Probably an old question but one that has been on my mind for some reason.
If I built a completely bizarre multi-class combination, like say Druid/Summoner (this would be a terrible idea btw), how do I (as a player or a GM) resolve the "Companion Conflict"?
Example: Some Druids get an animal companion chosen from a list of appropriate choices. Meanwhile, a Summoner gets an Eidelon which has it's own restrictions. These are two different creatures with two different mechanics, which one does a player with levels in both classes get? Do they get both? Does one "count as" the other? Like does my hypothetical Druid-Summoner have an Eidelon that is also an Animal Companion? Getting both seems wildly unfair to me.
Where is this covered in the rules and what would you do in that situation?
You get both. If you are playing PFS, you are only allowed to use one of the two during combat.
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Technically you can have an eidelon, a familiar, and an animal companion, the issue with that is each will be 1/3 the level the character is at, mechanically this means it is far inferior to have 3 animal buddies than 1 full class animal buddy. Also, the player still needs to command/heal/summon/buff these allies, mechanically multiple minions in this way is VERY weak, and can lead to dead animal companions fairly quickly.
Huh, that seems dumb and not at all that big of an advantage. The point of multiclassing is to create a strong character with two seperate talent pools and Multiclassing two magic classes is inherently dumb to begin with, I would think that the benefits of two companions would cover the deficiencies of magic multiclassing but it sounds like it doesn't
I am considering a PFS Summoner with one level of Witch just for RP Giggles.
How did getting both go from "wildly unfair" to "dumb and not that big of an advantage" in one hour?
By the way, if you want to do something like this there is a druid archetype for it: Pack Lord. You can get up to 1 animal companion/level if you want lots of 1st-level animals, or you can allocate levels among the companions you have. As mentioned, this is not generally considered a great idea because a single fireball can wipe out your entire pack, but it's an option.
I think the real question is can a Druid/Summoner (Synthesist) summon her eidolon so that it appears on her animal companion?
Huh, that seems dumb and not at all that big of an advantage. The point of multiclassing is to create a strong character with two seperate talent pools and Multiclassing two magic classes is inherently dumb to begin with, I would think that the benefits of two companions would cover the deficiencies of magic multiclassing but it sounds like it doesn't
Well, some multiclass combinations are better than others. You don't even need to look at animal companions to see where multiclassing can hurt you -- a 5th level cleric/5th level oracle is substantially less effective than 10th level in either.
Talent pools tend to be quadratic in nature -- meaning that they get bigger as you level, and also more effective (you can do more with each point). This is true of a wizard or cleric's spell pool (more spells and also of higher level), of a monk's ki pool (more points, more you can do with each point), and so forth. If you think of a druid's AC as a talent pool with teeth and claws, it tends to get more attacks, more effective attacks, and more damage to attack as the druid levels. Not surprisingly, two half-strength pools are weaker than one full-strength pool.
How did getting both go from "wildly unfair" to "dumb and not that big of an advantage" in one hour?
By the way, if you want to do something like this there is a druid archetype for it: Pack Lord. You can get up to 1 animal companion/level if you want lots of 1st-level animals, or you can allocate levels among the companions you have. As mentioned, this is not generally considered a great idea because a single fireball can wipe out your entire pack, but it's an option.
Also the Broodmaster if you want to explore the summoner side more.
How did getting both go from "wildly unfair" to "dumb and not that big of an advantage" in one hour?
Because when I posted this thread I had this image of a character wielding two powerful combat creatures to steamroll opponents, the reality as it was explained to me makes it seem kind of silly.
The point of multiclassing is to create a strong character...
This is mostly not true with pathfinder, spellcaster classes, pet classes or no.
By and large, multiclassing is defacto self-nerfing. Its a rare case that dipping produces a more effective character.