Actually, maybe I could get some other input.
We're about to start our campaign in a few weeks (first time with PF, haven't gamed in 2 years when we quit 4E). I'm trying to adapt my old world elements into the Kingmaker path (GREAT read so far), but Rakasta is a standard PC race for my world... and having converted them, I'm curious as to how to go about having their Sabre-Tooth Tiger mounts, and balance, especially at early levels.
There doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules for what can and can't be a mount, such as how many HD and the like. But naturally we don't want this beast of a thing doing all the work.
Should I just take the standard tiger stats and "just say" it's a Smilodon? Maybe let it "level up" when the rest of the party is higher in level? I was even considering letting them find it early on and have it reared and trained since there's so much downtime in Kingmaker.
Any suggestions would be welcome!
You don't want a mount to out-fight the entire party put together, so at 1st level, even a normal tiger isn't a good idea. I'd personally look at the druid's big cat animal companion progression as a guide, starting with size Medium (a baby tiger) at 1st level, and advancing to Large (a full-grown tiger with 6 HD) at 7th. At 17th level the table shows 14 HD, which is standard for a dire tiger (smilodon).
Having him start Medium and not mountable at first should be ok. It'll be a progression as he trains it during the non-adventuring part of the path. Is there something mechanically wrong with having a pet like that? Then again, what else is the rearing animal rules for? If all goes right he'll have a friend and companion for life and will eventuall ride it. Should the tiger get to fight at all early on? I like using the Druid as an starting point...
After all this, I realized that he has the Animal domain (he's a Cleric) so at 4th level he'll qualify for an animal companion ANYWAY so... Do characters use their companions as mounts?
Thanks for the advice!
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
Do characters use their companions as mounts?
Hell yes I do. I even made an archetype for the wizard with that premise in mind.
On a sillier note, I once played an awakened wolf barbarian in a campaign. In the groups previous session, the gnome druid had awakened his companion. I had joined the group with the intent of playing for 1 session and was given the wolf to play. I ended up playing with the group for almost a year as a wolf.