Hi All,
I was looking at druid animal companions and was annoyed by how the lion (big cat) seems to just be better than every other option that isn't a dinosaur. Does anyone know of a resource where the animal companions are balanced better in comparison to each other? I don't want players to feel like they are making a sub-optimal choice if they choose anything other than a lion (I don't allow dinosaurs because setting).
If I attempt to rebalance them myself should I leave lions alone and buff everything else or nerf lions down to the level of a wolf or some other balance point?
Thanks.
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Bump. Thinking about rebalancing them as well.
The dinosaur and big cat companions need to be brought down rather than being the meter stick for the other companions, I think. The optimization ceiling of big cats is lower than that for e.g. barbarians of the same level, but the floor is also a lot higher - ideally, you'd reduce the floor a bit.
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I think that many feel this way, and I've had a couple of ideas.
1) Give some of the companions a minimum "druid" level. Some companions are just plain better than others, and at low level a character can gain a large mechanical boost by choosing one of them. If you look at some of these companions with three attacks and good strength and then compare it to a more mundane animal, the difference can be laughable. Some companions should require that the character have a minimum druid level.
2) Maybe its not possible to simulate the real-world animals and at the same time make each of them balanced against each other, so I don't think that should be the ultimate goal. However, we could take some of the less powerful companions and give them small boons that don't necessarily make them melee monsters. For example, a dog companion is weak compared to a wolf but it is no more difficult to train a wolf than it is a dog. Given the history of dogs and humans, how about it Handle Animal checks made with a dog gain a +2 bonus? There are other animals that could gain similar bonuses. The ram is a nice example I think, as it gains Imp Bullrush as a bonus feat. The animal is too small to really exploit the feat, but its a flavorful addition.
3) While we're on the subject, I think that Handle Animal could use a revision. Past a certain level there is little point in putting more ranks in the skill (certain other skills are the same way). Since the different tricks have different DCs for training, maybe the DC to use it should be different too? Originally, the trick list was much smaller, and now it is quite large. Thats good in a way, but now I have to wonder what exactly my companion can actually do without having a certain trick.
4) A new option for A.C advancement. In lieu of taking the 4th or 7th level advancement, you can always opt for a bonus to Dex and Con. In almost all cases this is a lame choice compared to +8 Str, +4 Con, and a cool combat ability. What if you don't want your companion to increase in size? Its time for different options. Maybe choose a two things from a list, such as +1 to all saves, some extra skill ranks, ability score bonuses, better senses, etc.
I am a fan of creating 4-6 "chassis" style Animal Companions. One has flight, one is a striker, another a sturdy, skillful mount, whatever. Then you pick a chassis, and call it whatever animal you want. You still have feats, skill ranks, and gear to make your "Flying AC" different from another party members. Yours is a dire bat and his is a mercenary dragonling being paid in gold; both still have the Flying AC skeleton. Gets rid of a lot of animal-to-animal imbalance, though at the cost of reality - a tiger, lion, bear, and wolf might all be the same chassis, just with different starting feats and skill rank selections.
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I like #4, Ciaran, and I've had the same feeling about Handle Animal as you (once you get +9 is it really worth any more increase?). I do feel that #1 loses one of the neat features of the animal companion system, however - whenever the owner arrives in a new ecoregion, they can choose a companion appropriate to the locale. And some of the animal companions are the biggest problem at mid-level right after they've gotten their advancement and before the melee have gotten more iteratives. But it would be kinda cool if people could tell how powerful a druid was by identifying that druid's companion.
River of Sticks, I think the chassis idea is what inspired eidolons. It has good potential. But we'd have to make sure the chassis are actually balanced! That was kinda a problem back with vanilla summoner (dunno much about unchained).
I do still have the sense that there's room to at least make the Core+Bestiary I companions balanced against each other. Even if it is necessary to combine some into one more general chassis ("large carnivorans" could include bears, wolves, and big cats, for example). Some animals would indeed be better balanced with skill bonuses and so forth, though I wouldn't limit dogs to just +2 to handle them - they deserve at least +1 trick.
Some animals would indeed be better balanced with skill bonuses and so forth, though I wouldn't limit dogs to just +2 to handle them - they deserve at least +1 trick.
Well, that was just an example. :)