Animal Companions, how does it work?

[Trollcranked]

Pretty much the title says it all. I have a campaign I was invited to and wanted to take the opportunity to make a ranger! But the one thing that bugs me is animal companions, I have no idea how to work their stats, level development, etc.

For the bread and butter, my character will be a lvl 10 Wood Elf Ranger and I want to have a Dire Ape as my companion until death. ((Starting lvl is 10))

What would I do? Sorry for my noobiness, animal companions are new to me. Thanks for the help in advance! D:

[eggynack]

I don't think you can have a dire ape at level 10 on a ranger. The required druid level is 7, and ranger levels count for half, so you'd need to be level 14. As for how you it works in general, you take your ranger level, divide it by two, subtract whatever adjustment the animal companion has, if any, and then you take that level, and plug it into this chart (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#theDruidsAnimalCompanion), making the adjustments noted.

[Trollcranked]

Perhaps it'd be better to settle for a regular ape. Either way, i'm trying to figure it out e.e

[eggynack]

If you're running a regular ape, that's your effective druid level, which is 5, minus the ape adjustment, which is 3, leaving you at a final animal companion level of 2. Level 2 features no adjustments to the animal companion, so you'd just get a standard ape, except with one bonus trick, link, and share spells.

[Trollcranked]

If you're running a regular ape, that's your effective druid level, which is 5, minus the ape adjustment, which is 3, leaving you at a final animal companion level of 2. Level 2 features no adjustments to the animal companion, so you'd just get a standard ape, except with one bonus trick, link, and share spells.

Except i'm not a druid Q~Q. This is why this is all confusing..

[eggynack]

Except i'm not a druid Q~Q. This is why this is all confusing..
Were you a druid, your druid level for the purposes of the animal companion at level 10 would be 10. As you're a ranger, your druid level is effectively 5. If you know how to work out an animal companion for a 5th level druid, then you can just apply an identical process to work out the animal companion for a 10th level ranger.

[Terazul]

Except i'm not a druid Q~Q. This is why this is all confusing..

It's pretty straightforward. Have you read the Animal Companion ability on the ranger?




At 4th level, a ranger gains an animal companion selected from the following list: badger, camel, dire rat, dog, riding dog, eagle, hawk, horse (light or heavy), owl, pony, snake (Small or Medium viper), or wolf. If the campaign takes place wholly or partly in an aquatic environment, the following creatures may be added to the ranger’s list of options: manta ray, porpoise, Medium shark, and squid. This animal is a loyal companion that accompanies the ranger on his adventures as appropriate for its kind.

This ability functions like the druid ability of the same name, except that the ranger’s effective druid level is one-half his ranger level. A ranger may select from the alternative lists of animal companions just as a druid can, though again his effective druid level is half his ranger level. Like a druid, a ranger cannot select an alternative animal if the choice would reduce his effective druid level below 1st.

Bolded for emphasis. If you go look at Druid, it has a table for Animal Companion. On that table, it shows you the bonuses your chosen animal gets for each level you have. After reaching certain levels (4, 7, 10, etc) you can choose a more powerful base animal, in exchange for treating yourself 3/6/9/etc. levels lower in determining the benefits you get from the table. Rangers kinda get gimped in that they permanently half their level as an effective druid. So as a 10th level ranger, you have the same choices a 5th level druid would have access to.

[Devils_Advocate]

Note that the bonus hit dice from being an animal companion do not increase a creature's size. This is a common point of confusion; they really should have clarified this.

[Darrin]

If you want a dire ape, then it looks like Wild Cohort (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) would work well here. A Ranger 10 with Wild Cohort picks an animal companion with an effective Druid level -3 instead of half. Dire Ape requires Druid 7, so you're at exactly at the right level to pick up a Dire Ape as a Wild Cohort.

[gr8artist]

Also, take a look at boon companion, a pretty straightforward feat that improves your effective druid level by three. At your current level, better than wild cohort. (1/2)*10+3=8, or 10-3=7. They're equal at 12, and wild cohort is better after 12. Or take both, or take BC over and over.