A fun animal compaion

[opticalshadow]

Hey guys, with your ever flowing amount of opinions and help, im here once more.

i now have a level 5 druid (i believe anyways) who has lost his second dog (both war trained riding dogs) they are great AC's and its not that i dislike them. but it does seem to be silly having a re spawning dog. now worse to worse i just change the name and get a new one no biggie. but iw as hoping to get a new creature all together.

the thing is, idk if i can get to my books before next play session (i left them at my IRL DM's house so im kinda boned there) and the SRD doesnt have all tha tmuch.

im not looking for the most optimized choice, im not looking to put the fighter in shame. im looking for an animal companion that would just be fun to have, both in and out of combat. on the list of core choice the dire bat seems decent (weak attack but has decent AC adn can fly, though im unsure of the rules of giving it armor) and the croc looks like it could be fun.

my question is, do you guys know any animals that might be fun to have around. im not strictly limited to just the first MM, so long as its not outrangous or OP (fleshraker) my dm will try and work with me. so long as its level appropriate.


thanks a ton in advance.
-OS

[Barttjuh]

I like the Wolverine from MMI with his Rage ability.
"Dont hurt mine animal or he might get serious pissed" :P

[Thespianus]

I like the image of an Ape (level -3 AC) stalking around with a Druid (especially a Halfling druid)

I'm not sure how good Apes are as ACs, but they ought to be able to receive the Warbeast template, and land at around Str 24 at your level. (Of course, with Natural Bond, you can make it even tougher)

The damage output might not be outstanding, and it wont have the Trip-ability of the Riding Dog, but.. well, it's a Large Ape, with reach that you can stick in a suit of Heavy Armor for funsies. ;)

I bet it has a low OP-level, though, even if you spend some of its feats to improve it. Maybe it can benefit from Knockback?

[Darrin]

on the list of core choice the dire bat seems decent (weak attack but has decent AC adn can fly, though im unsure of the rules of giving it armor) and the croc looks like it could be fun.


Dire Bat also has blindsense 40', which allows him to pinpoint invisible creatures. Assuming you can train him to identify which square to you and your allies, quite handy.

Crocs are decent grapplers, but I think the constrictor snake gets better constrict damage.

For Core, the Dire Badger is also worth considering. Decent combat stats, but it's one of the few creatures that leaves a tunnel behind when it burrows. This can be incredibly powerful, mostly because DMs hardly ever anticipate burrowing whenever they design their deathtrap dungeons/impregnable fortresses. Unfortunately, they can't burrow through solid rock, but a few scrolls of soften earth and stone can help there.



my question is, do you guys know any animals that might be fun to have around.


Branta (Frostburn) is decent. Improved Grab + Toss.

Dire Toad (MMII) has a poison bite and can swallow small-sized creatures. Sandstorm makes it available as an animal companion at Druid 4.

Sail Snake (MMIV) has an interesting 20' cone venom spray that blinds for 1d4 rounds, and curiously "Fortitude DC 13 half" save, which seems to say that even on a failed save, odds are good that everyone in that 20' cone is blinded for at least 1 round.

[Gwendol]

The ape makes a tremendous companion: not only is it large and have reach; given the right feats it can make a fearsome grappler. I'm surprised they don't have rend like the girallon though, are there other alternatives in the various MM's perhaps?

[Thespianus]

The ape makes a tremendous companion: not only is it large and have reach; given the right feats it can make a fearsome grappler.
You need Improved Grapple, and for that you need Improved Unarmed Attack for some odd reason. It is a strange feat, as it won't change anything for the Ape and it will delay the Grappling awesomeness of the Ape quite a bit.

But, yes, with the Warbeast template (I think you can apply that to an Ape?), the Ape Animal Companion gets real strong, real fast.

[opticalshadow]

thanks for the replies.

i think i might have the mm4 here, so im going to look up the snail. i dont have frostburn atm so i cant look into the other one, it sounds nifty enough.

the badger also sounds decent, though i am concered that it might be a bit of a liability in combat, its ac is rather poor and its rage means getting it to back down could be an issue.

im not sure if i can get a warbeast ape, i mean, i could, but the dm would likly make me train it for the two months, so it really wouldnt work in the campaign right now, but maybe ill look into it, as it does look fun.


the bat is still looking good, it gives me (or my rougish buddy if he can actually ride) good scouting abilites without using my wildshape. lets me turn my exsisting horse into a pack horse, possibly giving it a cart for the party. has a natrualyl high ac, and i can get it out of most combat easily.

i also imagine the blindsense may come in handy. i know it can only have light barding if i want it to fly, but do i need to get it trained up some how to do so?

[Madara]

Behold something strange:

The ACF Elemental Companion from CM. You need at least 1 rank in Knowledge(planes) and need to speak the same language as the elemental you want. I would suggest Air or Earth. They start out as small elementals and upgrade at later levels. At level 5, you'd have a Medium Elemental Companion. If you can pick the skills like you do with a normal animal companion, you can have a lot of fun. Plus they can give you access to unusual abilities(like earth glide).