Swarm for a ranger animal beast?

[CyberThread]

So I wanted to see what folks thought, and figured the debate might take up more room then a simple Q&A quesiton.


Rangers, 1/4 challenge , beast of medium size or smaller. Do you think a swarm counts as a medium size beast, or several tiny creatures, as far as the rules are concerned with it as a entity?

[BRKNdevil]

thats a good question and some horrifying imagery

[stitchlipped]

So I wanted to see what folks thought, and figured the debate might take up more room then a simple Q&A quesiton.


Rangers, 1/4 challenge , beast of medium size or smaller. Do you think a swarm counts as a medium size beast, or several tiny creatures, as far as the rules are concerned with it as a entity?

I hope the former, BECAUSE NOW I WANT THIS.

[Ferrin33]

I don't see any problem by RAW aside from the Swarm trait that doesn't let it regain hit points or gain temporary hit points. But if you don't mind that bit... Murder of Crows.

[Person_Man]

I'd be fine with it. (And I'm sure there are plenty of players who'd love to play someone like Shino Aburame from Naruto). In fact, giving him a better Animal Companion is a pretty strait forward way to give the comparatively weak-ish Rangers a much needed boost. Not sure exactly what the combat implication would be. But 100-ish crows or 1000ish insects would be awesome for scouting a huge area at once, delivering messages, distracting enemies, interrogations, etc.

My one caveat would be that during combat, they must remain as a swarm to be used. You can't have 100ish crows break off and attack independently.

[MadGrady]

I'd be fine with it. (And I'm sure there are plenty of players who'd love to play someone like Shino Aburame from Naruto). In fact, giving him a better Animal Companion is a pretty strait forward way to give the comparatively weak-ish Rangers a much needed boost. Not sure exactly what the combat implication would be. But 100-ish crows or 1000ish insects would be awesome for scouting a huge area at once, delivering messages, distracting enemies, interrogations, etc.

My one caveat would be that during combat, they must remain as a swarm to be used. You can't have 100ish crows break off and attack independently.

I would (personally) say that it always has to stay in swarm form. Allowing 100ish birds to scout and entire area is way beyond the scope of the intended rules here (imo).

Aside from that, I love the concept. A half-orc ranger with a bunch of insects crawling all over him might just show up as a villain in one of my games. hehehe :smallamused:

[JRutterbush]

THE NATURE OF SWARMS
The swarms presented here aren't ordinary or benign assemblies of little creatures. They form as a result of some sinister or unwholesome influence. A vampire can summon swarms of bats and rats from the darkest corners of the night, while the very presence of a mummy lord can cause scarab beetles to boil up from the sand-filled depths of its tomb. A hag might have the power to turn swarms of ravens against her enemies, while a yuan-ti abomination might have swarms of poisonous snakes slithering in its wake. Even druids can't charm these swarms, and their aggressiveness is borderline unnatural.

Personally, I don't think it would be too unbalanced to have a "swarm companion", especially with that "can't regain HP" thing, that's brutal... especially if your DM rules that you don't automatically gain current HP when your maximum HP goes up, since that means your swarm wouldn't even increase in HP as you gained Ranger levels. However, the game gives a clear out for DM's who want to say "no" to a swarm companion, just in case. It's not at all a stretch to say that swarms, as presented in the Monster Manual, are too vicious and aggressive to be tamed by a Ranger. Even disallowing druid Wild Shape to assume swarm forms is easily vetoed, as a DM just needs to rule that the druid doesn't have the supernatural power to create a true swarm, given the way they're presented as only forming through "sinister or unwholesome influence".

I just wanted to point that out before people get too excited, since this would certainly be one of those things that require DM input to be allowed.