion, so I'm eager to get this resolved.


Boon companion only affects what level you are for purposes of the animal companion chart for the Falconer. The only way to gain additional class features is to gain actual levels in that class. This has been explicitly answered by the devs. Unless you have Falconer level 4, your AC is at 1/2 HP. You do not gain Swoop for the Kill in any other manner than gaining Falconer level 6. You are mixing up effective druid level, a construct used to calculate animal companion abilities, and actual class levels. The rules are clear, if perhaps not what you were hoping for.


The feat says nothing about only advancing the chart. It says the abilities of the companion are calculated as if your class level was 4 higher. If you regard the extra hit points as being an "ability of the companion", then it gives the extra hit points. If the extra hit points are not an "ability of the companion", it does not.


Umm it it adds 4 to your class level to determine your your effective druid level.hunters bond isva specific class feature. Your. Druid level doesn't give you hunters bond. The fact that it. Changes the birds you is not relevant.

Liberty's Edge

Calth wrote:
Boon companion only affects what level you are for purposes of the animal companion chart for the Falconer. The only way to gain additional class features is to gain actual levels in that class. This has been explicitly answered by the devs.

Thanks Calth. Can you please suggest where I should look to read what the devs have had to say about this? I spent several hours last night looking for exactly this information and while I found a lot about the whole question of what Boon Companion does regarding the issue of Ranger = Druid-3 I couldn't find anything that laid out the logic that you are describing. So I'm quite curious.


From the Core Rulebook FAQ (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9s4x):

When do I count as having a class feature?

You have a class feature when your class description tells you you gain that class feature, generally based on your level in that class (and perhaps altered by factors, see below).

If you have an archetype or other rules element that replaces that class feature, you do not have that class feature. For example, if your archetype replaces a rogue's sneak attack, you no longer have the sneak attack class feature (whether a requirement is as general as "sneak attack" or as specific as "sneak attack +1d6," you do not qualify for it).

If you have an archetype or other rules element that replaces part of a scaling class feature, or delays when you get that class feature, you do not have that class feature until you actually gain that class feature.
Example: If you have a fighter archetype that replaces weapon training 1 (but not weapon training 2, 3, and 4), you don't gain the weapon training 2 ability until fighter level 9, which means you don't have the weapon training class ability at all until you reach fighter level 9. Anything with "weapon training" or "weapon training class feature" as a prerequisite is unavailable to you until level 9.
Example: If you have a cleric archetype that replaces channel energy at level 1 (but not later increments of channel energy), you don't gain the channel energy ability until cleric level 3, which means you don't have the channel energy class feature until you reach cleric level 3. Anything with "channel energy" or "channel energy class feature" as a prerequisite is unavailable to you until level 3.
Example: If you have a witch archetype that replaces your hex at level 1 (but not later hexes, major hexes, or grand hexes), you don't gain your first hex ability until witch level 2, which means you don't have the hex class feature until you reach witch level 2. Anything with "hex" or "hex class feature" as a prerequisite is unavailable to you until level 2


I retract my previous post. Upon reading it very careful, I was wrong.

Liberty's Edge

Thanks Calth. This is very helpful. Much appreciated!


No problem, glad I could help.

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