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View Full Version : Advice for my Celestial Giant Eagle? (3.5)



gallagher
2009-10-10, 02:47 PM
so i am getting the exalted cohort feat, and getting a celestial giant eagle eventually. i have a few questions:
1-is it a good idea to have a grappling specialist as my cohort? he has +12 to grapple, and if i do that, am i able to make a full round attack while i have others pinned?

2- can i use fly-by-attack to grapple and pick someone up, and then fly away? i know you can move someone, but can i do it in that fashion?

3- when i level up and get a new feat, will they get the new feat (never had a cohort or familiar before) so i can give him improved grapple or more flying feats?

any other advice to use with this? i am taking some mounted feats so i can use my bow with it (ranger) and scout ahead while riding

Godskook
2009-10-10, 03:04 PM
1-is it a good idea to have a grappling specialist as my cohort? he has +12 to grapple, and if i do that, am i able to make a full round attack while i have others pinned?

Huh? Could you replace "I" with cohort or PC in this sentence as appropriate?


3- when i level up and get a new feat, will they get the new feat (never had a cohort or familiar before) so i can give him improved grapple or more flying feats?

Cohorts gain feats when they level(Familiars don't).

gallagher
2009-10-10, 07:46 PM
Huh? Could you replace "I" with cohort or PC in this sentence as appropriate?



Cohorts gain feats when they level(Familiars don't).

yes, that is what i meant with that sentence. can my eagle make a full round attack.

and do you mean a cohort gains a feat at every level? i dont have the books (i use my buddy's, and he is on a business trip) so i appreciate all knowledge.

PLEASE AND THANKS

KillianHawkeye
2009-10-10, 08:57 PM
and do you mean a cohort gains a feat at every level?

No.

Your cohort gains feats based on its level (or Hit Dice, in this case) in the same way your character does. I.E., it has one feat for it's first HD and then another for 3rd, 6th, 9th, etc.

Also, your cohort won't necessarily gain levels at the same rate as you. It gains it's own experience and levels when reaching the appropriate totals, with the exception that it must be a certain number of levels lower than you (usually 2, but could be more in the case of certain powerful creatures).

gallagher
2009-10-10, 09:03 PM
No.

Your cohort gains feats based on its level (or Hit Dice, in this case) in the same way your character does. I.E., it has one feat for it's first HD and then another for 3rd, 6th, 9th, etc.

Also, your cohort won't necessarily gain levels at the same rate as you. It gains it's own experience and levels when reaching the appropriate totals, with the exception that it must be a certain number of levels lower than you (usually 2, but could be more in the case of certain powerful creatures).
this is actually extremely relevant, and thanks for helping. if you could please, how does that work as a level 15 ranger with teh exalted cohort feat?

KillianHawkeye
2009-10-11, 08:16 AM
Having done a little research, I believe you are referring to the Exalted Companion feat through which you can acquire a (normal) Giant Eagle as an animal companion. This is a little different from a cohort gained through the Leadership feat.



According to the information on the table accompanying the Exalted Companion feat, a Neutral Good character can get a Giant Eagle as an animal companion. The Giant Eagle gains benefits from being an animal companion as from a Druid 6 levels lower than normal. Since you are a Ranger, your effective Druid level is 1/2 your Ranger level.

At level 15, that means you are effectively a level 7 Druid for the purposes of getting an animal companion. As this is the minimum effective level you need to get a Giant Eagle companion, he won't be gaining any bonus Hit Dice for being your animal companion. You can see the chart for animal companion advancement here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#theDruidsAnimalCompanion). (Remember the -6 penalty to your level.)

In this case, your Giant Eagle will be stuck with its 2 feats for now, although your DM may allow you to obtain a Giant Eagle companion with different feats than normal. It won't get it's 3rd feat until you reach 18th level. (18th level Ranger = 9th level Druid, adjusted by -6 levels for the purposes of companion benefits to get the +2 HD gained by the typical animal companion of a 3rd level Druid.)

So yeah, not much to work with here, unfortunately. Keep in mind that your Giant Eagle won't have very many hit points compared to most other things at your level, so you should think about keeping it away from combat. Use it mainly for scouting and transportation, or as a combat advantage if you're into archery, and it should stay alive. Don't try grappling unless you're sure your enemy is weak. (Just as an example, a 15th level Wizard with a 12 Strength has a grapple modifier of +9, whereas a 15th level Cleric with a 14 Strength has a grapple modifier of +13.)



I hope that helps. And if I've misunderstood the manner in which you're gaining this Giant Eagle, I'll try to figure out the correct advice for you.

PinkysBrain
2009-10-11, 08:51 AM
BTW, you don't even get the celestial template on it ... you only get the celestial template on your animal companion if you select him off the PHB list.

The blink dog could have some interesting possibilities ... but otherwise nothing on the exalted companion list is terribly interesting, I'd go with a normal animal companion with the celestial template. The spell resistance is always nice (there are some ways to boost it higher, a vest in the DMG2 for instance) and the fact that it gets int 3 means it can learn a language.