Non-Core Animal Companions

[Pink Ranger]

We are going to be starting a 3.5 dungeon crawler, in which every book is allowed. I would like to try my hand at being a druid, but am unsure of which animals might be allowed. My DM said that "Officially there is no way to determine what is an allowed animal from non-core books except ask your DM. CR is good for ballparking what I might allow."

So, given that, does anyone have any ideas for animal companion options from non-core books? Ideally, I would like a feline, and something that I could ride (immediately or eventually through Enlarge Animal) as a mount. We're starting at Level 1, and I'm playing a halfling.

[gorfnab]

The felines that can be riden by a Halfling are available at 4th level. These are Puma (Sandstorm), Leopard, and Cheetah. For 1st level a Riding Dog (war trained) is a fairly decent choice for a Halfling druid.

Usually the recommended animal companion of choice for a Halfling (especially in Eberron) is a Fleshraker Dinosaur (Monster Manual 3).

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Animal companions aren't based around CR, it's all based around your Druid level (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#theDruidsAnimalCompanion). If a given animal is available at all as an animal companion, it will have a section about it in its entry in whatever book it appears in.

1. Get the feat Natural Bond from Complete Adventurer. Yes, on a single-classed Druid.
2. Get a "level -3" companion. You can apply your own effects in the most beneficial order, so you apply the -3 first, then the +3 for Natural Bond, and you still get to count your full Druid level.
3. Get a Fleshraker Dinosaur from MM3. Have fun.

[Pink Ranger]

2. Get a "level -3" companion. You can apply your own effects in the most beneficial order, so you apply the -3 first, then the +3 for Natural Bond, and you still get to count your full Druid level.

I don't usually play very optimized characters, so I guess I don't follow this part. Is there a place that says that you can apply effects that way? If not, I don't see Natural Bond helping me much; my DM knows the rules backward and forward, but is very much about RAI as opposed to RAW.

Thanks all for your input!

[White_Drake]

I've always despised the lack of feline animal companions at first level, so I normally refluff a wolf as a jungle cat.

[eggs]

For level 1 cats, Sandstorm has the Serval, which is about as good a damage-dealer as level 1 gets. It's not a big enough to ride, though (without some weird race like Jermalaine or Web-Enhanced Kobold).

It may be a part of an ACF; if it is and if that becomes problematic with higher-level AC options, that can be smoothed over by retraining the class feature at whatever level the druid would normally

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I don't usually play very optimized characters, so I guess I don't follow this part. Is there a place that says that you can apply effects that way? If not, I don't see Natural Bond helping me much; my DM knows the rules backward and forward, but is very much about RAI as opposed to RAW.

Thanks all for your input!

It's specifically stated in the FAQ (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20030221a), which is very much the definitive RAI answer for when RAW is unclear. Check the rulings on the feat Practiced Spellcaster.

[Gandariel]

At level one there's not much choice, get a riding dog.
BUT
As soon as you get to level 4, switch your companion.
the usual suggestion is the fleshraker dinosaur (as someone already suggested) but i'll be original and say: get a DIRE EAGLE from Races of Stone.
Large, good attacks, armor class, superfast, also has +20 in Spot.
its text specifically says you can have it as a -3 companion (so at level 4).
ask your dm if he allows you to take natural bond and apply your total druid level. if you can't.. no worries, it's still really good. (it's AT LEAST good as a Fighter or Monk 4)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

At level one there's not much choice, get a riding dog.
BUT
As soon as you get to level 4, switch your companion.
the usual suggestion is the fleshraker dinosaur (as someone already suggested) but i'll be original and say: get a DIRE EAGLE from Races of Stone.
Large, good attacks, armor class, superfast, also has +20 in Spot.
its text specifically says you can have it as a -3 companion (so at level 4).
ask your dm if he allows you to take natural bond and apply your total druid level. if you can't.. no worries, it's still really good. (it's AT LEAST good as a Fighter or Monk 4)

Dire Eagle is definitely one of the top two companion choices, but note that he specified this was for a dungeon crawl campaign so a large flying companion probably wouldn't be very suitable.

Keep in mind that PH2 has a list of possible animal companions from every book to date of its printing in the Druid section, and it lists the Dire Eagle at 'level -6' on its list. However, it appears on a table in PH2 whereas the text of its monster entry in RoS specifies 'level -3' and a text entry always trumps a table entry. You can find the Text > Table and the rest of the Primary Source rules in any of the core rulebook errata documents (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20040125a).

[Palanan]

To the OP, are you specifically avoiding core? As others have noted, in the plain ol' Monster Manual, there's the leopard on p. 274, which is Medium and a CR of 2. The stats are listed as valid for similar-sized big cats, including mountain lions. An adult mountain lion weighs roughly 110-120 pounds, so that should be rideable for a halfling.

If that won't work, there are a few other felids scattered through the sourcebooks. Races of Faerûn gives the stats for a lynx on p. 174; it's considered Small and can stand in for an ocelot, which would win points for style. Probably not rideable, even for a halfling, without Enlarge Animal, but it might have a better chance to win DM approval.

Elsewhere in the Realms, Silver Marches has the red tiger on p. 119; this is Large, and a CR of 4, so maybe something to keep in mind for well on down the road, since it's definitely rideable.

But for the true cat smorgasbord, there's Dangerous Denizens from Kingdoms of Kalamar, which lists over a dozen cat species--from servals, margays, Pampas cats and ocelots to pumas, jaguars and Smilodons. The ultimate choice for style, at least for me, would be the clouded leopard--inexplicably presented as Small, but that's to your benefit--with 13 hp and a CR of 1.

This is almost identical to the standard wolf, and if your DM allows the book, this would probably be the closest match, and thus the easiest potential replacement for a standard animal companion. In essence, this would be a printed version of White_Drake's approach of refluffing the wolf as a felid.



Held up for some while because the server wouldn't let me post a response with the word "lynx." Thanks to Rawhide for pointing this out, and for showing me a very simple solution.
.

[Vizzerdrix]

I've always despised the lack of feline animal companions at first level, so I normally refluff a wolf as a jungle cat.

You can get the Tressyum (flying house cat) or a lynx at first level, I believe.

As for non core animal companions, I'm a big fan of the Watchspider. It's a magical beast that can be taken as a druid animal companion (so its getting better HD, BAB and saves). Since it is already a magical beast you can safely bring up its int with out it wandering off too. Page 140 in Waterdeep: City of Splendors.

[Pink Ranger]

To the OP, are you specifically avoiding core? As others have noted, in the plain ol' Monster Manual, there's the leopard on p. 274, which is Medium and a CR of 2. The stats are listed as valid for similar-sized big cats, including mountain lions. An adult mountain lion weighs roughly 110-120 pounds, so that should be rideable for a halfling.

I wasn't specifically avoiding core; I merely had been looking for a way to have a medium-sized feline AC at first level, and none of the core AC listed fit the bill. Looking over the FAQ that Biffoniacus_Furiou posted, I can't help but think that my DM would consider the Natural Bond trick to be an unfair interpretation of the rules. I'll definitely ask him; otherwise, I'll just have to ask about the serval (which I've always found adorable!) and then swap out for a leopard when I hit 4th level.

[Pink Ranger]

You can get the Tressyum (flying house cat) or a lynx at first level, I believe.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Flying cat?! Which book is this in?

[Vizzerdrix]

you can find it in several Faerun books, but I warn you it is quite bad. I'll go book diving in a sec to find the right one.

[Vizzerdrix]

Sandstorm: Page 48 in the druid companion section, And for updated versions, Lost Empires of faerun on page 191. This one even has a nice picture too.

Having taken a second look, I can't say it's completely bad. Int 12 (but can't speak human languages) , 50 foot flight and hide bonuses. It's a scout. spot and listen are low, but they can be drought up fast thanks to the good Int.