Animal Companion boons

[solidarigee]

I am a new player and don't quite understand how boons work yet.

I played a pregen for my first PFS game and

Spoiler:

saw that if you complete all three parts of the Quest for Perfection campaign you get an Axe Beak animal companion boon, which lets you take the axe beak as an animal companion.

I'm currently building a level 1 character and was wondering:

Do I need boons for other animal companions?

In Bestiary 1 it says I can take a roc as an animal companion. Do I need a boon for this?

[Broken Prince]

You do not. Essentially you need to find out what book your choice of animal companion comes from then check additional resources to see if it is available.

[Matthew Pittard]

Seran Gee: The first thing to realise is that each class that can have an Animal companion has a set number of companions that they can pick from. Rangers have the most limited number of choices. Druids have the largest number of choices. In the case of the axebeak its not normally available to be taken and thus the boon from the sheet opens it up to be picked. Its currently the only way to get access to the axebeak.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions

Down the bottom you will see the list Druids have access to. Its a lot. Some can be taken at certain levels etc. Now its up to you to determine which ones are Pathfinder legal (so you should be checking the Additional Resources document you have). The Roc is indeed listed and no you only need to meet the requirements to get that Roc (which is not a boon).

[Woran]

Boons are basically extra options you earn for your character. They add things that you normally would not be allowed to have.

[Natertot]

Could you guys please put some spoiler tags in this thread? Thanks.

[Mahtobedis]

I'm not seeing any spoilers. The quest for perfection boon is pretty common knowledge because you need all three parts so people tend to mention that when ever the series is being done.

Matthew and Woran have already done a pretty good job explaining what is going on. Not all animals are legal for all classes all the time. Some boons are also more useful for some classes. Personally I think the Axe Beak does very well on a character designed to use mounted combat rules. Cavalier or Paladins can really take advantage of the fact that the Axe Beak has reach.

[Rogue Eidolon]

Matthew Pittard wrote:

Seran Gee: The first thing to realise is that each class that can have an Animal companion has a set number of companions that they can pick from. Rangers have the most limited number of choices. Druids have the largest number of choices. In the case of the axebeak its not normally available to be taken and thus the boon from the sheet opens it up to be picked. Its currently the only way to get access to the axebeak.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions

Down the bottom you will see the list Druids have access to. Its a lot. Some can be taken at certain levels etc. Now its up to you to determine which ones are Pathfinder legal (so you should be checking the Additional Resources document you have). The Roc is indeed listed and no you only need to meet the requirements to get that Roc (which is not a boon).

Axebeak is actually normally available for druids. The main point of the boon, I think, is to open it up to non-druids. Which is still very good.

[Natertot]

Mahtobedis wrote:

I'm not seeing any spoilers.

Fair enough Mahtobedis, just guess my definition of spoiler is different. :)

I consider boons mentioned on a chronicle as information that should not be shared on the message boards without a spoiler tag.

Nathan Meyers
NYC PFS GM/Player

[BigNorseWolf]

Seran Gee wrote:

The weird thing is: the Axe Beak is listed as available for the druid too, so why would a person need the Axe Beak boon? Or is this for cavaliers and rangers and stuff?

Its for cavaliers rangers and stuff. (paladins, cavaliers, some clerics technically...)

[solidarigee]

Matthew Pittard wrote:

Seran Gee: The first thing to realise is that each class that can have an Animal companion has a set number of companions that they can pick from. Rangers have the most limited number of choices. Druids have the largest number of choices. In the case of the axebeak its not normally available to be taken and thus the boon from the sheet opens it up to be picked. Its currently the only way to get access to the axebeak.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions

Down the bottom you will see the list Druids have access to. Its a lot. Some can be taken at certain levels etc. Now its up to you to determine which ones are Pathfinder legal (so you should be checking the Additional Resources document you have). The Roc is indeed listed and no you only need to meet the requirements to get that Roc (which is not a boon).

Thanks! This exactly what I needed.

The funny thing is: the Axe Beak is also available to the druid on this list. The difference that I can see is the roc has an "animal companion" entry in Bestiary 1 and the Axe Beak has no such entry in its respective bestiary. Also, I guess the boon could also make the Axe Beak available to other classes such as the cavalier.

So in short: is it the case that any entry with "animal companion" with reference to druids are available for druids?

[solidarigee]

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Seran Gee wrote:

The weird thing is: the Axe Beak is listed as available for the druid too, so why would a person need the Axe Beak boon? Or is this for cavaliers and rangers and stuff?

Its for cavaliers rangers and stuff. (paladins, cavaliers, some clerics technically...)

I see, thanks!

[Natertot]

Thanks solidarigee!

Nathan Meyers
NYC PFS GM/Player

[Eric Clingenpeel]

solidarigee wrote:

The funny thing is: the Axe Beak is also available to the druid on this list. The difference that I can see is the roc has an "animal companion" entry in Bestiary 1 and the Axe Beak has no such entry in its respective bestiary.

Actually there is an entry in Bestiary 3. In the back there's an appendix (7) that has the stats for animals that can be companions.

[Matthew Pittard]

Sorry I meant to go back and amend my original reply but forgot all about it. Yeah Druids can normally take it. You tend to find it used by a lot of Paladins...