Hi Paizonians,
I'm currently playing a rock gnome cleric of Baervan Wildwanderer. Due to my adventuring party's lack of solid healing magic, I opted for cleric rather than druid.
However, the clergy of Baervan were famed (in 2nd ed.) days for having giant raccoons as animal companions. Are their any feats that allow a non-druid/ranger an animal companion? I seem to recall something of the sort back in 3.5 days, but haven't succeeded in digging it up.
You can take the animal domain to get one as a cleric.
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Darn, domains already chosen, now levelling up to 5th level.
Thanks blackboodtroll, but my character's already been running in the campaign for some time as a full cleric, and I'd prefer not multi-class if I can take a feat instead.
Skill Focus: Knowledge Nature then Eldritch Heritage: Sylvan Bloodline. Most Clerics have at least a 13 Charisma for Channeling purposes. I might suggest taking Boon Companion along with it if you want your Animal Companion to be survivable. That is 3 feats though. Not sure if that is worth it.
Ugh. I tried to Google for the sourcebook of the Sylvan bloodline. Instead I found a great big debate on whether or not mutated bloodlines count for Eldritch Heritage, and then what about how Sylvan's animal companion also replaces the bloodline arcana, and so on. What a mess.
Anyway, you could use Handle Animal to rear a wild animal and teach it tricks; and then maybe later, you could use Leadership to make it a cohort?
Take leadership and pay a druid to cast Awaken Animal on a giant racoon to be your follower?
Actually, my DM is much more amenable to 3.5 material than most. A feat to gain an extra domain, than taking the Animal domain seems my best approach.
Shfish - can you remember the source of that feat?
If you can pick up an extra domain by any means then that is a good way of going about it. I would also suggest Boon Companion.
I believe that feat was in the complete divine.
Epic Level Handbook as it turns out, and requires Wisdom 21 and the ability to cast 9th level divine spells. Back to the drawing board!
With the desire to not multiclass and possible prereqs required for a PrC, Leadership is probably your best bet. One feat and you get your follower.
Perhaps it is an option to change domains somehow, it does not seem too far fetched considering most GMs have some way of having clerics change deities (and thus presumably domains) as well, and considering your GM allows 3.5 material he might also be willing to have you change domains.
Sylvan bloodline might work as an alternate way of getting an animal companion though that would take two feats for a weaker animal companion, which seems about right, with boon companion added you get a full druid companion. Ofcourse you also get +6 on knowledge nature checks at 10th+ and can spend another feat at lvl 11 to get greater invisibility for x rounds per day or gain woodland stride (and after that change into a pixie for x minute/day for another feat), though it is open to discussion wether it is allowed it seems fine to me.
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couldn't you just by one and use Handle Animal? Not every companion has to be magically connected to its master.
Animal companion is much tougher to replace than bought animal as well.
Actually according to the druid entry it is quite easily done.
Onyx Dog figurine of wonderous power cept in your case its a Bronze Raccoon. :)
Leadership and a reskin of any number of intelligent animals?
As Gourry187 posted, just buy an animal, and get trained in Handle Animal. People in the Real World (tm) buy dogs and exotic pets all the time. Not everyone knows how to handle them.
As a GM, I would very much enjoy having a player with an NPC animal companion. It leaves open lots of story hooks.
Tell your GM you'll pay the coin, buy the Handle Animal Feat, and spend XP for every level of that animal. Naturally, you won't have the level of control a druid would have, as you lack that intimate connection to nature.
A big thanks to everyone for your suggestions. After a talk with my DM, he's amenable to homebrewing an 'Initiate' style feat (from 3.5 Player's Guide to Faerun) which allows a giant raccoon animal companion (any suggestions on stats?).