BreakingDruids's page

one of the other players in our group is using one of those godlike summoner/eidelon 200 average dpr at level 10 class builds. He ain't worried about my caster having a huge or gargantuan mount while i cast my summon monster 5's...

improved natural weapon is what i was going to take early anyway =)

That would've been my 2nd pick, but flying while casting is good.

Right. That was basically what I had in mind--same price as a spell of the same level; Grow Animal is similar to enlarge person, so I can't see why it wouldn't be within the grey area of DM decisions.

but again, wish also has that clause about "effects of similar power"... using a 7th level spell to emulate a 5th level spell, on a slightly better ability should be viable.

Well, in any case, I need to go get together an argument for my DM that a limited wish can emulate a permanency spell on grow animal.

huh. The pdf I got the quote off of doesn't have the last two sentences. Legit not kidding. Gonna have to rethink this. Or just use Grow Animal.

it doesn't say I have to cast spells from my familiar class on him. It says,
"The druid may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her animal companion (as a touch range spell) instead of on herself. A druid may cast spells on her animal companion even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the companion's type (animal)."

It doesn't say it has to be a druid spell. If I can cast enlarge person, I believe this means I can cast it on my companion.

scrolls, wands, it doesn't matter. There's ways to do it, and believe me, I would go through those hoops to get enlarge person with permanency on the Roc, followed by an amulet of natural armor +1 with grow animal on it as well =).

Edit: and the party wizard is on board with me, he's grabbing craft wondrous items early on so we can actually do this. He likes the idea of dropping burning hands downward from a bird, since a cone is 3-d =)

So now on to the next part of the question... If I can cast enlarge person on my Roc as I would myself, it then becomes viable to cast permanency (or have a party wizard) cast permanency on my Enlarge person'd roc, correct?

Second distinct question: Can my Roc be under the effect of both Grow Animal and Enlarge Person at the same time, since they are different spells but would have nearly the same effect? I.E. at the point in time I can cast grow animal, my roc would be naturally large--Could I raise him up to huge with enlarge person, then Gargantuan with grow animal?

I found a simple GM ruling for un-breaking gunslingers that all of my players were happy with and *gasp* agreed was accurate from a flavor standpoint:

Add natural armor to Touch AC against physical ranged hits.

I'll let that sink in.

All of a sudden, the magical energy of the spellcaster just has to hit somewhere on the BBEG, and he takes some damage.

But that OP archer? Or that Gunslinger? They have to roll decently, and the bullet has to punch through that tough dragonhide to actually do some damage.

In either case, I had a brief chat with the wizard in my party, and we've settled on a plan--limited wish emulating permanency on grow animal cast on my companion. That should do the trick, as permanency is a level 5 spell and limited wish is a 7th level spell, the power level isn't grossly different from casting 5th level permanency on enlarge person... my wizard likes the idea of just taking ranks in Ride and flying on a 40 ft monster instead of taking a round to cast fly and burning his own movement.

I recently ended the carrion crown campaign with my group, and retired my fighter. I ended with weapon-finesse, dervish dance, dodge-mobility-spring attack, two weapon fighting, and I weilded agile-keen scimitars. Worked out pretty well--as you said, very easy on the stats. Con and Dex, with room even for a +1 int mod.

ahh, ok. I wasn't sure about that, someone above mentioned it as a possibility. In the campaign we'll be playing, I think I'm going to go the route of limited wish emulating permanency on Grow Animal. Since the DM has already granted me the 2nd growth of familiar (into huge), grow animal will get the Roc up to Gargantuan, the same size of the standard CR9 roc. At any rate, it's cheaper than 90k for a collar of grow animal. Although being able to take it off and halve the size of the bird might be good for cities. *shrug*

also on the enlarge person note--since I can cast that on my familiar, that could be made permanent right? Since enlarge person is on the permanency list for "other", I could enlarge person my companion and then a party wizard could make it permanent, since the actual spell being made permanent is enlarge person, right?

I partially think that's why the DM is cool with my eventually getting up to a gargantuan companion--size is a problem. However, I feel like the ability at level 14 to carry the ENTIRE party at three or four times the distance for long-distance travel is worth it. Since we have a magus, a wizard, and a monk super-maxed for defense in our party, ranged combat off the back of the roc won't be a problem for in-air encounters, as the roc can out-distance most dragons.

I've joined a group that will begin meeting for the entirety of the next school year. The campaign will begin at level 1, but the DM has already laid out to us that unless we disband, the campaign WILL continue into the epic regions (PC's leveling into the 20's). As such, I've asked and my DM has already approved my playing a Druid with a Roc as a companion. Now, in the spirit of epic-campaigns, the DM has also decided that at 14th level, any animal companions will get another big boost identical to their level 4 or level 7 boost. i.e. at level 14 my Roc will be Huge sized, with a total of +16 str, +8 con, -4 dex to its initial stats. What I'm trying to find is a magical item that will CONTINUOUSLY grant my companion a size increase.

I've looked at the rules for custom magic items, and it appears I always have the option of having a continuous effect spell with grow animal (Druid 5, Ranger 4, grants animal +8 str, +4 con, -2 dex, increase one size category, +2 natural armor, lasts 1 min/caster level) at the price of 2000 x spell level x caster level x duration modifier (x2 for mins/level) . In other words, 180,000 gold to purchase, or 90,000 gold to make.

Does anyone know of a cheaper way to have an animal be permanently under the effect of this spell? Permanency does not effect grow animal, though perhaps a limited wish could make grow animal permanent.