...and by beast, I mean animal companion or mount with best possible charge bonus at, say, 10th level. (It's likely to be a paladin mount, so creature's INT will be high.)
I've never built a mount before, and the book is flat useless.
Spiked Destroyer does require proficiency with the armor spikes, Scott. Not impossible but it's another feat spent. I really doubt a paladin's mount would worship Rovagug so Merciless Rush is probably out. Minotaur Charge is from D&D so might be out depending on the GM.
Anyway, the basics are Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, and Greater Bull Rush (the last probably at character level 10). Forceful Charge should probably be in there & maybe (not certainly) Improved Forceful Charge.
Putting that together, by the paladin's level -
1: Power Attack
2: Improved Bull Rush
5: Forceful Charge
8: Barroom Brawler (for whatever situational feat it needs, like improved forceful charge or dedicated adversary; it does not need to actually brawl in barrooms.)
10: Greater Bull Rush
Minotaur Charge is from D&D so might be out depending on the GM.
They brought it to Pathfinder with Classic Monsters Revisited.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Any advice for not horridly expensive items (aside from barding, tack, and saddles)?
Try a Stone of Alliance (5000 gp), also Ioun stones.
Are Combat Maneuver rolls considered attack rolls? If so, is there a way to give it a Quickened true strike?
Are Combat Maneuver rolls considered attack rolls? If so, is there a way to give it a Quickened true strike?They are. You can totally put True Strike on them. I don't know about Quickened: I guess so. I'd been thinking more along the lines of an Alchemist with a Tumor Familiar, Infusion, and Touch Injection for my character.
A bloodrager with the Magical Lineage trait (truestrike) can use Quickened truestrikes at level 13.... As can a magus without the Magical Lineage trait....
Let's assume for the moment that I'm not casting Quickened Truestrike while riding a charge beast...
If you take the Mammoth Rider Prestige Class, you will get a really big Mount, like a Mammoth or a Triceratops. That should help.
Tell me if I'm doing this wrong:
For a 10th level AC...
1. Find the animal I'm interested in and grab the 7th-level (or whatever) Large attributes.
1a Increase attributes even more if Mammoth Rider
2. Then go add ten levels of stuff from this table.
3. Then give it skills and feats (five, in this case).
Possibly also 0. Add an archetype. But basically yes.
So the 4th or 7th "advancement" is a static, one-time deal, and everything else to be applied is based on the table and the PC? (I don't want to be missing anything here.)
Q. Is there any way around the requirement that its first feat be off the companion's stock list of things INT=1 animals are limited to? I.e, you cast Fox's Cunning on a friendly animal, give it an INT-boosting ioun stone that it is now smart enough to activate, then after 24hr have passed, go "Hey, would you like to be my BFF?", then give it five sentience-required feats.
Yes, that's how the 4 or 7th level adjustments work.
Retraining should work. Also the archetypes add to the feats allowable.
There are some ways of giving it Int at 1st level. The human eye for talent for example.
Thanks. Other questions:
1. Does retraining a companion's feats follow the same rules as for your own?
2. What means are there for giving magic to an animal's natural attack, provided one is not a caster? Do you pay cash for AoMF and put in a chest slot (if it has one), or can you buy a metal covers for horns and tusks, etc?
Can an AC with Int 3+ take Eldritch Claws?
While animal companions aren't mentioned in the retraining rules, they aren't excluded. Worst case scenario you train the PCs animal companion away then train it back & make different choices.
The metal covers thing is ask your GM, it's not in the rules. Something like it has been a common house rule, e.g. Handwraps for monks to use special materials in D&D before PF. Eldritch Claws should work if it meets the prereqs or has the Totem Guide archetype, AoMF works if it has the slot available. There are a number of other feats which can make your attacks magical (e.g. caster's champion) but I think one of the above would be better.
If I and my companion can both take a full-attack, can I freely mix the order in which these attacks occur, or do I have to do all of mine then all of its (or vice-versa), with that order then being "fixed" the rest of the encounter assuming no delaying?
If unable to mix, is there a feat or item which permits doing so (I mean, aside from attacks of opportunity)?
I don't really know on those sorry. There's no feat or item that I know of (& I've spent far too long browsing or searching those), but I don't know that one is required.
Link (Ex): A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn't have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The druid gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion.
From the Archives of Nethys.
So, my interpretation of the rule is that the druid (or other class that has the Link ability), can use it as a free action any time during his turn, so he can move, Link, then cast, or take full attack and do claw/claw, Link, bite, etc.
EDIT:
I think even the least generous GM would let you use the Link free action at either the beginning of your turn or the end of your turn.
It's a free action, not even a swift action.
Let's play with a wooly rhinoceros for a bit using Mammoth Hunter, and see if I have this right:
Companion: large wooly rhinoceros (4th > 7th), uses regular rhino stat block
str 14 > 22
dex 14 > 12
con 15 > 19
int 2
wis 13
cha 5
damage at 7th: gore 2d6 (primary); special attack: Powerful Charge (gore 2d8)
Companion: large wooly rhinoceros (10th)
str 28 (+2 gigantic steed, +1 Str increase, +1 ability score increase, +2 item)
dex 12 (-2 gigantic steed, +2 Dex increase)
con 21 (+2 gigantic steed)
int 3 (+1 ability score increase)
wis 13
cha 5
feats: Improved Natural Attack (gore), Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Greater Bull Rush, (one other)
equipment: Belt of Thunderous Charging
damage at 10th: gore 4d6 (primary); special attack: Powerful Charge (gore 4d8)
- - -
I'm confused by the gore with this animal, as it's Powerful Charge version appears to use an upgraded die. When it charges, is it doing 4d6+4d8, or 8d8? What is the interplay of str-bonus (should be x1.5 for rhinos) and Power Attack (should be 1:3 for rhinos) on a Powerful Charge? I.e., Do you get the bonuses both times, or only bonus dice?
Lastely, if I give the animal Combat Reflexes early on, does it lose the feat when its dexterity drops due to gaining size? (I would assume so, since it's an actual base change and not a temporary penalty.)
There is no Dex requirement for Combat Reflexes.
Furious Focus might be good, too.
Regarding Powerful Charge, it looks like you don't get any more numerical bonus damage, just dice, for animal companions with a single primary attack form (since they're already getting 1.5x Str on a gore).
...correct?
Spiked Destroyer does require proficiency with the armor spikes, Scott. Not impossible but it's another feat spent.
Or, for 3200gp, you give the animal Body Piercings which give the required proficiency with all Armor Spikes.