My Little Druid Pony

[samaritan]

Hon. Adventurers;

I have enjoyed playing a Druid in my local campaign and thought I would share the character with you and ask for your help in resolving a few matters. The Druid animal companion list specifically cites "Pony" as a suggested animal companion. It also mentions a day long ritual for binding a new animal companion. This coupled with a druid's capacity to wild shape inspired me to try a My Little Pony Druid build. That was ten levels ago, and I have had a lot of fun with it.

I am now ten levels into Bro Neigh, a feral human child raised by ponies. I have taken Natural Spell, brew potion, Initiate of Nature, leadership, and Exalted Wild Shape (Unicorn, Pegasus, Celestial Warhorse). Now that I have access to Awaken Animal I have been binding and dismissing ponies every campaign day that I can. I have filled the ranks of my Leadership feat with Awakened Pony companions.

My question for you fellows is this: Is it fair to assume that a devoted animal companion who leaves that status via the application of the Awaken spell be a valid choice to fill a 1st level follower slot for the Leadership feat?

If I can accept awakened ponies into the ranks of my followers, may I then train a few to fill my available 2nd and 3rd level followers as awakened class leveled magical beasts as mages? My Cohort is a Class leveled Unicorn Mage and would be the means by which this training would be imparted to select members of my herd.

My thinking on the matter is thus, A former Pony companion is the equivalent of a CR 1/4. Awaken the critter and it becomes a magical beast capable of receiving character classes. The creature was formerly super naturally devoted, and listed as friendly and amenable to requests after being awakened. I would expect such a relationship to be an ideal candidate for the Leadership feat followers. As a I can craft such a candidate every day, does this allow me to ignore the usual months long recruiting process built into the Leadership feat? As these ponies were literally "Born Yesterday" Do I get to ignore the negative modifiers for reputation and enhance my effective reputation for effective leadership level?

Whether or not I have a leadership feat followers slot open is it reasonable to expect that the awakened former animal companion would stay with the herd and be amenable to reasonable requests for service and assistance in exchange for food, shelter, and protection?

Thank you for your time and assistance adventurers.

Respectfully

Samaritan

[ranagrande]

That's an awesome concept. Unfortunately, it probably doesn't work to have all of them as followers. A Pony has 2 racial hit dice, and the Awaken spell adds 2 more, so you can only have them in level 4 or higher follower slots.

[samaritan]

Hon. Ranagrande;

Thank you for your quick response :). When I read the Leadership Feat, the feat referenced followers in terms of class levels, and not Hit Dice. In making a reasonable accommodation for the idea, my referee ruled that the 1/4 challenge rating was well below the CR 1 follower assumed for the Leadership feat.

Here are two quotes from the feat cited for his decision.

"A character can try to attract a cohort of a particular race, class, and alignment."

and

"The character can lead up to the indicated number of characters of each level. Followers are similar to cohorts, except they’re generally low-level NPCs. Because they’re generally five or more levels behind the character they follow, they’re rarely effective in combat."

The process I envisioned is as such. Perform Animal companion ritual, dismiss animal, speak with animal to recruit as follower, then awaken animal.

As the animal was a legitimate candidate for a Druid leader and was well below CR 1 and possesses no character level, the pony candidate for follower should be a recruit-able follower. Upon casting Awaken, his effective CR is at least 2, and arguably 3, but still does not posses a "level". The awaken can be viewed as a permanently buffed CR 1/4 follower. and in any case is likely to improve the disposition of the follower.

In your view sir, would the pony follower be viable before the awaken spell? Would the pony remain a follower after the awaken spell? And in any case wouldn't the awakened former animal companions be amenable to remaining with, and accepting the instructions of the Druid without the interaction of the Leadership Feat at all?

I appreciate your assistance in this matter my fellow adventurers.

Respectfully

Samaritan

[Spuddles]

Hon. samaritan,
Class level for non-standard races are racial hit dice + level adjustment + class level. By the book, the bare minimum level an awakened pony would be is level 4 and that is without class levels.

The reason for that is the additional HD, which gives more skills, hp, bab, etc. While the potential for abuse may be there, as a DM I would allow follower ponies without taking into account the rhd. They would have an unusual durability, but hey, they're awakened magical talking ponies.

You could try "deleveling" them by removing racial hd, should your DM find followers with 5hd to great.

I anticipate to be ninja'd by the hon. Ur-Priest at any moment. He wrote the definitive guide to monsters as characters.

Regards,

Spuddles

[samaritan]

Hon. Spuddles;

Thank you for pointing out my mistake regarding HD. My new route to recruiting Ponies may have to follow these lines.

Summon Pony animal companion, mourn the tragic loss of pony companion, reincarnate dead Pony, speak with Pony and recruit as follower, awaken follower. The resulting follower would have been a former animal companion whom I raised from the dead. The Pony has now lost one HD and accepts a followers position. I then negotiate a term of service for bestowing an awakened condition. As greater leveled folowers become available, Class levels can then be accrued to my Magical Ponies.

Will this serve as a path to D20 My Little Pony?

Thank you Spuddles for helping me understand that I must kill the ones I love if I am to enjoy the benefits of their friendship and Magic:). I think I am going to need a lot of cupcakes for this...

Respectfully

Samaritan

[kreenlover]

Or, instead of worrying about things like awakening and such, just get this wonderful, and much needed supplement:

BEHOLD ITS WONDROUS MAJESTY (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/115547/Ponies-for-Pathfinder)

[samaritan]

Hon. Kreenlover;

That's a neat supplement for Pathfinder, thanks for bringing it to my attention. My principal interest in putting a herd of ponies at the disposal of a pony morphing druid is to enjoy a D20 campaign with friends without having to push for any pony accommodation. I'm trying to use the existing rules for D20 for a one time character. I rarely role play the same thing twice so this is likely to be my only experience along these lines.

Respectfully

Samaritan

[kreenlover]

Hon. Samaritan;

I understand, I was more saying that as a joke. I apologize for not following your format for responses. I would think that what you are doing is legitimate, in the whole "summon, then awaken" line. However, I must point out that any animal companion that ceases to be an animal companion loses all the benefits of being an animal companion. As well, Leadership is often later on referred to by CR (see later books, ex. Exemplars of Evil). Therefore, using your CR instead of class levels would be appropriate.

Respectfully

Kreen

[Slipperychicken]

Is there a Savage Species progression for ponies? Just fill that up and start adding class levels once it's done.

[Humble Master]

Hon, Samaritan:

Want to make one of your ponies Rainbow Dash? This might help. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290394)

[samaritan]

Hon. Adventurers;

Honored Master's thread suggestion of a Saturn V staged pony express was hilarious. "Do you think that a Sonic Rainboom is colourful because of friendship? No. It's discarded chromatic dragons vaporized into sparkledust due to their sheer velocity." :)

Slippery Chicken's suggestion of incorporating the Savage Speicies supplement should help keep the Druid animal companion viable as a Equine motif for a number of additional levels.

My character's motive for adventuring is to "Johny Appleseed" enough magical talking pony families across the campaign world to make them a viable new player character race within a couple of generations. This 40 acres and a mule strategy is reasonably cheap now that I can use challenge rating for follower slots and don't have to reincarnate dead ponies to conform to the available Leadership feat followers.

Thank you for helping make this novel idea a more practical reality in the D20 system.

Respectfully

Samaritan

[ahenobarbi]

Also why not buy ponnies? They cost only 30gp, much less than 24h workday of a druid :smallsmile:

You could:
* Buy a ponny.
* Recruit it.
* Awaken it.
* Give it negative levels.
* Have it fail save and permanently loose as many HD as necessary to remain your follower.

[Spuddles]

Hon. ahenobarbi
I believe the advantage of recruiting ponies via the animal companion class feature is the disposition of awakened animal companions as opposed to awakened ponies you bought in bulk.

Though I think there is a strong case that pony emancipation would put said ponies at a disposition to be a follower.

Regards,

Spuddles

[samaritan]

Hon. Adventurers;

Please correct me if I am mistaken, but the typical experience of an adventurer between modules in a town is to be set a caster level limit for magic items and a gold piece limit for equipment purchases. In light of this, is there a rule or game mechanic prohibition on buying whatever you want from the players hand book equipment list? I'd like to stock up on Pony Munitions between adventures so that I don't run out of them over the course of an adventure.

@ Spuddles: You nailed my purposes in obtaining the Leadership feat, "Friendly, Fathfull, and Magical Ponies of good will" . I also dismiss Cohorts and replace them with followers for the purpose of fast leveling ponies. Dismissed cohorts are then set as guardians over Magical Pony settlements. I don't want to burden the game play at the table with braying hordes of Ponies so I funnel them off into Pony-ville. This lets me enjoy the role of this particular character without suffocating the rest of my friends under a thick blanket of pony theme :).

[Urpriest]

Hon. Adventurers;

Please correct me if I am mistaken, but the typical experience of an adventurer between modules in a town is to be set a caster level limit for magic items and a gold piece limit for equipment purchases. In light of this, is there a rule or game mechanic prohibition on buying whatever you want from the players hand book equipment list? I'd like to stock up on Pony Munitions between adventures so that I don't run out of them over the course of an adventure.

It's certainly not a caster level limit, just a gp limit. Most towns ponies will be well under it. As described in the DMG page 138, if you're buying in bulk the maximum you can get is gp limit x population /20. For example, for a small town of 1000 inhabitants the gp limit is 800gp, so you can buy a maximum of 400x100=40,000gp worth of goods, so 1,333 ponies. So essentially, gp limits will never be a problem unless you stick to tiny hamlets.

In terms of ponies as followers, Awakened animals still have level adjustment --, so they still can't be followers or cohorts. This is as intended: note that you can't have an Awakened animal as an animal companion either. Awakened animals may be friendly towards you, but they're their own people and are essentially newborn into their new intelligence. They've got lives to live, and they aren't going to waste their new independence following around some random Druid.

[samaritan]

Hon. Urpriest;

Thank you for your assistance. I found your monster guide yesterday and have been reading through it. 1,333 Ponies is way more than I need for my purposes. My assumption that an awakened pony would be just as eager, if not more so, than an equally free willed character classed follower would be for the purposes of filling Leadership follower slots.

It looks like I may have to limit the process to performing an animal companion ritual, awakening and subsequently mourning their tragic deaths, reincarnating to a valid cohort race, negotiating a follower position, then baleful poly-morphing them pack into 1 HD miniature ponies. planting my current CR8 cohort in Pony-ville and promoting the newly awakened companion to Cohort. Repeat as and when Cohorts top out their CR level.

Now that I have had a chance to look at what Bro Neigh must do to make magical talking ponies a reality, I can see why he might not be viewed favorably by the rest of society :). It also explains the existence of Equestria Girls, character levels don't grow on ponies without some extraordinary mentoring.

It is clear that I am free to awaken animal companion ponies at will and simply to plant them as is in Pony-ville, but I do want to make sure the community has the wherewithal to protect itself with character leveled guardians.

The net effect on the table top will be a small herd of off camera pony munitions with a revolving door of cohorts and level 4 follower cohorts in training plus a pony animal companion. The party should not have to interact with more than my druid and two magical talking ponies at any given time while benefiting from a herd of pack ponies able to carry people and treasure as needed.

I want to thank every one who posted with helping me to hammer out a rules conforming D20 Pony experience for anyone who likes my little pony and plays with an established D&D circle of friends.

Respectfully

Samaritan

[samaritan]

Hon. Adventurers;

In my search for an easy way to incorporate a D20 pony based character into the local game I over looked the easy solution. An Awakened animal companion pony becomes a sentient 4 HD Magical beast with a lot of good will and history with his druid friend.

This web site provides additional rule clarification, albeit for Pathfinder.

"One of the surest ways to complicate the relationship between an adventurer and her animal companion is to cast awaken on the beast. The moment the spell takes effect, an animal companion ceases to be a class feature, and instead becomes a person—an NPC whose Intelligence has increased by 3d6 (potentially making it as smart as or smarter than the caster), and who has an increased Charisma score and knows at least one spoken language.

An adventurer considering awakening his animal companion should keep in mind the awaken spell's potential drawbacks. Most pointedly, awakened animals can no longer serve as companions, and the character must follow the rules for Leadership if he wishes to take the animal as an official cohort."

As you can see Awakened Animal Companions are sentient family members for the Druid choosing this course. abiding by the Leadership Feat rules in the administration of what may be accomplished with one's Awakened Cohort does not actually require the use of Leadership. If all you're trying to do is plug pony NPC into Cohort and NPC slots for your character, then paying the cost for awaken is all that is required of you.

A Druid mentoring various former companions as awakened ponies through his Cohort position can establish a grove and provide for the various Awakened ponies awaiting their rotation through the Cohort position. These Cohorts can then be released on handsome retainers to administer and live well at the grove while mentoring awakened ponies for themselves. This grove will soon find itself growing to a formidable settlement with an abundance of high level NPC guardians.

Once a Druid reaches 10th level, Awakened Dire War Ponies with a class level will be climbing rapidly through the ranks of various class levels as they are sponsored and mentored by the Druid and subsequent graduated Cohorts. A few short druid levels and treasure dumps later should see the Everfree grove reduced to the suburbs of Ponyville which will in turn grow to support the defenses of Castle Canterlot. What might have taken years to construct by hand can be quickly facilitated by high level spell casting and druid tended bumper crops.

This Green Industrial Revolution will begin to grow exponentially as the third and fourth generation Cohorts graduate mentored cohorts of their own. By the time a Druid has invested the earnings of his 20th level rise to epic proportions, the returns on his time, money, and friendship should have resulted in a shining kingdom of pony. This will make a fitting power base from which to launch Epic Level sorties against the supernatural evils that would rend the world asunder. The crown of Equilonia will no doubt rest heavy upon the troubled brow of our humble Bro Neigh, but he should have thought of that before taking the path of an adventurer:).

Bro Neigh shows off his use of Celestial Wild Shape with the forms of a Pegasus, Unicorn, and Celestial Pony.

https://derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTMvMDcvMTYvMDVfNTlfMjFfNjc5XzM3NTQ5NV 9fc2FmZV9wb255X3BlZ2FzdXNfdW5pY29ybl9yZWFsaXN0aWNf ZXZlcmZyZWVfZm9yZXN0X2R1bmdlb25zX2FuZF9kcmFnb25zX3 VsdGltYV9kcnVpZF9hcnRpc3Rfc2FtYXJpdGFuX2FydGlzdF9j b2xvbl9tMGFpZF9hcnRpc3RfY29sb25fZ29sZGVucGhlbml4X2 F0aXN0X2NvbG9uX3JhcHRvcnNhdXNhZ2UiXV0/375495__safe_edit_pony_pegasus_unicorn_realistic_e verfree%2Bforest_dungeons%2Band%2Bdragons_gimp_ult ima_druid_artist%2Bsamaritan_artist-colon-m0aid_artist-colon-goldenphenix_atist-colon-raptorsaus.jpg

Thank you for taking the time to hear this cautionary fantasy tale of "Planet Of The Ponies" I hope it was worth your time adventurers.

Respectfully

Samaritan