Totem Druid question/problem. Help :D

[Discipol]

Greetings. I have a Totem Druid 5 with a Dire Ape.
My DM has interpreted the descriptive text: "Her animal companion gains special abilities as if the totem druid was two levels higher." as if the animal got only the feats because there is a column called "Special" there.

I say that all the relevant bonuses including HD, str/dex, tricks are included in the +2 to druid levels.

Since we couldn't find a proper discussion on this subject to clear this up, I came here for enlightenment.

I welcome your opinions & arguments.:smalltongue:

[eggs]

"Special abilities" is a defined jargon term that includes all the (Ex), (Su) and (Sp) abilities, but not stuff like HD or Strength.

There's also some support for the "special" column being the entirety of an AC's "special abilities" from the Natural Bond feat, which refers to a creature's "Hit Dice, extra tricks, special abilities, and other bonuses" - discriminating special abilities from all those other level-based benefits.

So I don't think either of you is quite right, just going by the rulebooks - per the printed phrasing, the companion shouldn't advance in HD, strength, or any of that, but it also shouldn't be getting any feats from its advancement, because it isn't gaining any HD.

So if the companion's only advancing special abilities, it would just get the things in the "Special" column, with the possible exception of Multiattack, which is a feat, not a special ability (though I believe I heard a WotC FAQ reply somewhere that categorized feats as extraordinary, but I don't know of any printed rules supporting the statement).

The bigger question is probably "is it better for this variant only to advance special abilities (per RAW) than it would be for it to advance everything (via houserule)?" At low levels, I really think it is - the Druid gains a lot from the variant until Wild Shape would normally come online, but even then, its assorted bonuses aren't too damning compared to the basic Druid. Even more so if spell research is allowed and Aspect of the Wolf is a viable template for researched spells.

[Urpriest]

So I don't think either of you is quite right, just going by the rulebooks - per the printed phrasing, the companion shouldn't advance in HD, strength, or any of that, but it also shouldn't be getting any feats from its advancement, because it isn't gaining any HD.



To clarify, my guess is that the OP thinks that the things in the Special column are feats. This is a pretty common mistake: players are used to PCs whose special abilities are basically all feat-based, and so they assume that the game's only source of modularity is feats because despite years playing they've never looked at how monsters work.

[Discipol]

Thanks for the reply, but it is not relevant, at all, if they are feats or not, or what feats are or are not. What is relevant is the bonus tricks, bonus hd and dex/str on whether or not are included.

To clarify even move:
Totem Druid variant makes you choose one class of animals from a short list. This limits the animal companion choice to apes or eagles or other categories. I have chosen Ape because, hey, monkeys :D

The issue is that the wording is inconsistent throughout the documents. In the Dragon magazine its worded that for the totem animal (in this case, the ape), if chosen, the druid counts as 2 levels higher "for special abilities".

The DM, with malice :D considered this for only the Special column and not dex/str, HD, tricks. I found the sacrifices I gave for the limitations deserved +2 to druid level for all the things in the table, not just one column.

[Pilo]

Well, it has been explained, the special abilities are in the special column of the animal compagnon progression table.

If you think the sacrifice does not worth it, then it is your advice.

However having a class feature who gives you the equivalent of a devoted warrior, which will be as powerful as a fighter of your level in addition of your other druid powers shall require a bigger sacrifice than a limited animal compagnon list.

[eggs]

Thanks for the reply, but it is not relevant, at all, if they are feats or not, or what feats are or are not. What is relevant is the bonus tricks, bonus hd and dex/str on whether or not are included.
Right. Like I said, those aren't special abilities, and there's a good chance that not even the entire Special column would have the advanced progression (Multiattack only qualifies based on FAQ, not any rules based on rulebooks).