Animal Companion / Paladin Mount Uniformity

[Dennis da Ogre]

We've gone round and round about what's appropriate power level for animal companions and I don't want to mess with that any more because it's a debate that's going nowhere. What about the simple concept of unifying the paladin's mount rules with the animal companion rules and giving all three classes the same progression. Put in a provision that the paladin's AC must be suitable as a mount. Riding Dog, Horse, Dire Bear, etc.

Then we can get rid of silly inconsistencies like the druid getting replacement mounts overnight while the paladin gets some pretty severe penalties:
(If a paladin's mount dies) The paladin may not summon another mount for 30 days or until she gains a paladin level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this 30-day period, the paladin takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Whether it's the paladin's 30 days or the druid's overnight... whatever, they should be the same, as should the progression tables, etc.

This would result in fewer rules, it would be easier to balance the companions (only one set of 'pets' to balance instead of the current 3), and it would lower the amount of column inches in the individual classes making space available for more good stuff. It also makes things easier to 'patch' later on if something is wrong.