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Ok, Sable company marine has a requirement of a 4th level ranger. Rangers do not get a feat at 4th level so they either have to take this feat at 3rd level (if a gm decides to bend to rules a bit and then get the companion at 4th) or wait until 6th (so really, it's a 6th level requirement?). That doesn't make much sense since you acquire your animal companion at 4th.
Hope, someone can make sense of this.
Someone in my group is planning on taking it at sixth level. She'll be multiclassing, so this is going to work out for her.
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If you go straight ranger, you can't take it until 6th level. In the two levels between when you gain your animal companion and when you get your next feat the ranger will have another animal companion.
Why then was that design decision made?
Well, whether the requirement is ranger level 4th or ranger level 6th, a straight ranger can't take this feat until 6th level anyway. That's why it's not ranger level 6th. And as you point out, rangers don't gain their animal companions until 4th level, so we can't let them have this feat at 3rd level.
Secondly, that language allows multiclassing rangers who take two levels of another class (I recommend fighter, although paladin and rogue are also solid choices) and four levels of ranger to gain the feat at 6th level, right when they also gain their animal companions.
Looking at the feat requirements from the flavor angle, the Sable Company marines who actually take this feat are among the best of the best. Most marines are low-level rangers, and only a handful are 6th level or higher. It is those proud few who can take this feat and have the prestige of riding around on hippogriffs. If they're straight rangers, they have to first work with other animals to get the hang of caring for and riding living critters. If they're multiclassed rangers, you should assume they spend some of their time in the other classes learning about the care and riding of animals.
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Actually, I was under the impression that any feat can be taken at any time. However, the feat doesnt "switch on" until you have the prerequisite met. For example, even if you had a strength score of 12, you could take Power Attack as your 3rd level feat. But, you wouldnt be able to use power attack until you hit 4th level, when you put your stat boost into strength.
So, under this rule, a ranger could take Sable Company Marine at 3rd level, when it does nothing, and wait until it "activates" at 4th level.
Plus, if you're using the Pathfinder RPG, a ranger can pick up the feat at 5th level, anyway, so that's not so bad.
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Contributor
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Actually, I was under the impression that any feat can be taken at any time. However, the feat doesnt "switch on" until you have the prerequisite met.
That sounds like a house rule. The prerequisites of a feat indicate the minimal mechanics you must meet just to take the feat in the first place.
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Well, whether the requirement is ranger level 4th or ranger level 6th, a straight ranger can't take this feat until 6th level anyway. That's why it's not ranger level 6th. And as you point out, rangers don't gain their animal companions until 4th level, so we can't let them have this feat at 3rd level.
Thank you for the complete response. I thought that might be the case. I dislike hidden limitations because I am never sure whether it is working the way it was intended by the author or whether something in the mechanics just got overlooked. I have run into them in some other publications as well and wonder what the intent was there as well. A clearer way of writing it may be Prerequisite: 6th level (4 of which must be ranger). The prerequisites also differ between the players guide and The Guide To Korvosa. In The Guide To Korvosa it adds a prerequisite of Ride skill 6 which you can meet as a 3rd level ranger. I assume that the Korvosa guide version is the correct most updated one. Hopefully, my GM will allow me to use my 3rd level feat for this as I don't like to toss aside a animal companion once I have it. The hippogriff a 6th level ranger has is significantly stronger than its counterpart from a 4th level ranger which hopefully maintains game balance. You have done great work on breathing life into Korvosa Mike, I look forward to defending it as one of the Sable Company elite.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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Well, whether the requirement is ranger level 4th or ranger level 6th, a straight ranger can't take this feat until 6th level anyway. That's why it's not ranger level 6th. And as you point out, rangers don't gain their animal companions until 4th level, so we can't let them have this feat at 3rd level.A clearer way of writing it may be Prerequisite: 6th level (4 of which must be ranger). The prerequisites also differ between the players guide and The Guide To Korvosa. In The Guide To Korvosa it adds a prerequisite of Ride skill 6 which you can meet as a 3rd level ranger. I assume that the Korvosa guide version is the correct most updated one. Hopefully, my GM will allow me to use my 3rd level feat for this as I don't like to toss aside a animal companion once I have it.
No, the feat as written is perfectly legible. It's no different than Weapon Specialization (Fighter level 4). The prerequisite for Sable Company Marine is Ranger level 4. Just because you can't take it till 6th when you actually get another feat doesn't change that fact.
If a ranger at fourth level chooses Hunter's Bond with his companions, and does not choose an animal companion, can he still gain the feat of Sable Company Marine at sixth level?
No, he has to be able to bond an animal companion. Also check out the Paizo Blog here:
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/florianStitz/v5748dyo5lbqy
James Jaccobs suggests turning Sable Company into a ranger archetype, and also gives you basic stats for Hippogriff animal companions.
I ended up keeping it as a feat though, because the ranger in question had already taken the feat and gown down the Urban Ranger path for 6 levels when I found this link.
If your ranger really wants that Hippogriff though, consider allowing him to respec and change the group favored enemy to animal companion.