Need Help Creating an Animal Companion/Familiar

[DeadAggressor]

I'm creating a Druid for a backstory game my DM is going to use when some of our group's members aren't able to play. I've been reading the PHB and also the MM and I still cannot wrap my head around how to start my companion or how it advances. I plan on starting with the Wolf and upgrading later (maybe not). I don't like pestering my DM with a lot of questions while he's still trying to help the newer people in my group so any help you guys could provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Righteous Doggy]

Its easy. You pick a companion from the list in the book(or one of the alternative ones) and you give it bonuses based on the druids level(a statblock in the book, treat it as a lower level druid for the alternative ones).

[Bahamut Omega]

This only seems complicated, DA. It's actually fairly straightforward.

Start off by taking the wolf's beginning stats. The wolf retains all of its normal abilities. If the DM allows it, you can reallocate its feats and skill points.

Next, apply all the bonuses granted to an animal companion based on your druid level (see here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#theDruidsAnimalCompanion). Assuming you're 1st or 2nd level, this means no bonus hit dice, strength or dex adjustment, or natural armor bonus. However, the wolf does receive a bonus trick and the Link and Share Spells abilities. The bonus trick is in addition to the number of tricks an animal can know based on its intelligence. Therefore, a 1st level druid's wolf companion can know 7 tricks (6 due to intelligence and 1 bonus).

As your druid level increases, the wolf gets stronger. So for example, when you reach 3rd level, the wolf gains 2 hit dice, a +2 bonus to its natural armor, and a +1 bonus to its strength and dex scores, an additional bonus trick, and the evasion ability. This has all the normal effects of increasing a creature's hit dice. As this brings the wolf up to 4 HD, it gets to increase an ability score of its choice by 1, an extra feat, and an improvement to its base attack bonus.

This pattern continues as you reach the appropriate druid level with the wolf gaining more and more bonuses as the druid gets more powerful. Should you later decide to release the wolf from service and take on a more powerful animal such as a dire wolf, your effective druid level for that animal's abilities will be reduced. In the case of a dire wolf, the penalty is -6. Thus, a 7th level druid's dire wolf animal companion gets its abilities based on a 1st level druid's animal companion.

[DeadAggressor]

Also another question is, how do I modify an existing monster to a reduced state. Say having a Spectral Panther kitten. I talked my DM into letting me have one for my Sorcerer as long as I took Imp. Familiar.

[Urpriest]

Guess what you need! The Monster Handbook! Link in sig. If you're a new player who's interacting with and modifying monsters for the first time, it will tell you the basics that you absolutely need to know.

[Righteous Doggy]

Erm, you know monsters actually progress like players right? The srd has a big thing on advancing. just do the reverse? reduce size, hd, skills/feats accordingly. Sounds like a bit of work. Good luck with that haha.

[Bahamut Omega]

Also another question is, how do I modify an existing monster to a reduced state. Say having a Spectral Panther kitten. I talked my DM into letting me have one for my Sorcerer as long as I took Imp. Familiar.

You'd have to get him to agree to modify the animal companion rules. Animal companions are explicitly animals and nothing else. They're not magical beasts, aberrations, outsiders, or any other thing that familiars normally are.

[Righteous Doggy]

You'd have to get him to agree to modify the animal companion rules. Animal companions are explicitly animals and nothing else. They're not magical beasts, aberrations, outsiders, or any other thing that familiars normally are.

Hate to step on that statement, but Improved Familiar lets you take things like Imps, Cours, Winter Wolves, Horses, Psuedodragons, things that are very different from animals. They still progress like a familiar instead of an animal companion.

[Bahamut Omega]

Hate to step on that statement, but Improved Familiar lets you take things like Imps, Cours, Winter Wolves, Horses, Psuedodragons, things that are very different from animals. They still progress like a familiar instead of an animal companion.

Improved Familiar gives you an improved familiar, not an improved animal companion. The pre-req for improved familiar is the ability to acquire a familiar in the first place.

[Tvtyrant]

I think it would be fair to swap an Animal Companion for a familiar though.

[Righteous Doggy]

I think it would be fair to swap an Animal Companion for a familiar though.

thats one of the variants in the UA actually!

@Bahamut I was citing creatures the books say you can use... he said it was for a sorc, and I said they progressed like a familiar instead of a companion. I don't see the problem.

[Urpriest]

I think it would be fair to swap an Animal Companion for a familiar though.

Maybe, but there's no reason to homebrew something that already exists. Urban Companion. (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)

[Tvtyrant]

Now the question is if Druid buff spells are as good for sharing as Wizard ones (like Bite of the Wearbear!)

[Jergmo]

On the note of other companion types, there are also feats which allow you to have Magical Beast and Aberration companions.