I'm having troubles locating the rules for this. But say I was interested in taking levels in both Druid and Sylvan Sorcerer... how would I determine the level of my character's Animal Companion?
How does this interact with Boon Companion?
Robes of Arcane Heritage?
Hm. I did searches on the forums to find this info and came up short. Until I started putting in stuff about Robes of Arcane Heritage. Then I saw that I am likely apparently opening up a can of worms.
...I regret nothing. ;)
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My thoughts (which I suspect you will find particularly relevant to your interests):
Effective level: Sorcerer X-3 (minimum 1) + Druid X. So you'll always get at least one level from sorcerer.
Plus Boon Companion: Increase by four, not to exceed total character level.
Plus robes of arcane heritage: Increase by four, exceeding total character level if necessary.
Plus Boon Companion and robes of arcane heritage: Increase by eight, not to exceed total character level.
Based on guidance given elsewhere regarding the Magical Knack trait (which functions similarly), Boon Companion is applied after all other effects have been taken into account. As such, you may find other effective level increases to be less beneficial.
As always, expect table variation. I look forward to seeing where this thread goes.
Tarik: I do not think you understand the way that Animal Companions work in general. Unless you mean HD = Effective Druid Level. In which case, I think I agree with what you are saying.
Kalindlara: Yeah, I think you know where I'm going with this. I was thinking about it for a Mystic Theurge concept. I was going to take Magical Knack too but hadn't considered it for the purposes of increasing Effective Druid Level for the Animal Companion. I'm not sure that works at all here, actually. Magical Knack increases your "Caster Level" which doesn't interact with either your Effective Druid Level or your "sorcerer level" for Sylvan Bloodline. I hope I am wrong, though. So if you have proof otherwise I would be happy to be disproven.
Otherwise I agree with you. But my logic isn't everyone's logic so I wanted to post. The way I see it with Boon Companion and Robes of Arcane Heritage with for levels of Sorcerer I should be able to continue into Mystic Theurge while still progressing my Animal Companion for at least 5 levels. It would be 7 levels if Magical Knack works.
Oh, yeah. Definitely not for the Aasimar. Totally different concept. The Aasimar is an Oracle.
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Magical Knack doesn't affect animal companions at all. It's simply an example of (increase effective level, max character level) at work. Sorry for the confusion.
I knew the aasimar had some sort of animal companion-based class other than druid, so I figured it was for that character. Whoops.
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So based on what you've said, the way I see things, if you go Druid 3/Sorc 4/MT X, with both Boon Companion and the robes, you get:
3 EDL(effective druid levels) from druid
5 EDL from sorcerer(4 real+4 robe -3)
For 8 EDL at D3/S3/MT1. At this point Boon Companion doesn't help you as it caps at your HD.
As you MT level increases, Boon companion will add levels until it hits its cap of +4, at level 12 (D3/S4/MT5). After this your companion won't advance unless you take more levels of druid or sorcerer.
This assumes you're not using some weird shenanigans to get around MT prereqs.
So based on what you've said, the way I see things, if you go Druid 3/Sorc 4/MT X, with both Boon Companion and the robes, you get:
3 EDL(effective druid levels) from druid
5 EDL from sorcerer(4 real+4 robe -3)
For 8 EDL at D3/S3/MT1. At this point Boon Companion doesn't help you as it caps at your HD.As you MT level increases, Boon companion will add levels until it hits its cap of +4, at level 12 (D3/S4/MT5). After this your companion won't advance unless you take more levels of druid or sorcerer.
This assumes you're not using some weird shenanigans to get around MT prereqs.
+1
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The second option is to form a close bond with an animal companion. A druid may begin play with any of the animals listed in Animal Choices. This animal is a loyal companion that accompanies the druid on her adventures.
Unlike normal animals of its kind, an animal companion's Hit Dice, abilities, skills, and feats advance as the druid advances in level. If a character receives an animal companion from more than one source, her effective druid levels stack for the purposes of determining the statistics and abilities of the companion. Most animal companions increase in size when their druid reaches 4th or 7th level, depending on the companion. If a druid releases her companion from service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer in the environment where the new companion typically lives. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished.
+1.
K. I read that relevant part, Kalindlara. But it didn't totally clear it up when you have classes that act as Effective Druid Level -3, minimum 1 and feats like Boon Companion and items like Robe of Arcane Heritage.
From what the other threads looked like there were far more fireworks regarding differing opinions about how things stacked. But it looks like we are all of pretty much the same consensus.
So, then... I guess I'll ask it here before I start my build:
Does anyone have any experience with building a Druid/Sylvan Sorcerer into a Mystic Theurge? I understand that the downfall is obviously that it delays entry an extra level as opposed to Wizard. But with the Animal Companion advancement it seems like there is more synergy there as well as more diversity with more differing spell lists.
I had also been thinking about the madness of taking an extra 4th level to get Wild Shape online before getting out of Druid but that delays Mystic Theurge even more. Also, Druid's Vestments take the same slot that Robes of Arcane Heritage do. The up side is that I could get Shaping Focus and continue to scale that for 4 more levels.
But then I remembered that Wild Shaping didn't really fit the concept I had in mind for the character so the benefits were not really worth the downfalls even for concept reasons. So I thought of going Nature Fang Druid instead but that gives up pre 4th level stuff that I kinda liked.
Then I had the crazy thought that if I was going to go 4 levels deep into my divine caster side that I could go 4 into Hunter instead. I mean...I know it is bad but hear me out on this, I feel that it has some merit. Hunter's spell list is more diversified than Druid alone plus early access to some spells could be helpful when I'm further delaying my spellcasting. Going 4 Hunter can provide Outflank and Pack Flanking making allowing the character to go from "can't hit the broad side of a barn" to "I might be actually able to contribute meaningfully in melee". It also opens the door for other teamwork feats down the line like Improved Spell Sharing. Hunter's Animal Companions are also better than anyone else's due to Animal Focus which wouldn't go to waste on the character either.
I kinda feel like I need someone to talk me out of going Hunter into Mystic Theurge cause it is sounding pretty good in my head right now...
I had not. I do not own the book it is from and hadn't seen it. It appears it is cleverly hidden on pfsrd.
It actually would work pretty well and I would only lose a single BAB but gain 6 more skill points, a bonus language and some decent fiddley bits and allow me to keep the nice things from Druid I wanted. It is also very thematic. Hm. So it is between that and Hunter....
