How can I get the most bears?

[Con_Brio1993]

I've been thinking of making a DND character build almost entirely around bears, and I've been trying to think of ways to accomplish this while still having a playable (non-terrible) character.

The most obvious path I see is Druid (animal companion bear), and then progression into Sentinal of Bharri. However, this only gives me two bears (and an additional 1d6 bears once a week for one battle) which is not as much as I want.

So are there any better ways to accomplish this task, or should I just settle for an unbearably low amount (2+1d6/week) of bears?

[Ithandor]

Initiate of Nature, from Player's Guide to Faerun, allows you to rebuke/command animals. That'd get you some more bears! Then Summon Nature's Ally, for more bears.

EDIT: Also, wildshape into a bear. With Natural Spell. A bear, commanding bears. Summoning bears.

[Yora]

Have you looked at Bearington Bearman (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140757)?

[Tankadin]

or should I just settle for an unbearably low amount (2+1d6/week) of bears?

Boooooooo!

Keep up the good work.

[Con_Brio1993]

Have you looked at Bearington Bearman (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140757)?

No I haven't, but I will now. Thanks for the link.



Initiate of Nature, from Player's Guide to Faerun, allows you to rebuke/command animals. That'd get you some more bears! Then Summon Nature's Ally, for more bears.

EDIT: Also, wildshape into a bear. With Natural Spell. A bear, commanding bears. Summoning bears.

This looks good. I'll keep this in mind, thank you.

[grarrrg]

Boooooooo!


Quiet you.

He's just pandaing to the masses.

[Con_Brio1993]

Alright so if my DM lets me play a Chaotic Good druid so far I have:

Druid base. Take Initiate of Nature. Then when possible progress into Sentinal of Bharri. This seems to give me MAXIMUM BEARS if the DM throws me a bone with Initiate of Nature and wild bear encounters. I can summon bears in battle too, but there's no way to make them last longer than X rounds/level. :smallfrown:

If anyone can think of a better way to get more bears feel free to post here.

[Aegis013]

Alright so if my DM lets me play a Chaotic Good druid so far I have:

Druid base. Take Initiate of Nature. Then when possible progress into Sentinal of Bharri. This seems to give me MAXIMUM BEARS if the DM throws me a bone with Initiate of Nature and wild bear encounters. I can summon bears in battle too, but there's no way to make them last longer than X rounds/level. :smallfrown:

If anyone can think of a better way to get more bears feel free to post here.

BeastMaster PrC, get some extra Bear companions.

[Doug Lampert]

Alright so if my DM lets me play a Chaotic Good druid so far I have:

Druid base. Take Initiate of Nature. Then when possible progress into Sentinal of Bharri. This seems to give me MAXIMUM BEARS if the DM throws me a bone with Initiate of Nature and wild bear encounters. I can summon bears in battle too, but there's no way to make them last longer than X rounds/level. :smallfrown:

If anyone can think of a better way to get more bears feel free to post here.

Is there a reason for your complete failure to take Leadership, to get another druid as a companion, with a bear for an AC, and his own ability to summon bears, and the ability to be a bear, and the ability to take leadership....

Level 6 you take leadership for a level 4 cohort with a bear AC who can summon a bear.
Level 7 your cohort gains the ability to turn into a bear and can summon 1d3 bears. You can now summon 1d4+1 bears.
Level 8 your cohort gains a cohort with a bear AC who can summon a bear.
....


DougL

[Con_Brio1993]

Is there a reason for your complete failure to take Leadership.

I don't want the DM to hate me?



BeastMaster PrC, get some extra Bear companions.

I probably can't do that as a Druid without a ridiculous sacrifice in power.

[Rubik]

Be an LA +1 divine minion of BEARS, so you can be a bear all day.

Then start buying warbeast polar bears for cheap, which you then use your Handle Animal and bear-turning on.

Take the Chosen of Tem Et Nu feat, and say they're Mexican Hairless Bears?

Also, the Wild Cohort feat, for scaling bears.

[Con_Brio1993]

Be an LA +1 divine minion of BEARS, so you can be a bear all day.

Then start buying warbeast polar bears for cheap, which you then use your Handle Animal and bear-turning on.

Take the Chosen of Tem Et Nu feat, and say they're Mexican Hairless Bears?

Also, the Wild Cohort feat, for scaling bears.

LA may not get past my DM but I'll try that.

I'll also look into buying warbeast polar bears. What book are they mentioned in?

Wild Cohort feats looks awesome.

CoTEN and "Mexican hairless bears" wouldn't get past my DM.

[Rubik]

LA may not get past my DM but I'll try that.It's worth a shot. And +1 LA isn't that bad.


I'll also look into buying warbeast polar bears. What book are they mentioned in?Monster Manual II.


Wild Cohort feats looks awesome. Yup!


CoTEN and "Mexican hairless bears" wouldn't get past my DM.Well, if you can find any 'Mexican hairless bears' to turn, they're YOURS.

[Ravens_cry]

Quiet you.

He's just pandaing to the masses.
That is a polarizing issue, but I think I will bear with him on this one.
Still, it might be a grizzly fate.

[Doug Lampert]

I don't want the DM to hate me? Picky picky. Maximizing bears will involve so many creatures on the field at once that he WILL hate you.

Your goals may be mutually contradictory.
I probably can't do that as a Druid without a ridiculous sacrifice in power.And? I mean you're a Druid, you sacrifice a ridiculous amount of power and you're only 1.5 classes or so.

And again, I have to ask what you're actually after.
Chained leadership is too powerful? Is even leadership once too powerful?

But Druid with wild-cohort Prestige Classing out to a non-optimal Prestige Class is too weak?

What power level are we aiming at here?

[An Enemy Spy]

There is nothing about this thread title I don't like.

[Rubik]

While we're at it, add the titanic template to some of those warbeast bears.

Now they're Gargantuan with 25 HD, and they only cost you about 2,000 gp each.

[edit]: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110112064153/mlp/images/7/7a/Soothebeast.png

[SirFredgar]

While we're at it, add the titanic template to some of those warbeast bears.

Now they're Gargantuan with 25 HD, and they only cost you about 2,000 gp each.

[edit]: http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110112064153/mlp/images/7/7a/Soothebeast.png

How would he controll those? Would handle animal alone suffice?

[Rubik]

How would he controll those? Would handle animal alone suffice?Yup! The only thing based on HD is 'rearing a wild animal', which has been done for you already.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm

[Con_Brio1993]

Picky picky. Maximizing bears will involve so many creatures on the field at once that he WILL hate you.

But Druid with wild-cohort Prestige Classing out to a non-optimal Prestige Class is too weak?

What power level are we aiming at here?

Leadership once is something the DM will stupidly allow. But... ugh he might not let me take a Druid cohort with an animal companion. I dunno.

Beastmaster doesn't add to my druid caster level like Sentinal of Bharri does.

And power level... well I'm playing a tier 1 class so any power level is fine. I'd just have to scale my power back to make it fun for other players.

[Coidzor]

For reasons of pacing, generally it's best to only have about 3-4 minions at most unless you've really got a system down to streamline using them.

Unfortunately, most druids frown upon necromancy or a night caller's whistle would get you 2 bear(or other variety) zombies per party member, which you can get you anything shy of a dire bear in terms of mundane bears.

Magebred Warbeast Horrid Titanic Dire Bears are probably the creme de la creme of Beardom. Though Magebred and Horrid can seem to run counter to one another from time to time, it really makes sense in terms of druids deliberately making defenders of the wilds. It also helps counteract the unruliness of the beasties.

[Safety Sword]

Thread needs more Glyphstone... :smallcool:

By the way, can we coin the phrase Bearomancy yet? :smallbiggrin:

Then all you have to do is make a campfire, a little mead and music

That would make the driud a bear romancer, right? :smallsigh: (no cringe emoticon, damn)

[Frosty]

How would he controll those? Would handle animal alone suffice?
Obvious the character needs to be a Druid with 18 Charisma (http://friendshipisdragons.thecomicseries.com/cast/) named Fluttershy...

[Con_Brio1993]

For reasons of pacing, generally it's best to only have about 3-4 minions at most unless you've really got a system down to streamline using them.

I wouldn't call out of all my bears for mook battles. I have -some- restraint.

[killem2]

Since we're on the top of bears. In a session we just had, we came across a bear cub after killing its mother. No one wanted it but agreed to take it, and my gnome evoker with his very crappy skill in animal handling is going to try and raise it over time.

Is there a way to best represent age for this cub until its prime to attack?

How do you handle progression for skills and such? How much does it really know when not raised by its mother?

[Zale]

What about an Anthromorphic Bear Druid capable of wildshaping into a bear, has a bear animal companion and can summon bears.

A bear, riding a bear, shooting bears.

It's unbearable. :smalltongue:

[GoatBoy]

Not really relevant:

http://fyrenze.blogdns.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/sir-bearington.png

[Con_Brio1993]

Not really relevant:

http://fyrenze.blogdns.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/sir-bearington.png

That would be cool, but the massive bluff penalty means it won't really work until levels most games don't even get to. :smallfrown:

[Doug Lampert]

Leadership once is something the DM will stupidly allow. But... ugh he might not let me take a Druid cohort with an animal companion. I dunno.

Beastmaster doesn't add to my druid caster level like Sentinal of Bharri does. So? To repeat, that leaves you with only 1.5 or so character classes.

If bears are the objective then you should be willing to sacrifice some power, nowhere in your earlier posts do you specify that tier one power level is relevant or an objective.

And power level... well I'm playing a tier 1 class so any power level is fine. I'd just have to scale my power back to make it fun for other players.Or you could take a weaker prestige class and allow that to scale down FOR you, thus needing less work, while at the same time potentially having more bears.

I'm simply not seeing the problem with powering down given your stated objectives and your stated desire to power down.

[The Glyphstone]

Thread needs more Glyphstone... :smallcool:

By the way, can we coin the phrase Bearomancy yet? :smallbiggrin:

Then all you have to do is make a campfire, a little mead and music

That would make the driud a bear romancer, right? :smallsigh: (no cringe emoticon, damn)

You called?

Besides, Bearington Bearman the Bearbearian is about maximizing one's personal bear quotient, and the OP seems to want to maximize quantity of bears in play instead.

[Con_Brio1993]

So? To repeat, that leaves you with only 1.5 or so character classes.

Or you could take a weaker prestige class and allow that to scale down FOR you, thus needing less work, while at the same time potentially having more bears.

I'm simply not seeing the problem with powering down given your stated objectives and your stated desire to power down.

If I take a prestige class that doesn't advance my druid class that makes for a weak animal companion. I don't want my animal companion bear to constantly die in combat, nor do I want to leave them out of combat.


I'm willing to take a power drop, but switching from a casting class to a physical class seems too significant a drop. If it isn't maybe you could demonstrate how it wouldn't be pathetic?

[Aegis013]

I'm willing to take a power drop, but switching from a casting class to a physical class seems too significant a drop. If it isn't maybe you could demonstrate how it wouldn't be pathetic?

You'll certainly be taking a power drop. No question. But making your druid into a bear minionmancer probably won't be pathetic. A Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 gets 17 BAB, decent saves, and 5 animal companions, plus Initiate of Nature bears, plus Summon Nature's Ally bears.

It may not be as good as Druid 20, but if you just play it like a minionmancer (metamagic rod chain spell to buff large numbers of bears per turn etc) it probably won't be worse than a Dread Necromancer. Plus, it can serve as a passable gish. In order to get an incredible number of bears though, you'll probably have to accept some power loss.

But if that's not ok a Druid with Initiate of Nature and Bear summons is still a bunch of bears.

[Con_Brio1993]

You'll certainly be taking a power drop. No question. But making your druid into a bear minionmancer probably won't be pathetic. A Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 gets 17 BAB, decent saves, and 5 animal companions, plus Initiate of Nature bears, plus Summon Nature's Ally bears.

It may not be as good as Druid 20, but if you just play it like a minionmancer (metamagic rod chain spell to buff large numbers of bears per turn etc) it probably won't be worse than a Dread Necromancer. Plus, it can serve as a passable gish. In order to get an incredible number of bears though, you'll probably have to accept some power loss.

But if that's not ok a Druid with Initiate of Nature and Bear summons is still a bunch of bears.

But by level 20 wouldn't the bears summoned by SNA be useless in a combat situation? My animal companion increases in power with Beastmaster, and Wild Cohort would allow for a second bear.

That means five usable bears, plus any I buy and rear using Initiate of Nature.

Druid + Sentinal of Bharri = powerful bear summons, bear companion, permanent bear form for myself, wild cohort bear, and any bears I take via Initiate of Nature. And 1d6+ bears/week for tricky battles.

The Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 only seems to give a tiny amount of extra bears when you get down to it, and the DM would probably limit Initiate of Nature turning after a certain point. So overall it may equal out to the same number of bears as Druid/SoB.

[Aegis013]

But by level 20 wouldn't the bears summoned by SNA be useless in a combat situation? My animal companion increases in power with Beastmaster, and Wild Cohort would allow for a second bear.

That means five usable bears, plus any I buy and rear using Initiate of Nature.

Druid + Sentinal of Bharri = powerful bear summons, bear companion, permanent bear form for myself, wild cohort bear, and any bears I take via Initiate of Nature. And 1d6+ bears/week for tricky battles.

The Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 only seems to give a tiny amount of extra bears when you get down to it, and the DM would probably limit Initiate of Nature turning after a certain point. So overall it may equal out to the same number of bears as Druid/SoB.

I'll admit, I'm unfamiliar with Sentinal of Bharri (was going to look it up but I don't know what book abbreviation BE is...) and I didn't realize it got you bears.

So, you're probably right. I still don't think Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 would be pathetic, but your build is probably better.

[Coidzor]

Is there anything that can boost effective turning/rebuking level for Initiate of Nature?

[Con_Brio1993]

I'll admit, I'm unfamiliar with Sentinal of Bharri (was going to look it up but I don't know what book abbreviation BE is...) and I didn't realize it got you bears.

So, you're probably right. I still don't think Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 would be pathetic, but your build is probably better.

SoB lets you turn into a bear or human, at will, for any amount of time. You can also communicate in this form, and cast spells in it. Being able to be a bear 24/7 is something very valuable for a bear-centric character.

It eventually lets you summon forth 1d6 dire bears (once a week) to aid you in battle.



Is there anything that can boost effective turning/rebuking level for Initiate of Nature?

I really hope so.

[vampire2948]

I'll admit, I'm unfamiliar with Sentinal of Bharri (was going to look it up but I don't know what book abbreviation BE is...) and I didn't realize it got you bears.

So, you're probably right. I still don't think Druid 10/Beastmaster 10 would be pathetic, but your build is probably better.

Sentinel of Bharri [sp?] is in the Book of Exalted Deeds PrC section.

[Aegis013]

Sentinel of Bharri [sp?] is in the Book of Exalted Deeds PrC section.

Thanks, the consolidated lists archive on the wotc site had it abbreviated as BE. I usually see it as BoED. Thanks for the clarification.

[Safety Sword]

You called?

Besides, Bearington Bearman the Bearbearian is about maximizing one's personal bear quotient, and the OP seems to want to maximize quantity of bears in play instead.

Couldn't bear the thought of a bear thread without you.

I thought your opinion would have some bearing on the conversation.

I know the OP is trying to maximise the number of bears. There's no need to get grizzly about it though.

[JackRackham]

Druids get survival. You could use that to find some bears, diplomacy them into friendly bears, then use OOC time to train them with handle animal into de facto animal companions.

[Darkomn]

The problem with Beastmaster 10 is that the last animal companion is only like that of a 1st level druid which means it can't be a bear.:smallfrown:

[Randomguy]

The problem with Beastmaster 10 is that the last animal companion is only like that of a 1st level druid which means it can't be a bear.:smallfrown:

Then switch into beast heart adept, from dungeonscape, to get owlbear companions (Sadly, they're only half bear), and take that feat that increases your effective druid level for the purposes of animal companions, (I think it's called natural bond or something).

A one level dip into barbarian taking the bear warrior prestige class also wouldn't be too bad.
You could play an anthropomorphic bear.

If ever a bear becomes useless in combat, then just have it use aid another.

Some spells that might interest you: Bite of the werebear, phantom bear and nature's avatar, which strengthens your bears.

You would sacrifice a bit of power, but you're a druid; you can afford it.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

How soon they forget (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205774), my