Help bringing Penville to life - Summoner - and Riding with an intelligent mount


Advice


Hello all

So I've had a character by the name of Penville for some time and wanted to bring him into PFS. But there are a few teething problems (and some bumps)

So first a little background: Penville was raised by wild dogs and was reintroduced to the world with his trusty (and intelligent) dog 'Bigby'. Together they joined groups to be adventurers, but normally had to run off when everyone else died. This happened a few times. He became a sign of doom for any groups he was with.
- Mechanically he was a Halfling barbarian/bard/fighter - illiterate and loving the stories as he tried to inspire others with stories of how bad his life was (so theirs wasn't) dreaming of being a knight - I used a Cohort for Bigby after an Awakened animal spell (he had Int of 17!)
- I also had people believing that Bigby was my character and Penville was the cohort! (I wasn't playing him... very efficiently)

So onto a new version.

With no cohorts from no leadership I am forced to go for an animal companion. Until I saw a Summoner.

I never realized they could be 'anything' and so it works rather nicely for a Summoner. Plus they have a reputation for being overpowered. So having a useless character (and good Eidolon) would help with game balance too (as well as being great fun for roleplay)

Eg: Bibgy (Penvilles adopted brother) often runs off when not watched (unsummon) and poor little Penville has to go calling for about a minute until Bigby comes running around the corner. Sometimes Bigby's other brothers come to help (other summon abilities) or annoying birds and things. (I'm not sure what to do with the rest of the casting, infact I wanted the class for the Eidolon, other the spells!)

So current idea is to go either straight Summoner, or take a level of a fighter class (Fighter, Barbarian or Ranger) to get better armour and weapon proficiencies. But I'm tending towards a straight Summoner to focus on Bigby's abilities. Sadly getting to Int 17 will take a little while/be impossible - but as long as he's fun to play (I was going to play him as a mute, occasionally speaking with a thick English posh butler like accent to the other PC's, telling them never to mention his ability to talk to Penville, who will speak with a childlike voice and innocence, and any one trying to convince him that Bigby is something other than a dog, will laugh at them for being silly).

1. So I'm asking for advice on Penville and how to best build him.
I like powerful builds (which aren't played to full power) so lots of multiclassing won't work as means the Eidolon would suffer.
Any ideas on how to get the character working well, feats, evolutions, even fun roleplay tips (from what I've said)

2. My other question: How do the rules of riding work with an intelligent mount?
Reading the ride skill, it reads as you are controlling unintelligent animals. If the mount is as intelligent (and more dangerous) than the rider, do you even need ride? Can the mount attack and maybe the rider not?

And yes, I noticed the 'Mount' evolution but was thinking of getting it later.
- I was also curious about the 'non saddle' riding style.
- But together, they look like a lot of penalties.
- And at least if he falls off, the Eidolon can fight without the worry of the ride checks! :) (see - not quite efficient!)

Any help/advice on the build, feats, or even fun roleplaying ideas! :)

Liberty's Edge

I'm not an expert but about the illiteracy there's a point.
Pathfinders have to be able to report their missions and write chronicles.
Or at least I think.
But I don't want to discourage you, the idea's great :)

Shadow Lodge

You are not allowed to reflavor your eidolon as an intelligent dog in PFS, it needs to look like a fantastical creature. It can be a fantastical dog-like creature, and could use disguise to look like a dog with appropriate penalties, but normally people will know its not a dog and it won't be. It should be relatively easy to nudge the flavour so that is not a problem IMO.

If you do not have the mount evolution your eidolon will not act as a combat trained mount and will not be a suitable mount. So you will need to spend a move action to control it with a DC 20 ride check and if you fail you may do nothing that round. Intelligence does not negate this requirement IMO, but means your eidolon would still be able to control its own actions. The rules seem a bit vague here, but that is the main reason I would encourage you to get the evolution its often going to be a pain in the butt for the GM, and you, if you do not.


The op can make his mount a blue dog or have glowing eyes. Its not hard. As for intelligent mount the rules don't make any exceptions for smart mounts. So assuming your eidolon has the mount evolution for the ourposes of mounted combat it uses the same mechsnics as a horse in how its controlled in combat while ridden.


Nice, combat trained mounts use a free action to control, DC 10, untrained are DC 20 and a move action!

...tempting. Its not like his -3 with a lance will do much anyways (why be trained?)

Blue glowing eyes? So far people have enjoyed the games he's in, trusting the dog more than the halfling. Last session the dog failed a cause fear and ran off full speed for 4 rounds, whilst the party could just hear the halfling berating the scared dog, as it got quieter the further they ran!! Great fun :)


So I was wondering about next level. Do I go summoner straight? Or get a boost to HP, armour and weapons? Its fine playing fun yet useless characters till someone dies!

Unbreakable fighter looked the most interesting. Diehard means you never fall unconscious if you dont want (handy for summoners! Would be a great combo with elf/halfelf) and armour and martial for this wannabe knight ;)

Though barbarian is always good so in light armour, Penville runs the same speed as his dog! :)

I like a lot of the dips, but the Eidolon suffers for each one. A single dip seems okay, anymore and it will just keep dying!

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