PDA

View Full Version : Pathfinder animal compaion broken?



Prax4788
2010-02-24, 04:39 AM
My dm got mad at me for the stats of my animal companion

I used nothing but the core book and the list of feats it said your animal can take

gave it medium armor
it was a wolf
and with the medium armor

long story short at level 7 i had a animal companion with AC of 27 (my dm says 26 cause it size changed)

is he over reacting ?
please check my math and let me know if i did anything wrong

Soranar
2010-02-24, 05:00 AM
First an animal companion must wear barding armor, which is more expensive than standard and must be custom made.

2nd it also requires the feat proficiency to be able to use it properly unless it's war trained (a wolf isn't, very few animals are). Still if you can afford a masterwork the penalties aren't that bad.

3rd, if it's size changes the armor is even more expensive and yes you get a penalty to hit and AC. Also don't forget to factor in the movement reduction, the Dexterity limit and the weight.

Ashiel
2010-02-24, 05:04 AM
Well as best as I can tell, we're looking at the following:

- Beginning AC 14 (+2 dex, +2 natural).
- 7th level size increase remains AC 14 (+2 natural, -1 size, -1 dex)
- 7th level druid animal companion bonus (+4 natural, +1 dex) for AC 19
- Not sure what kind of medium armor you gave it, but full-plate barding adds +8 to the armor class, bringing it to 27.
- This is without counting magic items (+1 deflection or natural, for example).


It's very good, but nothing game-breaking. It seems to add up well enough as well; but I'd double check which kind of armor you're using if I were to be certain. :smallsmile:

Ashiel
2010-02-24, 05:05 AM
First an animal companion must wear barding armor, which is more expensive than standard and must be custom made.

2nd it also requires the feat proficiency to be able to use it properly unless it's war trained (a wolf isn't, very few animals are). Still if you can afford a masterwork the penalties aren't that bad.

3rd, if it's size changes the armor is even more expensive and yes you get a penalty to hit and AC. Also don't forget to factor in the movement reduction, the Dexterity limit and the weight.

It's highly likely; especially with all the bonus tricks druid animals get, that the druid trained it for combat (see the handle animal skill), which allows armor just fine. :smallsmile:

Prax4788
2010-02-24, 06:41 AM
First an animal companion must wear barding armor, which is more expensive than standard and must be custom made.

2nd it also requires the feat proficiency to be able to use it properly unless it's war trained (a wolf isn't, very few animals are). Still if you can afford a masterwork the penalties aren't that bad.

3rd, if it's size changes the armor is even more expensive and yes you get a penalty to hit and AC. Also don't forget to factor in the movement reduction, the Dexterity limit and the weight.

The feats for the armor are on the list of feats for the animal companion
giving him 2 feats he had a breast plate

and and i paid the full cost for the armor

Asbestos
2010-02-24, 06:55 AM
Everyone knows that High AC = Godly Power in D&D. Yep, a high AC will stop anything.


What are your armored wolf's saves like? or its Touch AC? How will it fare against the grapple of a CR7 Bruiser like an Ogre with a couple of levels of Barbarian?

Prax4788
2010-02-24, 07:03 AM
Everyone knows that High AC = Godly Power in D&D. Yep, a high AC will stop anything.


What are your armored wolf's saves like? or its Touch AC? How will it fare against the grapple of a CR7 Bruiser like an Ogre with a couple of levels of Barbarian?

the saves are meh and the touch ac isnt very high
but mainly my dm was complaining that my ac was way to high and that i "built my wold like an *******"

seeing as how my ac at this level can easly a lot higher i dint understand his complaint

Tyndmyr
2010-02-24, 07:13 AM
Bad DMs get thrown off by BNS(Big Number Syndrome). Good DMs realize that you can simply avoid the big number by using a different approach. There's a very long list of things large AC will do nothing to prevent.

That said, a well built druid in pathfinder is still....ridiculously powerful.

Asbestos
2010-02-24, 07:19 AM
Just looking through the d20 SRD (not exactly PF, but close enough) I found the Bulette. About as melee a monster as you can get at CR7. The Land Shark has a +16 bite attack, meaning he will hit your wolf roughly 50% of the time. A Medusa is also CR7, and while she doesn't have that high a chance of hitting your wolf with arrows... she can turn it to stone.

Your wolf seems on par with AC-targeting enemies for its level, but that's all its on par with.

Chineselegolas
2010-02-24, 07:36 AM
Wizard, level 5.
Alter Self, Troglodyte +6 NA
Mage Armour +4 Armour AC
Shield +4 Shield AC
Haste +1 Dodge AC
Dex 14 +2 AC
27 AC on a spell caster without trying at level 5...

That wolf not broken at all. High AC means it can avoid getting hit. There are other weaknesses. And then the whole "We can't hit that thing, so instead we hit the squishy behind it"

Sinfire Titan
2010-02-24, 07:37 AM
Either PF chaged the rule or your DM doesn't know, but animal companions don't change size categories by RAW.

Starbuck_II
2010-02-24, 08:15 AM
Animals change size now:
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/classes/druid.html#animal-companions-animal-choices

Even the Ape becomes large.

Greenish
2010-02-24, 08:40 AM
please check my math and let me know if i did anything wrongLet's see.
Level 7 wolf would have Dex 15 (base) +2 (from levels) -2 (from advancing to large), so +2 AC from dex.
Wolf's base NA is +2, +2 (from advancing to large) and +4 (from levels), so +8.
Breastplate adds +6 armor bonus to AC.
Large size means -1 to AC.
So total AC of 10+2+8+6-1=25. I think you might've forgotten to reduce Dex by two when the wolf grew to large, and account for the new size penalty.

Not that AC of 27 would be gamebreaking either.


Also, for the record, PF Alter Self (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/alterSelf.html#alter-self), like all shapechanging spells and effects has been nerfed from 3.5 versions so hard they won't even break the game (alone).

Prax4788
2010-02-24, 11:59 PM
Let's see.
Level 7 wolf would have Dex 15 (base) +2 (from levels) -2 (from advancing to large), so +2 AC from dex.
Wolf's base NA is +2, +2 (from advancing to large) and +4 (from levels), so +8.
Breastplate adds +6 armor bonus to AC.
Large size means -1 to AC.
So total AC of 10+2+8+6-1=25. I think you might've forgotten to reduce Dex by two when the wolf grew to large, and account for the new size penalty.

Not that AC of 27 would be gamebreaking either.


Also, for the record, PF Alter Self (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/alterSelf.html#alter-self), like all shapechanging spells and effects has been nerfed from 3.5 versions so hard they won't even break the game (alone).

I assumed the -2 dex in the size change was already part of it but i could be wrong