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Danin
2009-10-06, 11:46 PM
Looking at this class (Page 26 in Complete Adventurer) it seems rather... lack luster. Is there any way of making it viable? A better class to represent a horde of powerful animals at your beck and call? Would it make it too powerful to allow druid levels to stack with all the animal companions gained?

Zaq
2009-10-07, 12:02 AM
The only thing that I can think of is that horde of creatures on the field + Dragonfire Inspiration bard (Check Book Of Dwagon Fappery*) = profit. But even then, you'd be better off with summons.

I guess that if you could pull some shenanigans with Share Spells it could be interesting and/or hilarious, but still very much a one-trick pony.

Does anyone know if Natural Bond increases your level for all of your animal companions, or just one? That would help a tiny bit, though not much.

Oh, and I vaguely recall that there's some shenanigans you can pull with this towards getting a Supermount, but my memory is hazy on that front and may very well be outright incorrect.

*sometimes better known as Dragon Magic.

Mongoose87
2009-10-07, 12:49 AM
It would probably be a lot better if two out of your three companions weren't gimped.

I can see how the first one, which uses level+3 would be a component of the Ubermount, though.

Grumman
2009-10-07, 01:09 AM
Oh, and I vaguely recall that there's some shenanigans you can pull with this towards getting a Supermount, but my memory is hazy on that front and may very well be outright incorrect.
Yes, Beastmaster is useful for a one level dip because it lets you get an animal companion without losing B.A.B. (Druid) or spending an extra 3 levels (Ranger). It costs you a feat, but it also gives you the equivalent to the Natural Bond feat, which any Supermount build was going to take anyway, and it lets you effectively take it twice - once as a Beastmaster class ability and once as a feat.

Gorbash
2009-10-07, 01:51 AM
I've seen the Beastmaster first-hand and his mount is anything but uber. It's more useful than the Beastmaster himself (who can't do anything really), but it's still dying a lot, can't do anything against foes with any DR... Having a CR 9-10 companion at lvl 13 isn't really that useful.

Akal Saris
2009-10-07, 02:13 AM
Well, here's a Beastmaster that I designed for a Char Op contest who isn't a Supermount character. It, um, makes good use of the extra companions by...throwing them...

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1701.msg61403#msg61403

As for a better class for controlling multiple creatures, the Beast Heart Adept from Dungeonscape is perfect for the role. It eventually gets up to 3 or 4 aberrations or magical beasts such as owlbears, blink dogs, chimera, and wyverns, and has class features that help in combat by giving the beastmaster and his allies free attacks whenever his companions hit and stuff. Unfortunately, only the first companion will be a very strong combatant while the others will be more utility-based, and after level 15 or so the creatures will begin to be quite weak. But for 5-15 it's a great PrC.

Person_Man
2009-10-07, 09:33 AM
Consider Beast Heart Adept (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070209a&page=4) instead.

The Glyphstone
2009-10-07, 01:08 PM
Druid 9/Beastmaster 1/Beast Heart Adept 10 with the Wild Cohort feat and Natural Bond? It'd make a nice 'packmaster' theme character if you chose all Wolves of various types.

Druid AC: Wolf (Effective druid level 14, = +8 HD/NA, +4 Str/Dex)
Beastmaster AC: Wolf (effective druid level 17, = +10 HD/NA, +4 Str/Dex))
Beast Heart Adept MC: Worg (effective class level 10, = +8 HD/NA/Str/Con)
Beast Heart Adept MC: Worg (effective class level 6, 9 if you can get Natural Bond to kick in for Monstrous Companion = +4 or +8 HD/NA/Str/Con)
Beast Heart Adept MC: Worg (effective class level 1, 4 w/ natural bond = +0/+2 HD/NA/Str/Con)
Wild Cohort: Wolf (+11 HD/NA, +5 Str/Dex)

Wildshape into a Dire Wolf and you've got your own personal pack following you around, all with much higher stats than the average bearwolf, and you've still got up to 5th level druid spells to pump them with, such as Animal Growth to make your 3 Wolf buddies even bigger and badder. With Summon Nature's Ally instead, one round of prep gets you another 1d4+1 Dire Wolves to add to the Wolfswarm.

To make it ridiculous, Gestalt Warblade who specializes in White Raven maneuvers. :)

jiriku
2009-10-07, 02:06 PM
I found beastmaster very useful in a gladiatorial game using a barbarian/rogue/beastmaster with the staggering strike feat and a brown bear companion. Since my battles were typically against only single opponents, the companion provided a flanking partner to set up sneak attacks, and the action advantage provided by the staggering strike lockdown on the opponent vs. the full attacks from character and the bear was quite effective.

Plus, if you've ever enjoyed the Beast Master movies as a kid, this class has quite a lot of flavor. :P