I have a player who is somewhat upset that she can't get armor runes for her animal companion's barding, and I'm trying to decide how much of a balance issue it would be to allow it or if any changes should be made.
I'm not super familiar yet with the new animal companion math/balance so I'm hoping to get some advice here.
It will be fine, depending of the animal it may make it better than full dex companions until specialized (like +1 or 2 AC), but nothing game breaking, but only allow the runes that give Armor Class.
It won't really help. ACs are limited to a maximum Item Bonus of +3 to AC. So Heavy Barding and +1 Heavy Barding give the exact same benefit.
It won't really help. ACs are limited to a maximum Item Bonus of +3 to AC. So Heavy Barding and +1 Heavy Barding give the exact same benefit.
If the Companion has 5 dex mod, they already max put at Light Barding. Haven’t checked, but I suspect come Specialization pretty much all get there, so light barding maxes AC. And then runes could give another 2 on top of that.
Will that break things? Probably not. I suspect it compares favorably to the AC a nimble daredevil can get. Now, if you allow the explorers clothes equivalent for very Dex focused animals, that would probably make them harder to hit than intended. You should probably be sure to price it appropriately. Costing it the same as runes for PC Armor is likely too cheap.Side note: what I want is a specialization that’s can give Expert barding proficiency, or Master if it already has expert from being an Indominable companion.
It won't really help. ACs are limited to a maximum Item Bonus of +3 to AC. So Heavy Barding and +1 Heavy Barding give the exact same benefit.If the Companion has 5 dex mod, they already max put at Light Barding. Haven’t checked, but I suspect come Specialization pretty much all get there, so light barding maxes AC. And then runes could give another 2 on top of that.
Will that break things? Probably not. I suspect it compares favorably to the AC a nimble daredevil can get. Now, if you allow the explorers clothes equivalent for very Dex focused animals, that would probably make them harder to hit than intended. You should probably be sure to price it appropriately. Costing it the same as runes for PC Armor is likely too cheap.
Side note: what I want is a specialization that’s can give Expert barding proficiency, or Master if it already has expert from being an Indominable companion.
Yeah, but the companions that get high DEX modifiers never get higher than Trained in Barding.
A Cat can get +8 DEX and Master in Unarmored.
I hardly think +2 Light Barding with Trained makes up for that.
It won't really help. ACs are limited to a maximum Item Bonus of +3 to AC. So Heavy Barding and +1 Heavy Barding give the exact same benefit.
I don't follow - where is it indicated that barding gives an item bonus to AC instead of an armor bonus like any other armor?
Yeah, but the companions that get high DEX modifiers never get higher than Trained in Barding.
A Cat can get +8 DEX and Master in Unarmored.
I hardly think +2 Light Barding with Trained makes up for that.
I think we are in agreement, maybe? I was saying I would be wary of allowing the equivalent of Explorers clothing (I.e. runes and therefore an item bonus on top of Master Unarmored).
It won't really help. ACs are limited to a maximum Item Bonus of +3 to AC. So Heavy Barding and +1 Heavy Barding give the exact same benefit.I don't follow - where is it indicated that barding gives an item bonus to AC instead of an armor bonus like any other armor?
In 2E, *all* armor gives an Item bonus to AC. There’s no such thing as an Armor bonus.
Sorry, my mistake, let me rephrase that: I'm still confused. :P
From the description of the armor potency rune: "Increase the armor’s item bonus to AC by 1."
What about barding implies that an armor potency rune wouldn't affect barding normally if you houseruled barding to allow runes?
Sorry, my mistake, let me rephrase that: I'm still confused. :P
From the description of the armor potency rune: "Increase the armor’s item bonus to AC by 1."
What about barding implies that an armor potency rune wouldn't affect barding normally if you houseruled barding to allow runes?
Nothing about Barding. It's the rules for Animal Companions themselves.
Animal companions calculate their modifiers and DCs just as you do with one difference: the only item bonuses they can benefit from are to speed and AC (their maximum item bonus to AC is +3).
(It actually says +2 on page 214, but the errata changed it to +3.)
So whether the Barding provides an Item Bonus of +3 or +6, the Animal Companion only gets +3 AC.
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AC limit mechanics for animal companions is there so that the companion can never outshine a PC.
most of us remember companions in PF1, where at some levels they outperformed everyone else in the party....which is lame AF
an animal companion should never be able to consistently have AC better or even on par with a fighter in full plate IMO....and i think the math is set exactly to enforce this
Thanks, Aratorin, I didn't see that before.
I think to stay on the safe side I'm going to stick with no runes for barding. Thanks everyone for your advice.