Reconsidering the ban on Pack Lord

[RtrnofdMax]

In light of the Ranger archetype Huntmaster being ruled legal with the stipulation that his pack contain just one companion, I think it is reasonable to make the Pack Lord Druid archetype legal with the same restriction. That should eliminate any concern with bogging down combat since the character will only have access to the single companion.

The second part of the archetype trades Wild Shape for the ability to sense through your companion. This is primarily an ability to use when scouting and should take about as much table time as a rogue scouting ahead. It also gives up a very powerful Druid class feature, so is unlike to unbalance the class.

[David H]

Fair argument, I'm curious to see where this goes.

[Harley Quinn X]

I don't want to nitpick, but the archetype doesn't trade away Wild Shape. It alters its use.

Quote:

Improved Empathic Link (Su)

The pack lord gains an empathic link with all of her animal companions. This functions like an empathic link with a familiar. In addition, as a swift action the pack lord can shift her perception to one of her companions, allowing her to experience what it sees, hears, and so on. She can maintain this connection as long as she likes (as long as the companion is within 1 mile) and end it as a free action. The druid can only use this ability on one companion at a time, and cannot see, hear, or smell with her own body while maintaining this connection.

This ability replaces the 6th-level additional use of wild shape.

[RtrnofdMax]

No, good nitpick. It actually makes the archetype a bit more interesting and likely to be chosen. I personally have no horse in this race, but it seemed like if they could rationalize that Huntmaster was ok with the restriction to one AC, that that should translate back to Pack Lord.