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View Full Version : Homebrew help for the Animal Buddy feature



Mordaenor
2010-11-02, 09:54 AM
Hey all! So here's the deal. I am attempting to put together a campaign using the "Generic Class" rules. I am trying to adapt all Base Class features to be available as Feats. I'm currently looking at the Sorceror's Familiar, the Paladin's Warhorse, and the Druid's Animal Companion. I feel like these three could be roled into a single Feat, but I'm hitting a road block on how best to go about it without sacrificing the differences between them. I'd appreciate any words of advice? Maybe it can't be done, and I just have to settle for three feats, but if anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Cidolfas
2010-11-02, 10:42 AM
"You gain a companion that does not gain experience, but instead has a constant CR of your character level -2. You may change this companion at your whim as you increase in levels, whether by choosing a different companion or adding templates to the existing one."

Something like that could work. That's the mechanic often offered by the Tome classes, so it may be powerful depending on what class you are playing as (not really a big deal for a druid, could make the paladin awesome where it may not have been before, and gives the ranger an inferiority complex). Anyway, the only real difference between the classes would be the type of creature. I think this is also cool because it allows for a much wider variety of creature types and ensures that the companion is powerful enough to not be a liability in builds where its survival is actually important (chargers, for example).

Lev
2010-11-02, 10:59 AM
The spell animal friendship would be a good place to start.

Note that class features are most often more powerful than feats.

Eloel
2010-11-02, 11:22 AM
The spell animal friendship would be a good place to start.

Note that class features are most often more powerful than feats.

*points at Monk*
*leaves in silent laughter*

Cidolfas
2010-11-02, 11:42 AM
Perhaps they are supposed to be more powerful than feats. As the reaction above alluded, this is unfortunately not always the case. I will, say, however, that unless you replace the normal animal companion/familiar rules with a similarly strong ability, you are essentially forcing everyone to take a feat instead of just get the ability normally. The characters that have the companion as a class feature can get the same thing as someone who gets the feat, they just get it for free (and possibly sooner) and can invest their feat in something more useful.

Mordaenor
2010-11-02, 12:18 PM
Thanks, I wouldn't use this as a normal Feat. The goal is to use this with the "Generic Classes" optional rule found in Unearthed Arcana. The idea is that you have a weapons class, a skills class, and a spells class, and that's it. From there, all other abilities are treated as Feats. Although characters are perhaps not as powerful as they would be in with a more traditional build, there is greater flexibility to create the type of character you imagine. U.A. gives a list of features redefined as feats, but there are a lot of Core features left out. I'm trying to expand it a bit. Certain abilities need to be re-defined a bit, watered down a little, in order to work, but the "spirit" of the ability is still there.