An elegant solution for purchased Animals

[CipsioN]

There is a large exploitable loophole in regards to purchased Animals. You can purchase an Animal that puts a class provided Animal Companion to shame (at low levels). There is a simple fix for this fortunately and here it is (don’t forget the maxim KISS)

FAQ for “How many Animals can I have”
The first sentence should read:
“During the course of a scenario, you may have one combat animal UP TO ONE HD HIGHER THAN YOUR CHARACTER LEVEL and as many noncombat animals as you like.”

That’s it! Insert those 9 little words and everything is fixed.

Animals available for purchase and level available as a result
1st-Heavy Horse, Riding Dog
4th-Bison
5th-Tiger
7th-Wooly Rhinoceros

Any animal that is purchased will not outshine an Animal Companion because of all the bonuses inherent in being an Animal Companion. People can still buy animals if they like, it wont be unbalancing, everybody wins!!

[Sebastian Hirsch]

This is almost the same, as the idea John Compton listed in the other thread (in which you already complied, so was the separate thread really necessary?)

John Compton wrote:

I've read the thread, and I'm familiar with the issue. I'm not yet convinced that we need a new rule, but I'm going to float an idea and see if it has any merit:

Numerous sources allow a PC to purchase an animal to serve as a mount, companion, or combatant; however, a PC can only purchase an animal if its Challenge Rating is lower than that character's level (minimum CR 1).

What would this do? It would allow any PC to buy a horse, a camel, or a riding dog at 1st level (CR 1). Pets and pack animals with fractional CRs are likewise unaffected. It also would mean that a PC could not buy a bison or tiger—combat trained or otherwise—until level 5 (CR 4). Of course, these creatures would still be available through the animal companion class feature. The only gap I see is the heavy horse, which is CR 2 (minimum character level 3), yet a combat-trained light horse is still available right out of the gate.

[GM Lamplighter]

Actually, John's suggestion addressed the issue better, since it limited animals to ones with a CR less than your level. Please merge the threads to avoid people discussion several slightly different proposals and causing confusion.