Hi, everyone!
I'm soon starting a campaign (first time playing Pathfinder) in which I will play a halfling archaeologist bard focused in archery, and I would very much like him to be mounted on a riding dog. I intend to use my mount to position myself in the combat field without missing the chance to make a full attack with my bow, and since the dog is medium sized it will be able to keep up with the party in dungeons, which I find very convenient.
But I don't plan to have levels in any class with animal companion (or anything similar), so I'm worrying the dog will be extremely fragile in the medium run. On the other hand, I don't really want him to attack or anything (just keep moving around avoiding melee, ideally keeping me away from danger). Do you think my concept can work out with a regular riding dog, or will I find out he is regularly killed in the first round of the first combat of each adventure?
If so, is there a cheap/easy way to raise an animal from the dead? And to get a stronger/leveling animal via feats or the like? I should add that Magical Items will be heavily restricted in the campaign.
I'm hoping someone has an idea. Thanks a lot in advance for taking the time to read this!
It depends a bit on whether your GM is the sort to have enemies attack your dog. Even if he doesn't, I wouldn't expect the dog to survive enemy fireballs at high level.
If you're rich, you have the option to get a whole pack of riding dogs, and find a way to get the rest of them to follow you at a safe distance (maybe with a hireling handler looking after them). That way, every time you lose a mount, you can replace it before the next encounter.
Greetings, fellow traveller.
Define higher levels. In all games I play(ed) and GM(de) for, I find, that animals straight out of the Bestiaries do not last long.
If you're too much of a nuisance especially due to your superior movement/positioning and action economy, your opponents (aka GM) is entitled to do something about you; 13 hp is nothing; sure it will take up one attack but if a serious threat is removed from the battle that's fine.
Any area spell will kill your dog. Some foes might even target your dog specifically. The chance of your riding dog becoming colleteral is even higher if there's less room to manouver.
We do not bother to buy horses in our game anymore--sooner or later they die (more often sooner...); any character not eligible to a druid-like AC walks around or gets some means of flight asap.
You could go for Leadership and pick a monstrous cohort at lvl 7; this mount advances per class levels and should be more durable.
Ruyan.
If you're rich, you have the option to get a whole pack of riding dogs
That's what I tried to do as ranger in one game--get a herd of horses and drive them from A to B.
Looks like a lot of people feel entitled to a horse when you're not looking. The extra book-keeping, personnel etc. was just not worth it.Oh, and have I told you about the dragon we encountered... (roasted) horse meat is a delicacy for them.
Ruyan.
If so, is there a cheap/easy way to raise an animal from the dead? And to get a stronger/leveling animal via feats or the like? I should add that Magical Items will be heavily restricted in the campaign.
I'm hoping someone has an idea. Thanks a lot in advance for taking the time to read this!
You could get a Figurine of Wondrous Power, they revert into statuette form after being killed. Sadly you will only have a few weekly uses. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/e-g/figur ines-of-wondrous-power/onyx-dog-figurine-of-wondrous-power
Eldritch Heritage Arcane gives you a familiar. Some Improved Familiars like the Imp can Shapechange into medium Animals(Boar).
Eldritch Heritage Sylvan quite arguably gives an Animal Companion.
Though Leadership is the best alternative IMO.
Yeah, without using a feat or money or some other way to increase the health and survivability of your mount I would say don't build around it.
As a GM/NPC, noting that an enemy can full attack and move because he is mounted makes the mount a prime tagret. I wouldn't expect it to survive a single combat after level 6.
I will also note as someone else did, that mounts just don't persist in my groups game world. At least non-class granted/feat granted mounts that don't increase in power. I think your only good option is Leadership for a monstrous companion. If your Gm allows it.
Those have been really useful answers! There are indeed a number of ways I didn't know about for getting a leveled (kind of) animal, and leadership seems to be the most convenient.
I will ask my DM about using leadership for getting a mount. Otherwise, I'm now positive a regular animal is not an option. It wouldn't be specially useful until I can do more than attack per round, anyway. And by then it would already be too weak.
Thanks a lot for your help!
It seems like you might already be set on Leadership, but there is one more option that hasn't been brought up yet, Animal Ally. This will give you an animal companion at -3 level, like a ranger.
It seems like you might already be set on Leadership, but there is one more option that hasn't been brought up yet, Animal Ally. This will give you an animal companion at -3 level, like a ranger.
That feat has more prerequisites and provides less options, and is probably not as strong as the options granted by leadership feat though, I'd need to look closely at it. But leadership can allow him to grab a small size mount, and then advance it with fighter or barbarian levels if he wants. In general that feat just isn't a good as the monstrous companion option. Of course, you could access it at level 4 instead of 7 with Leadership. And leadership may or may not be allowed.
So, food for thought.
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There is something I've wanted to see for years for horses, but it would apply to dogs just as easily. I have wanted to see animals that are somewhere between the standard issue, low hit point variety and the combat ready animal companion. The reason? For role-playing reasons it is appealing to have the same animal buddy as you level up, instead of just replacing him every time a Fireball explodes. I don't think you should have to be specific class to do so. There are cohorts for those with the leadership feat, so would it be out of line to simply level up an animal in place of getting a new, more powerful cohort?
