Hello Paizo! First post here - be nice to me :).
I have an character idea kicking around in my head but as I'm alone in the middle of India I need some help fleshing out a key detail.
The character would be a ranger/rogue "thief-taker". The details aren't too important but I would like her to be able to use her animal companion spider as a mount. Any suggestions on possible races?
Cheers
Hello Paizo! First post here - be nice to me :).
I have an character idea kicking around in my head but as I'm alone in the middle of India I need some help fleshing out a key detail.
The character would be a ranger/rogue "thief-taker". The details aren't too important but I would like her to be able to use her animal companion spider as a mount. Any suggestions on possible races?
Cheers
Without special rules, spiders are not available as an animal companion. They aren't classified as "animals" but instead as "vermin". Vermin are mindless, thus can't be trained, the react purely on instinct.
Good options: halfling or gnome with wolf or riding dog companion. If you can use monster manual races, then I would say go with goblin and wolf.
Without special rules, spiders are not available as an animal companion. They aren't classified as "animals" but instead as "vermin". Vermin are mindless, thus can't be trained, the react purely on instinct...
It's possible that Razic's referring to the Eberron feat 'Child of Winter', which allows you to summon vermin with Summon Nature's Ally. Later feats allow the druid to have a vermin animal companion.
This is kind of off-topic, but has anyone else thought that you should be able to have vermin as familiars?
Hey! Don't make me mad, or I'll set George the purely evil colossal monstrous spider on you!
Without special rules, spiders are not available as an animal companion. They aren't classified as "animals" but instead as "vermin". Vermin are mindless, thus can't be trained, the react purely on instinct...It's possible that Razic's referring to the Eberron feat 'Child of Winter', which allows you to summon vermin with Summon Nature's Ally. Later feats allow the druid to have a vermin animal companion.
That would fall into the "special rules" clause.
Check out Jermlaine (MM2). They are tiny.
I have a strange inclination to try playing one for some reason...
This is kind of off-topic, but has anyone else thought that you should be able to have vermin as familiars?
The FRCS allows Sorcerers and Wizards to take a Hairy Spider as a familiar, although it becomes a Magical Beast instead of a Vermin.
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Check out Jermlaine (MM2). They are tiny.
I have a strange inclination to try playing one for some reason...
This is kind of off-topic, but has anyone else thought that you should be able to have vermin as familiars?The FRCS allows Sorcerers and Wizards to take a Hairy Spider as a familiar, although it becomes a Magical Beast instead of a Vermin.
Familiars become magical beasts.
I dont believe animal companions get that luxuary, but I am at work and can not access any books to support this.
This is kind of off-topic, but has anyone else thought that you should be able to have vermin as familiars?
Yep. There's a sorceror NPC with a scorpion familiar in "The Sand Pirates", part of Six Arabian Nights from Wolfgang Baur's Open Design.
Personally, I would just allow it and change the type to "magical vermin" as equivalent to magical beast. Familiar's are fragile.
Now, on to the original question. Yep, there's a race in Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved called Faen. They are size Small (perfect for a monstrous spider or giant butterfly or something). Some of their warriors ride dire bats. They can undergo a metamorphosis into a spryte, but they then have wings. I suspect at that point it looses a little something for you. I think a jermlaine (uh, Necromancer Games Tome of Horrors?) is Tiny. There's got to be more.
Hello Paizo! First post here - be nice to me :).
I have an character idea kicking around in my head but as I'm alone in the middle of India I need some help fleshing out a key detail.
The character would be a ranger/rogue "thief-taker". The details aren't too important but I would like her to be able to use her animal companion spider as a mount. Any suggestions on possible races?
Cheers
Go for it.
The rules probably say no, but in the interest of having fun, a wise DM might say yes.
The rules probably say no, but in the interest of having fun, a wise DM might say yes.
My thoughts exactly.
This guy will need a few house rules to be playable. First would be to allow spiders as animal companions and mounts. I don't see a huge problem with that.
The second is to allow the feat "penetrating strike" (from Tequila Sunrise's house rules). It not only makes sense that undead/constructs still have weak points, but this guy relies wholly on sneak attacks. I don't like the idea of a tiny character having a strength above 6 or so making his non sneaky damage almost nonexistant.
The third isn't necessary but I like it to give the guy some depth. He dreams of having a Phase Spider mount and teleporting with him. Depending on the DM this would require anything from a ring of blink to a unique magical item.
The more I think about this guy the more I want to play him. He identifies more with spiders than with his own race. He has no vocal chords and can only vocalize with clicks and pops (which are perfect for talking to his spidery friends) but has trouble relating to those who don't know sign language. A tiny rogue fits perfectly with a spider mount. Spiders are stealthy and mobile. Nothing like walking along the ceiling above the sentries, or dropping down behind them for some killer sneak attacks. Additionally I believe that maxing out Ride will negate a ton of damage, helping him stick in a fight even with low rogue HP.
I was thinking of being a dual weilding ranger but using precise shot and throwing daggers/darts/stars so he didn't have to wade into battle all the time. I would like to progress towards spring attack so that he could phase in with his spider to flank then pop out when things get dicey, but this would need some prior conversation with the DM to figure out the mechanics of such a tactic. In any case I think he would be a lot of fun to play, and powerful enough in combat to make him worth keeping around.
One thing I've found that could be useful here is that as an alternative to the default heavy warhorse a small paladin of proper level could take a monstrous spider as special mount (see DMG Special Mounts info) and it could be tweaked to monstrous scorpion, centipede or crab (Stormwrack) without any real problems if you want
One thing I've found that could be useful here is that as an alternative to the default heavy warhorse a small paladin of proper level could take a monstrous spider as special mount (see DMG Special Mounts info) and it could be tweaked to monstrous scorpion, centipede or crab (Stormwrack) without any real problems if you want
Small Paladins get Riding Dogs - which are really pretty amazing mounts. When my players where low level the Druids Riding Dog animal companion was, for several levels, the most powerful creature in the party.
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Hey! Don't make me mad, or I'll set George the purely evil colossal monstrous spider on you!
OOOOOHHHHHH!!!
Oh, I will pet you, and hug you, and love you, and name you George, and love you forever, George!
George? Wake up George! GEORGE? WHY WON'T YOU WAKE UP, GEORGE?
WHAAHH!!! GEORGE WON'T WAKE UP NO MORE!!