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View Full Version : noob question about animal companions in 3.0



acommonjoe
2009-03-20, 10:35 PM
Hello all, I am getting involved in a 3.0 game and havent played in some time. I thought I would try something I have never done before, and play a druid. My question is on companions, and maybe I'm just a little thick. Why is that your total number of pets is 2 times your level. So at level 5 it would be 10hit die correct? Then it has a comment that you can really only sustain half your levels? Can some explain this to me really simply LOL i am just not getting it!

To give you some background ,the idea behind the character is to take a feat from the quentisentual druid book that increases the amount of hit die I have to choose pets. The feat adds 4HD to the total hit die you can have and can be repeatedly. I was going to play a human and we are starting at lvl 5. My first 2 feats would be improved animal companion trwice(may missname the feat. its in a friends book) at thrid level i will take point blank shot and work into precision shot when we hit sixth. with all that said i should now 18HD to play with? or would it really be 9.

I want to have a brown bear that i use as a tank/defense, and then a few wolves that are my attackers. i will also have a eagle that i use as a scout (spells that let me see though pets eyes). Even thought about taking a few mice as scavengers. (and yes i was a fan of beastmaster growing up lol). I want to use my pets in battle while i stand back with a bow, or use spells to heal party. (dm okeyed it since its not metal)

whats the final word on how manly pets are allowed. Help a new guy out?

Shpadoinkle
2009-03-21, 06:38 AM
It's exactly what it says, though it's worded oddly.

You can have animal companions worth up to twice your level in HD, but if you're moving around a lot (i.e. adventuring) you can only have animal companions worth up to your level in HD. A level 5 druid adventurer could have 5 HD worth of animal companions, but if he decided to stop adventuring and adopt a grove or something to look after, he could then have up to 10 HD worth of animal companions.

If you have Masters of the Wild, there's also a bit in there about advancing your animal companions. I don't have the book at the moment, but it's something like spending a day and sacrificing 200 XP to give one animal companion one more HD, but you can't go over the maximum number of HD they can have as listed in the MM.