Best/coolest animal companion/familiar

[danzibr]

Of course we have druid and ranger with good ol' animal companion, wizard and sorc with familiar, pally with special mount, etc, then we also get psions with their psi-crystals, dudes in dragon magazine with elemental familiars and others with basically undead animal companions (not really right to call it an animal companion but...) and Shadow Dancers get their shadow buddy. Then Arcane Hierophant (IIRC) let's you combine your familiar and animal companion.

However, I'm sure there are plenty I haven't run across. What do you all think is the most flavorful buddy? How about the most powerful?

Note I'm not talking about Leadership or the like.

[Blackjackg]

You probably won't count this, but back in a 2e game another player made a character who was the black cat familiar of a dead wizard, polymorphed into an elf. Homebrewed class similar to a ranger, iirc. She sort of adopted my mage character as her new "master." Since it was second ed, mages didn't get familiars as an automatic class feature, and my character never bothered to cast the spell to get one (mainly out of respect for this other character).

So that character had a "familiar" who was a kickass elven warrior with a two-handed sword.

[danzibr]

You probably won't count this, but back in a 2e game another player made a character who was the black cat familiar of a dead wizard, polymorphed into an elf. Homebrewed class similar to a ranger, iirc. She sort of adopted my mage character as her new "master." Since it was second ed, mages didn't familiars as an automatic class feature, and my character never bothered to cast the spell to get one (mainly out of respect for this other character).

So that character had a "familiar" who was a kickass elven warrior with a two-handed sword.

Ahh I'd totally count that. That's awesome--flavorful and powerful!

[Morbis Meh]

As for flavour a ranger could select a pseudo dragon as his animal companion, they are intelligent and can communicate telepathically.

Most powerful mount that I have always wanted was a triceratops mount for my perma enlarged cleric.

[Daftendirekt]

I dunno, if I ever make a 3.5 ranger (haven't yet, but playing a 4e one) I think I'd just stick with a bear. Simple, effective, and totally badass.

However, in an aquatic campaign, obviously bears wouldn't work. That's what sharks are for. (http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgd24v0BFN1qz84dt.jpg)

[Dusk Eclipse]

Animal Companion: Nothing beats a fleshraker for power and pure awesomeness. NOTHING

Familiar: Imps and Pseudodragons top my list, though I still want to try to PAO a familiar into a displacer beast....

[Parasyn]

Animal Companion: Nothing beats a fleshraker for power and pure awesomeness. NOTHING

Familiar: Imps and Pseudodragons top my list, though I still want to try to PAO a familiar into a displacer beast....

Fleshraker is definitely awesome for animal companion

as for familiar my gnome wizard has a wyrmling gold dragon that he rides around on, it's pretty badass

[h2doh]

A Mirror Mephit is very useful so long as you do not go overboard with their simulacrum sla, it is found in the Expedition to the Demonweb Pits. This familiar is very op though and will most likely need a good Diplomacy check to let into a game.

[Blackjackg]

Oh, and these aren't characters I've actually played but I'd like to create a Dread Necro/Fleshwarper/Alienist, who would have an aberrant pseudonatural quasit familiar. I picture it as an amorphous tentacled blob of slimy win. And I very much like the idea of a Hexblade with a swarm of spiders for a familiar (Swarm Familiar is an option in some Dragon mag or other) because the various cool things swarms do fit very nicely with the one cool thing a hexblade does, and because swarm of diminutive creatures + improved evasion = bwa ha ha ha ha.

[Thurbane]

Dips in Alienist and Fiend Blooded will get your familiar the Pseudonatural and Fiendish templates...abilities scale with your HD, rather than the familiars.

[sambo.]

i'd love to either have a Faerie dragon as a familiar or just flat out play a Faerie dragon as a PC one day......

[gorfnab]

Beguilers (Shining South) are awesome for Improved Familiar because they can talk, use items, and they have constant True Seeing.

Two Improved Familiar choices I've seen for Shadowcasters were a Small Shadow Elemental and a Shadow Mastiff.

[Incorrect]

Dread Necromancer with undead familiar.
A skeleton butler, complete with suit and bowlerhat. The ribcage even makes for nice storage space.

[Duncan_Ruadrik]

Pathfinder: a Hippogriff.

ranger: Sable Company Marine Archetype

You graduated from the elite hippogriff-riding school of the Endrin Military Academy. Not only can you ride a hippogriff with great skill, you have also formed a close bond with a particular mount. A Sable Company Marine has the following class features:

Hippogriff Companion: You can gain a hippogriff as a companion. This ability works identically to hunter's bond when used to gain an animal companion, but can only be used to gain a hippogriff (see below for rules for hippogriff companions). You gain a +2 bonus on Ride checks made when riding your hippogriff companion, and whenever you are within 20 feet of your hippogriff, it gains a +2 morale bonus on all saving throws made against fear effects. This ability replaces favored terrain and hunter's bond.

[Zaq]

Beguilers (Shining South) are awesome for Improved Familiar because they can talk, use items, and they have constant True Seeing and are clearly Pikachus.

Two Improved Familiar choices I've seen for Shadowcasters were a Small Shadow Elemental and a Shadow Mastiff.

Fixed that for you.

Anyway, someday I swear I'll play a Muckdweller with a Muckdweller familiar. Yes, they're an LA 0 player race (with no stipulations about being "cohort only" or anything) AND a valid option for Improved Familiar. They're in Serpent Kingdoms.

[JaronK]

Dread Necromancers get Ghostly Visages, which grant their host undead immunities to mental stuff, and also let your face turn into a freaky ghost face and scare the heck out of people (into paralysis). Very awesome.

JaronK

[HunterOfJello]

I loved having a Magebred Brown Bear as an animal companion for my druid. It was massive and could easily frighten enemies away without having to resort to fighting.



I've wanted to play a Arcane Heirophant with some kind of dinosaur Familiar Companion that I could ride on and give touch attacks to as it rampaged across the countryside Godzilla style and set off powerful touch spells with it's claws or bite.

I've also wanted to play a highly optimized, but not entirely sane wizard with a penguin familiar for a long time now. He would refuse to take any moral advice from anyone but the mute penguin.

[Laniius]

Animal Companion: Nothing beats a fleshraker for power and pure awesomeness. NOTHING

Familiar: Imps and Pseudodragons top my list, though I still want to try to PAO a familiar into a displacer beast....

The fleshraker IS powerful... but dumb. So, so dumb. I contend that it should be a magical beast. A dinosaur with venemous bite, claws, and tail? Balls to that.

[TroubleBrewing]

Actually, it doesn't have a venomous bite. So nyeh.

[Telonius]

In one long-ago Faerun campaign, our party RogueX/Sorcerer1 had a Tressym familiar. As I remember it made friends with my Sorcerer's Pseudodragon improved familiar. There was very nearly a cuteness overload.

[Laniius]

Actually, it doesn't have a venomous bite. So nyeh.

Well ok then. Because that makes so much more sense :smallwink: To each their own; I'm a bit of a munchkin/minmaxer at heart but even I looked at that, considered it, and went "No, just no" lol.

[Mr.Smashy]

I had a Drudad once that had a Direbat AC. He flew around on the direbat and buffed the crap out of the monster Until it was a Wrecking machine. Coupled with its Blind-(sense/sight, whatever) it was a monster, even underground in pitch black. Loved playing that Char.
I also played a wizard once that had an animated inkwell and quill. they took notes for him, and drew out dungeon maps as we went along. The inkwell had a penchant for drinking invisible ink.:smallsmile:

[Coidzor]

Actually, it doesn't have a venomous bite. So nyeh.

Which means you don't really lose all that much by replacing its bite attack with a Mouthpick(LoM) weapon! :smallbiggrin:

[Tokuhara]

I once played a druid who had an uraveler as a companion. I took Elemental Companion and chose this evil little sucker. Imagine: a companion who could one-shot most foes. SO much broken-ness and fun, especially when I wildshaped into a Primal Unraveler (note: this was Epic) and the two of us used feats that worked with us coordinating our unraveling slams on any poor foe

[BiblioRook]

I'm currently trying to figure out how to get a swarm of birds as a druid animal companion. :smallamused:

If it works it should be pretty awesome, but sadly I'm not finding a lot of support for it yet :smallsigh:

[Veyr]

Murder of Crows (Tome of Magic) is an Animal (Swarm), which makes it a valid target for the Lycanthropy template, for one thing. Wild Shape too, IIRC. Not sure about Animal Companion.

[Trouser]

Murder of Crows (Tome of Magic) is an Animal (Swarm), which makes it a valid target for the Lycanthropy template, for one thing. Wild Shape too, IIRC. Not sure about Animal Companion.

A were-murder of crows? How does that work? Do you have to be diminutive/tiny/small to apply for the size of a crow or do you have to be medium/large/huge to turn into the entire swarm? Remember that you can only were within one size of yourself!

Maybe I can see a special druid with a murder of companions, and MAYBE it would be completely beasty to fly away as a cloud of birds, but no way would I let anyone be a were-swarm. Swarmshifters are obvious exceptions.

[Veyr]

The swarm as a whole is considered a single Medium-sized creature with the Animal type, and is therefore legal for the Lycanthropy template.

[Thurbane]

Hmm, Arcane Hyrophant with dips in Fiend Blooded and Alienist...Fiendish Pseudonatural Fleshraker companion/familiar. Maybe throw Horrid in for good measure. Not terribly optimal, but pretty funny. :smallbiggrin: