Animal Ally and multi-classing to get an Animal Companion

[Jayder22]

So I have this idea for a monk with a pet, and I am curious how the AC class level would be calculated, here is the situation.

Say I have a Monk 6 with Animal soul and Animal Ally. I know I would have an effective level 3 for my animal companion. Than I hit level 7 and take a level in Hunter and pick the feat Boon Companion for my Hunter's animal Companion and dismiss my old companion.

From what I understand, Boon Companion would boost my Hunter's effective druid level for his animal companion to 5 (1+4) which is below my total class level. Here is where it gets tricky and I see 3 possible outcomes.

1. I add the 3 levels from Animal Ally to the 5 from my Hunter's effective level to have an Animal Companion of a level 8 druid

2. I only get the Animal up to my Class level, so I have the Animal Companion of a level 7 druid.

3. I add the Hunter Level 1 + Boon Companion 4 + (Character level 7 -3) for an Animal Companion of a level 9 druid.

I think it is 1 or 2, but there is an argument for 3 I think, so I'm not sure how I should plan this. Any thoughts or rule clarification would be awesome.

[Calth]

2.

[cheechako]

As a Monk 6/Hunter 1, Boon Companion will bump your hunter's animal by +4 to a max of your character level. But 1+4=5, so you are safe.

Animal Ally adds -3 to this, bringing the total level down to 2. It doesn't seem right that Animal Ally should still apply, but according to RAW, it does.

I have no idea where you thought Animal Ally would suddenly turn into a +3 since you are using is as -3 right now.

[Jayder22]

cheechako wrote:

Animal Ally adds -3 to this, bringing the total level down to 2. It doesn't seem right that Animal Ally should still apply, but according to RAW, it does.

I have no idea where you thought Animal Ally would suddenly turn into a +3 since you are using is as -3 right now.

Animal Ally states: If you later gain an animal companion through another source (such as the Animal domain, divine bond, hunter's bond, mount, or nature bond class features), the effective druid level granted by this feat stacks with that granted by other sources.

So the effective druid level granted by this feat, which at this time would be character level -3 (7-3=4) would be added to the Animal Companion that I already have, which is an effective level of 5 (1+4). That is 9, but at least to me, there seems to be some ambiguity of whether or not the animal companion could get higher than my class level, or when boon companion is applied.

[cheechako]

So a fighter 4 takes animal ally and then switches to druid with boon companion. Animal ally is Character Level -3. Thus, at level 20:

Druid (+16) + Boon (+4) + Ally (+17) = level 37

That doesn't seem right.

[Tom Sampson]

cheechako wrote:

So a fighter 4 takes animal ally and then switches to druid with boon companion. Animal ally is Character Level -3. Thus, at level 20:

Druid (+16) + Boon (+4) + Ally (+17) = level 37

No, the Boon Companion feat does nothing since your druid level would exceed your character level. You would only get a level 33 animal companion.

And yes, the Animal Ally levels stack with your Druid levels. It explicitly says so, and the Animal Ally levels are based on your character levels, so double-counting will occur by RAW.

[Jayder22]

cheechako wrote:

So a fighter 4 takes animal ally and then switches to druid with boon companion. Animal ally is Character Level -3. Thus, at level 20:

Druid (+16) + Boon (+4) + Ally (+17) = level 37

That doesn't seem right.

As for that circumstance, I remember reading somewhere that an Animal Companion could not have more than it's owners hit die +1, but I can't remember where. I'm trying to find that

[Jayder22]

I found it, Animal Companion limited by HD of Character. It is by John Compton, and says that a faq entry would be forthcoming to further cement it as a rule, but I don't think the FAQ entry ever came.

[Tom Sampson]

Also that ruling on using favored class bonus to increase a feature you don't already have contradicts page 9 of the APG:

Quote:

For example, a dwarf with rogue as his favored class adds +1/2 to his trap sense ability regarding stone traps each time he selects the alternate rogue favored class benefit; though this means the net effect is +0 after selecting it once (because +1/2 rounds down to +0), after 20 levels this benefit gives the dwarf a +10 bonus to his trap sense (in addition to the base value from being a 20th-level rogue).

At any rate, if it didn't enter FAQ, it's not an official ruling.