Looking for advice on handling a mythic character's animal companion


Homebrew and House Rules


So, I'm GMing a homebrew mythic game in which one of my players, an oracle, took the Lunar mystery. First revelation: primal companion, granting her an animal companion as a druid equal to her level. Because of campaign specific house-rules, she's also using her favored class bonus to give that specific revelation a +1/2 effective level per point. She also took mythic domain immediately at tier 1. So, at level 4, she has a large tiger with rake, pounce, and grab at an effective druid level of 10. I'm not sure of its precise stats, but it's a 9 HD creature with the best AC and attacks/damage in the party.

My question is this: how would you run a game, as GM, with a creature like this in it? I want to challenge this party but not through overwhelming numbers or through obvious targetting of that creature for no good in-game reason. Something to make the creatures power an asset to them but not something that makes fights too easy. Also, how would everyone handle effective druid level above 20? It's easy to extrapolate the various statistics of the creature above that point, but does it seem like a good idea allowing it to do so?

Silver Crusade

Simply tell the player that the effective druid level for purposes of figuring the animal companions stats cannot exceed character level.


Cerberus Seven wrote:

. . .

My question is this: how would you run a game, as GM, with a creature like this in it? I want to challenge this party but not through overwhelming numbers or through obvious targetting of that creature for no good in-game reason. Something to make the creatures power an asset to them but not something that makes fights too easy. Also, how would everyone handle effective druid level above 20? It's easy to extrapolate the various statistics of the creature above that point, but does it seem like a good idea allowing it to do so?

Just make sure the creature's bonuses are sometimes handicaps. Large size means they can't move in smaller spaces. Any problem a charge build has could be used as an inspiration. Villians aren't entirely stupid. If they know heroes depend on Battle Cat, animal type are vulnerable to hide from animals. Use terrain sometimes to make limit options. Flight options become available as soon as level 5. Throw in social challenges that don't work out with a monster standing right beside the characters or have more puzzles that appeal to cerebral characters.

As to the level 20+, I think extrapolating would be fine. A level 20 animal companion is a level 15 animal... which has no class abilities. Class abilities outstrip hit dice, especially at higher levels. It's really only at the middle levels that having more hit dice than levels seems better, and it's not really that much better (animal companions get average hit points, limited skills, no thumbs, and only the magic that you cast or buy for them, unlike cohorts).

Tempestorm wrote:
Simply tell the player that the effective druid level for purposes of figuring the animal companions stats cannot exceed character level.

This is an acceptable houserule... but I don't think I'd do this to a player, especially when they are playing mythic. It's SUPPOSE to be awesome.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Homebrew and House Rules / Looking for advice on handling a mythic character's animal companion All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Homebrew and House Rules