Ranger Variant question

[kpumphre]

Sorry I saw it one time now I can't find it. Their is one where you give up your animal companion and you gain a bonus against your favored enemy anyone know where that is?

[Darrin]

Sorry I saw it one time now I can't find it. Their is one where you give up your animal companion and you gain a bonus against your favored enemy anyone know where that is?

Sounds a little like Spiritual Guide (Complete Champion), but that has nothing to do with damage, you just get a bonus on certain skill checks.

[kpumphre]

No I know spirtual guide, That will be the one I choose if I can't find the other one. But the one I'm thinking of is called something like solitary hunter I think. Basically grants your bonus to his as well as damage against favored enemy's.

My dm made it clear anything big enough to be a danger will be a target


Edit: It is called Solitary Hunter but does anyone know where it is?

[Dusk Eclipse]

It is probably the Solitary Hunter Variant from Dragon 357, you get your FE bonus to attack rolls and damage.

[kpumphre]

Ah dang it, ah well. Anyone know a good one to trade animal companion for. I don't need a horse nor a camel

[Dusk Eclipse]

I'm assuming you can't use Dragon stuff... a shame really, Dragon has some really neat stuff for Rangers (Mystic Ranger for example).

There Distracting Attack from PHB II and.... well that is all I can remember now.

[kpumphre]

Yeah that's worse than how my dm normally does it. He just lets us provke with a ranged weapon for flanking. Ah well.

I got a Scout/ranger so trying to boost up my ranged attacks

[docnessuno]

Variants / ACFs / Sub levels to trade away your companion (not including Dragon Magazine):
Distracting Attack (PHB2)
Shooting star 4th sub level (CV)
Spiritual Guide (CC)
Urban Companion (CS web enhancement) [It's actually closer to a familiar]

As an unrelated note, i suggest you to check the Shadow Sword 6th sub level (CV), trading the improved combat style feat for a Bane effect working against your favored enemies.

[Haldir]

Animal companion is not bad for a Scout/Ranger, as it can give you access to movement + full attack.

Does your party have a character who can cast reduce person? The damage from FE and Skirmish rely not at all on size. Taking a bird companion and shrinking yourself to ride it is a decent way to apply optimize your Skirmish damage in just about any environment.

Ever had a bat caught in your house? Those buggers will move hundreds of feet circling around your ceiling before you catch them.

[Nihilarian]

Animal companion is not bad for a Scout/Ranger, as it can give you access to movement + full attack.

Does your party have a character who can cast reduce person? The damage from FE and Skirmish rely not at all on size. Taking a bird companion and shrinking yourself to ride it is a decent way to apply optimize your Skirmish damage in just about any environment.

Ever had a bat caught in your house? Those buggers will move hundreds of feet circling around your ceiling before you catch them.Animal Companions at half your ranger level are weak at the best of times. For a swift hunter with an even more stunted progression? It's better just to trade it out.

Also, the errata nerfed skirmish. Can't do it while mounted.

If you want a monster buddy, Urban Companion (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) or Wild Cohort (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) are much better. So just trade it out.

[Haldir]

I don't need it to do any fighting. Handle Animal/Track/Wild Empathy can handle that end for me. A potential extra action, even from a weak character, is more than worth it to me. Gaining information, passing along an item, activating things, if you put the time in to train the animal, you can get quite impressive results.

That's too bad about the errata, though. It's like WotC had a blood feud with the idea of cavalry or something...

[Nihilarian]

I don't need it to do any fighting. Handle Animal/Track/Wild Empathy can handle that end for me. A potential extra action, even from a weak character, is more than worth it to me. Gaining information, passing along an item, activating things, if you put the time in to train the animal, you can get quite impressive results.

That's too bad about the errata, though. It's like WotC had a blood feud with the idea of cavalry or something...So take Urban Companion. It has an intelligence score above 2 so no need to train.

I do get the appeal of that kind of character, though. I toyed around with a Beast Heart Adept build that got lots of companions once.

[Curmudgeon]

It is probably the Solitary Hunter Variant from Dragon 357, you get your FE bonus to attack rolls and damage. That's actually Solitary Hunting from Dragon # 347 (page 91). It took me a while to track down, given the differences in both name and issue number.

[Haldir]

So take Urban Companion. It has an intelligence score above 2 so no need to train.

I do get the appeal of that kind of character, though. I toyed around with a Beast Heart Adept build that got lots of companions once.

This strategy depends entirely on your DM, as some people may not want to relinquish command of the animal by giving it intellect and therefore autonomy. Otherwise, sure, Urban Companion seems a solid option.

What I don't understand is how Ranger's animal companion is so discredited. It's free leadership for an animal, and leadership is the most broken feat ever right? Sure, you can't take an animal companion with class levels, but you can do something just as good, being clever-

Ranger's got track, knowledge (nature), and some divine magic. Selectively hunting and breeding good animals for animal companions/handle(d) animal(s) seems like a pretty solid backstory to me, and easily accomplished with the tools at hand. Afterall, what were most people if not farmers and herders?

A very clever Ranger, entirely in character, has the biggest, meanest, nastiest, and best trained animals at his command, perhaps even magically augmented via divine magic and selective breeding techniques. Entirely in character, a Ranger could develop spells and magic items to facilitate this process.

Now you and your DM have to decide, how badass is evolution in your gameworld? I want acid-breathing enlarged rhinos with a 20 foot jumping range, backed up by whirlwind eagles sporting repeating crossbow harnesses and targeting gusts of wind. My fleshrakers don't just fleshrake, mothaf***a, they fleshmelt with Haste as an SLA.

tl;dr- A good Ranger, entirely in character, is practically playing Pokemon.

[Khatoblepas]

What I don't understand is how Ranger's animal companion is so discredited.

...

I want acid-breathing enlarged rhinos with a 20 foot jumping range, backed up by whirlwind eagles sporting repeating crossbow harnesses and targeting gusts of wind. My fleshrakers don't just fleshrake, mothaf***a, they fleshmelt with Haste as an SLA.

The problem is, there are no rules for the latter, but there are rules for lame weak ranger animal companions. Not every DM will allow you to breed magic animals and have them as your animal companion.

By the rules, the DM at least gives you a lame eagle.

[Haldir]

True, but there are rules for Handle Animal, and the Animal Companion description allows you to take other things at the DM's discretion. Even if you're not breeding crazy warbeasts, you can still have a decent case for tracking down a decent animal and making it your companion.

[Nihilarian]

This strategy depends entirely on your DM, as some people may not want to relinquish command of the animal by giving it intellect and therefore autonomy. Otherwise, sure, Urban Companion seems a solid option.

What I don't understand is how Ranger's animal companion is so discredited. It's free leadership for an animal, and leadership is the most broken feat ever right? Sure, you can't take an animal companion with class levels, but you can do something just as good, being clever-

Ranger's got track, knowledge (nature), and some divine magic. Selectively hunting and breeding good animals for animal companions/handle(d) animal(s) seems like a pretty solid backstory to me, and easily accomplished with the tools at hand. Afterall, what were most people if not farmers and herders?

A very clever Ranger, entirely in character, has the biggest, meanest, nastiest, and best trained animals at his command, perhaps even magically augmented via divine magic and selective breeding techniques. Entirely in character, a Ranger could develop spells and magic items to facilitate this process.

Now you and your DM have to decide, how badass is evolution in your gameworld? I want acid-breathing enlarged rhinos with a 20 foot jumping range, backed up by whirlwind eagles sporting repeating crossbow harnesses and targeting gusts of wind. My fleshrakers don't just fleshrake, mothaf***a, they fleshmelt with Haste as an SLA.

tl;dr- A good Ranger, entirely in character, is practically playing Pokemon.Besides the fact that everything in there is houserules or even homebrew, very few DMs would allow that. Once they have Haste as an SLA, they become a Magical Beast. Animal Companions have to be animals. Most of the time, at least.

Ranger's Animal Companion gets a bad rap because at 20th level it should have about 8 HD, total. That's just not enough. There are ways to improve that -a dip into Beastmaster, Natural Bond, Devoted Tracker shenanigans, etc, but you shouldn't have to sink more resources just to make them functional. Urban Companion, on the other hand, has HP = 3/4th the ranger's HP, which is much better.

EDIT: And more intelligence is always better than no intelligence. Is there a rule where the DM is supposed to control a character's familiar?