Riding a construct companion

[Waldham]

Hello, I have questions about riding a construct companion.

Quote:

our construct companion has the minion trait, and it gains 2 actions during your turn if you use the Command a Minion action to command it.

Quote:

You or an ally can ride your construct companion as long as your construct companion is at least one size larger than the rider.

0/ A character riding a construct companion has always 3 actions and a construct companion has always 2 actions if it is riding, is it right ?

1/ Must you spend as many actions on Command an Animal as the activity's number of actions ?

2/ The Rider feat is not necessary, is it right ?

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These items have the companion trait, meaning they function only for animal companions, familiars, and similar creatures.

Quote:

A companion has an investiture limit of two items (instead of the 10-item limit a player character has).

3/ Can a construct companion have companion items ?

Waverider Barding or Barding of the Zephyr or Barding Saddle ?

4/ Is it possible to have a battle saddle on a construct companion ? Weapon runes on the saddle ?

Quote:

When using a battle saddle to parry, you can decide whether the circumstance bonus to AC applies to you or to your mount.

When must the circumstance bonus to AC be decided applies to you or to your "mount" ?

When the attack check throwed or before ?

5/ Is it possible to have a barding saddle with a battle saddle ?

Thanks for your future answer.

[Finoan]

Waldham wrote:

0/ A character riding a construct companion has always 3 actions and a construct companion has always 2 actions if it is riding, is it right ?

Correct. Because the construct companion has the Minion trait. So it follows the rules for being given commands and gaining actions the same as an animal companion or other Minion.

It does not follow the 'riding sentient creatures' rules because it has the Minion trait.

Waldham wrote:

1/ Must you spend as many actions on Command an Animal as the activity's number of actions ?

No. The construct companion uses the Command a Minion action instead, which is the same as for animal companions. Master spends one action, Minion gains two actions.

Waldham wrote:

2/ The Rider feat is not necessary, is it right ?

Correct. Ride would give no benefit in this case (or animal companions or other Minions or sentient creatures being ridden) because there is already no skill check needed. The Ride feat has no target skill check to give you an automatic success on.

Waldham wrote:

3/ Can a construct companion have companion items ?

4/ Is it possible to have a battle saddle on a construct companion ? Weapon runes on the saddle ?

5/ Is it possible to have a barding saddle with a battle saddle ?

Yes, but with one major note.

Construct Companion wrote:

Construct companions calculate their modifiers and DCs just as you do, with one difference: the only item bonuses they can benefit from are to Speed.

So while the construct companion could wear the Barding Saddle, the AC bonus from Heavy Barding would not apply but the speed penalty (negative speed bonus) would.

So be careful what Companion items you try to use.

[Waldham]

Is it possible for a construct companion to consume a drakeheart mutagen and obtain its effects ?

[NorrKnekten]

Waldham wrote:

Is it possible for a construct companion to consume a drakeheart mutagen and obtain its effects ?

It is not possible for it to gain most of the positive effects.

As mentioned previously

"Construct companions calculate their modifiers and DCs just as you do, with one difference: the only item bonuses they can benefit from are to Speed."

The penalty will still take effect. I believe it can still enjoy the final surge action but thats where the benefits end.

[Waldham]

Does the status and circumstances bonus function or not on the construct companion ?

[NorrKnekten]

Status and Circumstance bonuses function as normal.

[Finoan]

Waldham wrote:

Is it possible for a construct companion to consume a drakeheart mutagen and obtain its effects ?

There is a bit of disagreement on if and how companions such as Animal Companions use potions, elixirs, and other such things. They are not allowed to activate items. However, many GMs will allow a PC to activate the consumable and feed it to the companion.

There is also a bit of narrative dissonance on if a construct can imbibe potions and elixirs. But if an Automaton or a Poppet PC is allowed to use potions and elixirs, then the narrative excuses for them can apply to a construct companion as well. And if Automaton or Poppet PCs are not allowed to use potions and elixirs, then that is a rather big balance problem that has no rules justification for it.

[Errenor]

Finoan wrote:

There is also a bit of narrative dissonance on if a construct can imbibe potions and elixirs. But if an Automaton or a Poppet PC is allowed to use potions and elixirs, then the narrative excuses for them can apply to a construct companion as well. And if Automaton or Poppet PCs are not allowed to use potions and elixirs, then that is a rather big balance problem that has no rules justification for it.

Here you are going way too far. Automaton or Poppet PCs are exactly that: PCs. They are special. Companions are not. So, let's look at the rules:

Just as a reminder: "While constructs are usually immediately destroyed at 0 Hit Points, your construct companion is a little harder to destroy than other constructs are. When your construct reaches 0 Hit Points, it becomes broken and begins sparking and might be destroyed if you don't Repair it. This works the same as the normal dying rules and determines if your construct is destroyed, with the following two changes. First, most effects that end the dying condition don't work to save a construct companion, but a construct can be stabilized using the Administer First Aid action, using the Crafting skill instead of Medicine. Second, instead of gaining and tracking the wounded condition, if your construct becomes broken in this way more than twice within a 10-minute period, it's destroyed, and you'll need to reconstruct it by spending a day of downtime."
And the main thing, Immunities:
"Because it’s a construct, your construct companion is immune to bleed, death effects, disease, doomed, drained, fatigued, healing, nonlethal attacks, paralyzed, poison, sickened, unconscious, vitality, and void. It does not need to eat or breathe. Because the construct isn’t a living creature, effects that heal living creatures can’t help it recover Hit Points. Restoring Hit Points to it requires using the Repair action or other means that can restore Hit Points to objects and nonliving creatures."
So, healing potions and elixirs are definitely out.
Other elixirs - maybe, even though it's really dubious, they should've added somewhere that at least mutagens probably shouldn't work on constructs. But they didn't so nominally they work. But at least item bonuses are out and other trait immunities exist.
So I don't see much to disagree about. You can homerule and forbid most remaining alchemy and potions from working. You can homerule and allow most alchemy and potions to work as for PCs. But then you really should remove all object properties and being able to be repaired. Definitely not keep both.