I recently recieved a Ratfolk boon and I am currently in the midst of Character Creation. I plan on making him a multiclass Gulch Gunner/Luring Cavalier with a Riding Rat for a Mount. (Monster Codex, pg. 177)
In the description, it says to use the stats of a Dire Rat with the Giant Template, but then it has a section for Riding Rat Companions. Do I use the Templated stats except where the Companion is different?
I am unfamiliar with Companions. I've only had one before, on a Cavalier I only played alongside my brother's APG Summoner. We only reached 2nd level before he lost interest, but I had, like, 3 partial character sheets for the horse because I couldn't figure out it's stats. I've played pregens with companions before as well as my own Unchained Summoner, so it's not that I don't know what i'm getting into, but rather that I don't know how to start.
Druids log on animal companions for pfs has a lot of general and very PFS specific information.
If the monster codex doesn't supply a Riding ratanimal companion then you can't use it as an animal companion. You'll have to use a regular dire rat animal companion and ride him. You generally can't template an animal companion.
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Monster Codex does indeed provide stats for a Riding Rat animal companion on page 177, right-hand column. It is PFS legal, but only for ratfolk characters, per the current AR.
I see the sentence that's causing confusion, and bolded it in the quote below. (Note that the Riding Rat Companion statistics immediately follow this paragraph.)
Riding Rat:
Horses, ponies, and other draft animals are ill-suited to living underground for long stretches, so the ratfolk bred a particularly strong type of dire rat to assist in pulling their wagons and serving as mounts for caravan scouts. As rodents, riding rats respond favorably to ratfolk's commands, and the animals' hardiness and omnivorous diet make them very easy to care for even on long journeys through inhospitable terrain. Use the statistics for a dire rat with the giant simple template (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 232, 295). A ratfolk with the animal companion, mount, or similar class feature can select a riding rat as her mount.
However, that appears to be guidance for using them as purchased animals, or monsters, or in any capacity other than as an "animal companion, mount, or similar class feature" in accordance with the next sentence.
Which brings up my question (cause I too just got my ratfolk boon!) What exactly would qualify as a "similar class feature?" The only other Class Feature Entities (CFEs) are familiars, eidolons, and phantoms. I presume you couldn't use it as a familiar, as I think they'd have spelled that one out. Or can you? Certainly can't be used as an eidolon. Maybe a phantom mount for a Ghost Rider Cavalier. But I can't think of anything else that's "similar" that isn't an animal companion or mount. Thoughts on this vague catch-all phrasing?
Which brings up my question (cause I too just got my ratfolk boon!) What exactly would qualify as a "similar class feature?" The only other Class Feature Entities (CFEs) are familiars, eidolons, and phantoms. I presume you couldn't use it as a familiar, as I think they'd have spelled that one out. Or can you? Certainly can't be used as an eidolon. Maybe a phantom mount for a Ghost Rider Cavalier. But I can't think of anything else that's "similar" that isn't an animal companion or mount. Thoughts on this vague catch-all phrasing?
It was most likely kept open ended encase they wanted an ability that references animal companion. Which has come up recently in the Totem Spiritualist archetype for the Spiritualist in the Psychic Anthology.
The Totem Spiritualist trades their Phantom for a Phantom Animal, a phantom/animal companion hybrid. It has an animal companion's stats but gets phantoms abilities.
So a ratfolk Totem Spiritualist could have a riding rat phantom. And as you pointed out a Ghost Rider Cavalier a ratfolk should be able to pick a riding rat for their Ghost Mount.