Animal Companion = Cohort

[Fenris-Wolf]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the boards and I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about how the leadership/cohort feat meshes with a druid/ranger's animal companion.

I know that a paladin can make his mount a cohort for the price of a +2 lv adjustment, but can a druid/ranger do the same thing with their animal companion?

I'm starting a druid for the shackled city AP with my group tonight, and I have this idea of giving him something like a worg or animal (with 3+ int, increased to sentient levels with bonus HD) companion and slap on some barbarian levels to make it an effective bodyguard for him.


P.S. how does the bonus HD from paladin mount/animal companion effect a cohort's max level of PC -2?

[Flickerdart]

An animal with over 2 Int becomes a Magical Beast, and cannot be an animal companion. An animal also has no LA, making it ineligible for a cohort.

[MonochromeTiger]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the boards and I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about how the leadership/cohort feat meshes with a druid/ranger's animal companion.

I know that a paladin can make his mount a cohort for the price of a +2 lv adjustment, but can a druid/ranger do the same thing with their animal companion?

I'm starting a druid for the shackled city AP with my group tonight, and I have this idea of giving him something like a worg or animal (with 3+ int, increased to sentient levels with bonus HD) companion and slap on some barbarian levels to make it an effective bodyguard for him.


P.S. how does the bonus HD from paladin mount/animal companion effect a cohort's max level of PC -2?

..you could always just awaken it..

[Flickerdart]

..you could always just awaken it..
An awakened creature explicitly cannot serve as an animal companion.

[MonochromeTiger]

An awakened creature explicitly cannot serve as an animal companion.

I know, but you can convince it to stay with the group in roughly the same capacity a cohort would have.

[Fenris-Wolf]

An animal with over 2 Int becomes a Magical Beast, and cannot be an animal companion. An animal also has no LA, making it ineligible for a cohort.

I was afraid of that ;(

On the bright side I can have an animal companion and a cohort... unless there is a feat somewhere that allows magic beasts as new options for companions like the Exalted Companion feat from exalted deeds.

[Urpriest]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the boards and I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about how the leadership/cohort feat meshes with a druid/ranger's animal companion.

I know that a paladin can make his mount a cohort for the price of a +2 lv adjustment, but can a druid/ranger do the same thing with their animal companion?

I'm starting a druid for the shackled city AP with my group tonight, and I have this idea of giving him something like a worg or animal (with 3+ int, increased to sentient levels with bonus HD) companion and slap on some barbarian levels to make it an effective bodyguard for him.


P.S. how does the bonus HD from paladin mount/animal companion effect a cohort's max level of PC -2?

There's no mechanic for treating your animal companion as a cohort, regardless of its HD.

For the Paladin's Mount, those bonus HD are still real HD, so they contribute to ECL just like any other HD.

[Fenris-Wolf]

Actually now that I think of it Exalted Companion lets you make your companion celestial, which turns it into a magic beast with 3 int; would that allow you to make it a cohort? Or does "there is no mechanic," mean that they must be kept separate, period.

[nedz]

You might want to take a look at the Wild Cohor (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a)t feat.

[Flickerdart]

Actually now that I think of it Exalted Companion lets you make your companion celestial, which turns it into a magic beast with 3 int; would that allow you to make it a cohort?
It's still got no LA listed. It exempts you from "companion must be an animal" in a very specific way, but not the other requirements involved.

[Urpriest]

Actually now that I think of it Exalted Companion lets you make your companion celestial, which turns it into a magic beast with 3 int; would that allow you to make it a cohort? Or does "there is no mechanic," mean that they must be kept separate, period.

Still, being an animal companion means that it can't be a cohort. Animal Companions have to be typical of their kind, so they can't be cohorts, and being an animal companion gives various benefits and doesn't yet have a listed LA and thus a cohort can't be an animal companion.

[Big Fau]

You might want to take a look at the Wild Cohor (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a)t feat.

That doesn't do what the OP wants...

[sleepyphoenixx]

If you can get a Special Mount and Smite Evil you can take the Devoted Tracker feat to make your animal companion also your special mount, thus qualifying it to be a cohort.

(Prestige) Paladin and the evil variants only work with ranger because of alignment restrictions.
The Ranger Knight PrC (Dragon 317) works for any good character and gets a special mount at first level. It needs three fairly useless feats to qualify though.
You can get Smite Evil from various races and templates in addition to classes.

If all you want is an intelligent animal companion the Urban Companion ACF (CS We (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a)) gets you a kind of familiar. Ask your DM if you can qualify for the Improved Familiar feat with it to get a worg (no class levels though).
There's also a bunch of feats that allow stacking of familiar, animal companion and special mount progressions (Dragon 325) that can make for a powerful companion if you build right.
It's also a lot more effective since it doesn't give your companion LA or restrict its level/HD.

[Flickerdart]

If you can get a Special Mount and Smite Evil you can take the Devoted Tracker feat to make your animal companion also your special mount, thus qualifying it to be a cohort.

This only works with ranger ACs, since you can't simultaneously have a druid AC (must be Neutral on one axis) and a paladin special mount (must be Lawful Good).

[nedz]

How about the Beast Heart Adept PrC (Dungeonscape p48)

This gives you a Monstrous Companion which is a magical beast or aberration.

[sleepyphoenixx]

This only works with ranger ACs, since you can't simultaneously have a druid AC (must be Neutral on one axis) and a paladin special mount (must be Lawful Good).

I mentioned that in the second sentence. You don't need a paladin special mount. Just a special mount. Which Ranger Knight gets at level 1.
Throw on Theurgic Mount (Dr 325) to get your divine caster level for special mount progression and it works just fine for a druid (aside from the wasted feats).
There's a few other PrC's that get mounts but i'm not sure if they qualify as Special Mounts.

[Coidzor]

This only works with ranger ACs, since you can't simultaneously have a druid AC (must be Neutral on one axis) and a paladin special mount (must be Lawful Good).

I believe Beastmaster is an acceptable substitute for stacking the animal companion onto the special mount if nothing else. Track is still annoying enough one might want to dip into Ranger for it anyway and to help fill out any skillpoint issues, though Paladin should be able to qualify for Beastmaster natively without much issue.