I was thinking that this archetype was really cool, and planned to use it for a foil to one of my player's characters (a bear shaman). But then I got to the Attract Rats part... and I was like "...huh...?"
That one little thing killed the whole theme for me. Why RATS? Because they're plentiful in urban areas? It seems to go against all of the previous class feature changes up to the point by shoehorning rats into it. The whole archetype should have that Pied Piper theme going instead of trying to be something it isn't.
That complaint out of the way, the advice I want is: what can I substitute for rats that will maintain balance, be more flavorful, and still allow my NPC foil to counter the PC's bear companion (which is a nasty damage dealer). I realize that mechanically, I can choose bears and rats, but for what I want to do it seems really STUPID from a story-telling standpoint to say "This stringy haired, beady-eyed bard comes out playing a grimey, untuned harp, followed by an army of rats. Also, your bear is reluctant to hit him because he seems to know a lot about bears' body language."
[/rant]
Why RATS? Because they're plentiful in urban areas?
Because they are the game's only animal (as opposed to vermin) swarm? Also, because there is no area anywhere in the world where the appearance of rats is unbelievable? For flavor you could let the swarm be anything but use the Rat Swarm bestiary listing for stats.
You could have it be a swarm of woodland creatures like squirrels and chipmunks with the stats of a rat swarm. Otherwise a swarm of birds could even work as a PC option. It gives a lot more options but little in the way of absolute power. Another option would be a small pack of wolves and stray dogs that function as animal companions but with a -4 or so penalty to his effective druid level.
Why RATS? Because they're plentiful in urban areas?Because they are the game's only animal (as opposed to vermin) swarm? Also, because there is no area anywhere in the world where the appearance of rats is unbelievable? For flavor you could let the swarm be anything but use the Rat Swarm bestiary listing for stats.
I suppose that, in my attempt to be snarky, I kind of missed my own point.
I feel like this archetype should have been done differently, one of two ways: change the Attract Rats to something else that is more related to the Animal Friend feature, OR focus the whole archetype on that theme (the guy who lures rats out). The ability really breaks the flow up.
The archetype is just wonky. Mechanics, aside, the flavor is not focused enough. Attract Rats could have been something different. Even if you refluff it and call them puppies or turtledoves, it doesn't make any more sense when coupled with the fact that at level one you can choose bears or boars or apes as your "animal friends." In fact, rats (while not EXCLUDED) are not included in that list at all.
You could have it be a swarm of woodland creatures like squirrels and chipmunks with the stats of a rat swarm. Otherwise a swarm of birds could even work as a PC option. It gives a lot more options but little in the way of absolute power. Another option would be a small pack of wolves and stray dogs that function as animal companions but with a -4 or so penalty to his effective druid level.
The purpose for which I wanted to use the archetype was to have something to challenge a druid with. One of my players is a bear shaman, and her bear is a monstrosity as far as DPR. The 'animal friend' feature sounds really good for creating a challenge, but again, the character concept breaks down when I get to 'attract rats.'
I think I may use this archetype as a one-level dip for a barbarian character, or ranger, even. That could solve my problem.