How do animal companions work for classes like a sorcerer who took the wildblooded sylvan bloodline or an inquisitor who took the animal domain? Are they allowed to pick from the normal choices a druid gets (with the -3 class level functioning as druid level) or do they have to pick from the ranger list. RAW it seems they get the full selection, but that seems a little off to me.
They get the full list. Since it functions at -3, it's not OP per se and it allows for much more flavour choice. There's no reason for them not to get full selection, IMO
It gets to be a little imba imo after the boon companion feat is applied, but feats are powerful in their own right so it balances out I guess.
It might tip the scale a bit, but not much. As you suggest, its a commitment of feats, class features, and the like to get a powerful companion.
According to the rules, the -3 class level says minimum of 1. So, at first level this feature is grossly overpowered. It allows a 2 HD killing machine companion to go along with a sorcerer. The sorcerer's pet is the best fighter in the group (3 attacks per round and 15+ HP). They need to change that so the pet is basically useless until the character reaches 4th level. Or make the class penalty -2 and make it useless until 3rd level.
I gave up on 4th ED because of all the ridiculous powers and status and how it played like a card game. But with pathfinder, all that seems to go into character creation.
Wouldn't a druid be overpowered as well then since they start with the same ami.al companion?
The sorceror's AC doesn't grow till 4th level (without feats). The druid's on the other hand grows normally, the druid gets conrinues to get more spells, more spell choice, has a better HD and BAB, armor use, better weapons (comparably).
How is having a 2HD companion for 4 levels OP? The game doesn't stop at 1st level.
The sorceror also gives up his bloodlines arcana, has to invest in a skill (handle animal) with very few skill points and sacrifice the use of several good area spells as he will most likely hit his companion with them as well as the enemy.
"Grossly overpowered"? That's a bit hyperbolic.
And an animal companion is far from the biggest benefit to a druid. Maybe at first or second level, depending on your build and which animal companion you choose.
You caaan't keep a good thread down, no sir!
You caaan't keep a good thread down....
For those who like being "grossly overpowered" (per DH250 at least) I'll point out that a Robe of Arcane Heritage would probably increase your effective Druid level for the animal companion by +4. Generally the RoAH boost isn't limited by your character level, but in the case of the animal companion I suspect it should be capped at character level. This is still a nice benefit, especially if you decide to multiclass a bit and or the Boon Companion feat isn't avaialable.
The big question is how the Sorcerer will heal the animal. I'd expect to invest a lot of ranks in UMD and a lot of gold in Cure wands since many parties are loathe to use their healing resources on class features. On the other hand, Clerics can also get a -3 level animal companion off the Druid list just by taking the Animal domain. That seems like a smaller investment to me, and the Cleric is probably better positioned to support the animal in combat.
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The Inquisitor I'm planning will use the Animal Domain and Boon Companion to tame an Allosaurus, ride it, and give it the Bodyguard archetype. The Bodyguard eventually gets the ability to always act in the surprise round, so I'll give my Inquisitor the teamwork feat that lets him act so long as one of his allies can also act. With the dinosaur's pounce will certainly come in handy as well =D.
The Inquisitor I'm planning will use the Animal Domain and Boon Companion to tame an Allosaurus, ride it, and give it the Bodyguard archetype. The Bodyguard eventually gets the ability to always act in the surprise round, so I'll give my Inquisitor the teamwork feat that lets him act so long as one of his allies can also act. With the dinosaur's pounce will certainly come in handy as well =D.
i recently had some fun making a character with an effective druid level of 65.
I'd hope that most DMs would limit effective Druid level for animal companions to character level. Summoner level for eidolons is rarely a problem since there don't seem to be many ways to increase that, but a similar ruling seems advisable.
@Nefreet - The Bodyguard feat is definitely a very effective use for an animal companion. Assuming that Benevolent armor works with Bodyguard, animal companions actually make much better Bodyguards than eidolons. That said, I've got a lot of mileage out of having Bodyguard on both my Monk1/Summoner13 and his eidolon even without the Benevolent armor enchantment. The M/S has the "Fools for Friends" trait, which increases the bonus he grants or receives to +3. The eidolon has saved my PC from being hit many times, and they've often teamed up to protect the party Barbarian and Rogue with +5 AC. The DM really hates it, especially when it makes a monster fumble (we use crit and fumble decks)