Mounted Combat actually got quite a bit of love in the APG.
But there´s still not that many options for Animal Companions specifically,
especially for classes without the full Druid access to Companions (e.g. Rangers, Cavaliers, etc)
What I´d like to know is when this subject might get a deeper treatment?
Is it within Ultimate Combat, given Companions are primarily seen as a Combat component (vs. Familiars)?
Would it be within a ´Ultimate Nature´ product? (even though the Paladin, Cavalier, and Mounted Barbarian variant aren´t particularly Nature-themed, or even with any spellcasting/supernatural abilities at all regardless of source)
The Companion classes with a restricted list (and/or level equivalence penalty) clearly seem to have the POSSIBILIY of further companions SOMEHOW, but we haven´t seen any new options yet. Whether it would be a Feat to gain full Druid access (which doesn´t seem overpowered considering one can dip 1 level in Druid to gain that access which stacks with your existing Companion class levels), or just a larger list for these specific classes, I´m sure alot people would like to see something like this.
Even for Druids and those with Full Companion Access, more Companions could certainly be interesting.... Larger (than Large Size) Companions (which was brought up during the Playtest) could probably be done either with simple level pre-reqs or special Feats to ¨unlock¨, and a similar approach could be taken for non-animal Companions, like Fae, Magical Beasts, Aberrations, etc. These don´t even all need to follow the mold of ´Mounts´ or ´Attack Beasts´, but could be more like a Satyr which likes to follow the Druid around, or a minor Archon which does the same with a Paladin (etc).
Besides some more Feats (which don´t necessarily have to focus as much on Mounted Combat, but other aspects of fighting WITH a companion), I could easily see more spells focused on Companions, since many of the Companion classes have spell casting.
I think a lot of answers you get about this will sounds something like "animal companions with an Int of 3 or higher can take any feat they are capable of using, so really, they get plenty of new options."
Partly true, but I totally understand where you are coming from. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why there's not yet been a viable beastmaster build that doesn't involve having multiple companions.
I tend not to use homebrew classes and such, because I have some players who are quick to shout "broken" at the first sign of something out rolling them. It would be real nice to have an official *druid* based beastmaster where you're not splitting up hit dice among 2, or 3, or 4 animals. That takes up way too much table time, and is not really playable because you have less focus. :/
I would gladly forgo wildshape in all its forms for the ability to have a stronger companion. Maybe two, but no more. (Though admittedly, there is a badass idea for a wolf-pack druid I would like to build floating around in my head...)
Maybe I wasn´t clear enough that I was talking primarily about more Companion types.
I don´t think the current types are weak or anything, this is just for flavor, and perhaps variety in play styles offered by different animals. Also, during the Core Rules playtest, larger (than large) Companions were specifically brought up (since they were stripped out of the Core Companion List), and it seemed to me like we would see them made available at some later time, probably thru a Feat or something... I´d just like to know if this is something in the cards or not.
The APG DID make it so Rangers can easily get full access to the Druid companion list if they so want to (via Beastmaster variant - which also can ´split up the HD´ into multiple companions, though they still have a level penalty vs. full Druids), but I´d also like to see more animals ON the ´restricted´ Ranger list iself. (the Paladin´s Companion Bond still allows full access to Druid list even though it ´suggests´ some specific examples, and heavily suggests you should be able to Ride the creature, but the wording still allows full access per RAW... which seems like Errata to me, but hey)
It seems reasonable for some of the other restricted choice Companion classes (Cavalier, Mounted Barbarian) to have a FEW more options added, even if via Feat... Korvosan Sable Rangers´ Gryphon Mounts still don´t have PRPG stats AFAIK, for example...
I definitely want some rules for fantastical mounts. The fact that Paladins can't get their somewhat standard Pegasi, Unicorns, or Griffons frustrates the crap out of me, especially since my campaign setting has a rather prominent paladin who does have a unicorn mount. I had expected some rules in the Core book about this, as it was covered in the core 3.5 DMG, but it hasn't even come up in the Bestiary yet. It is in dire need of accommodation, as fantastical mounts and companions should really be available, especially for classes like the Paladin, with the more supernatural/spiritual focus.
Right, and Paladins actually have it pretty good right now, given their actual RAW doesn`t give them any limitations in Companion choice (beyond creatures that have Companion Stats, which doesn`t include many creatures that were fairly common in 3.5), even though that heavily feels like Errata to me, i.e. I suspect the intent is for them to be limited to the given Examples (and future Paladin list expansions) just as Rangers are.
For ´fantastical´ Companions (and/or larger than large Companions), I don`t know how it would be balanced... Bringing back in ´Level Adjustments` for Companions outside the normal ability range (e.g. they don`t get as many ´Companion´ scaling abilities, though HD/BAB/Saves should be the same) is one option.
Presenting these rules (new companions, expanded lists for restricted companion classes, rules for ´higher power´ Companion Types)in a future Bestiary seems as good as place as any...
Though since many of the potential Companions probably were statted as normal creatures in previous Bestiaries, it would be... wierd if you hand Companion Stats for... ¨Giraffes¨ in one product, and normal Monster Stats in another, previous product (compounded by the fact that one needs to reference the normal Monster stats for several features of Animal Companions). I guess reprints of previous Bestiaries could be updated with any Companion Stats written up since they were done, and if we see Expanded Companion Rules/Resources collected in one place, it could also reprint/collate the relevant Bestiary stats for ALL Companions (i.e. doing the necessary ´combination´ of Bestiary info and Companion Stats, which is a minor hassle for even Core Companions).
It certainly seems like this could be a decent 64 pager, between re-presenting full, unified stats for Core Companions, new Companions (+variants of Core ones), new Feats/sub-systems to handle ´fantastic´ Mounts (Level Adj. or whatever), and new approaches on dealing with Companions in general (APG Beastmaster Ranger´s multi-Companion rules seem appropriate for Druids, + anybody but singularly ´Mount´ focused Classes), whether class variants or just options available to every Companion class - Sub-Domains could be a model, i.e. having alternate progressions of the basic Companion Abilities/Stats per Level Table. Throw in some new gear and more detailed treatment of Handle Animal, Ride, etc. (and make sure to have useful info for characters like the APG Mounted Fighter and anybody else with Mounts/pets that AREN`T Companions per se)