my new player wants a T-rex

[sideswipe]

hello playground

my group will be stating at level 10. and the new player (my long term fiancée) wants to have a T-rex, and to ride it.

the instant thing i was thinking was as an animal companion. but its a companion for a lvl 16 druid.
is there a way to manipulate this (i really don't care of the class, build or lost and traded abilities).

if not could i just trade druids spellcasting for the T-rex? its not really a high OP group and its a new player with no experience.

what are your suggestions and thoughts?

thank you in advance.

[Kraken]

Gimp the T-rex's stats a bit, until she's level 16.

[Ferronach]

Perhaps she would be willing to settle for a smaller dinosaur that gets replaced by the T-Rex later?

You could also look at dropping the T-Rex down an age category or two like they do with Dragons :)

Sorry AFB so unable to give specific examples but just shooting ideas here, hope they help

[Ephemeral_Being]

What's wrong with an Allosaurus (Monster Manual II)? Call it a T-Rex, and have done with it...

[sideswipe]

the idea of having the T-rex grow up a bit is cool. but having something else will make her complain, as soon as she heard T-rex exist in game she wanted one.

[ComaVision]

Allosaurus is totally the name of a young T Rex.

[Crazysaneman]

Give her a T-Rex with the young template from pathfinder, make it's BAB scale with her HD, and reduce it's damage and HP dice pools.


Young Tyrannosaurus Animal Companion
Size/Type: Large Animal
Hit Dice: 10d8+39 (79 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 15 (–1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +13/+30
Attack: Bite +20 melee (2d6+7)
Full Attack: Bite +20 melee (2d6+7)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved grab, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +16, Ref +12, Will +8
Abilities: Str 24, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +2, Listen +13, Spot +13
Feats: Alertness, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Run, Toughness (3), Track


Just off the top of my head, the math isn't quite right in a few places but it looks good to me and I'd let a player run it.

[Maglubiyet]

The juvenile dinosaur sounds like the best plan.

If not, what about making a Figurine of Wondrous Power - T. Rex version? That would limit the power a bit and the cost should be well within starting gold for level 10.

(Hopefully your other players won't mind if it seems like you're playing favorites with your gf!)

[Thurbane]

How about a Cave Tyrannosaurus (Miniatures Handbook, p.58): Large Animal, 9HD, CR 5...

[ExLibrisMortis]

Is there any reason your T-Rex can't start at medium size with 3 HD*, and simply grow up, gaining 1 HD per druid level (without gaining the druid bonus HD, NA and strength, until level 16)? Just make it large at 7 HD and huge at 12 or something. T-rexes only have 5 natural armour and one attack, so that's not going to be a problem.

Sure, it doesn't use the official T-Rex stats, but who cares? What matters is that you call it a T-rex, and that it has a bite attack, and Improved Grab + Swallow Whole.


*3 HD is what a heavy horse or camel gets. You probably don't want to make your friendly biter 8 HD at level 1, which is what it'd be if you subtracted 15 druid levels worth of bonus HD. Although the part where it gets -5 natural armour (5 base, minus 10 from subtracting 15 druid levels worth) would be amusing.

[sideswipe]

Is there any reason your T-Rex can't start at medium size with 3 HD*, and simply grow up, gaining 1 HD per druid level (without gaining the druid bonus HD, NA and strength, until level 16)? Just make it large at 7 HD and huge at 12 or something. T-rexes only have 5 natural armour and one attack, so that's not going to be a problem.

Sure, it doesn't use the official T-Rex stats, but who cares? What matters is that you call it a T-rex, and that it has a bite attack, and Improved Grab + Swallow Whole.


*3 HD is what a heavy horse or camel gets. You probably don't want to make your friendly biter 8 HD at level 1, which is what it'd be if you subtracted 15 druid levels worth of bonus HD. Although the part where it gets -5 natural armour (5 base, minus 10 from subtracting 15 druid levels worth) would be amusing.

thank you for your input but i think you miss read, they start at level 10 not 1.


How about a Cave Tyrannosaurus (Miniatures Handbook, p.58): Large Animal, 9HD, CR 5...

perfect, i will have it gain HD advancement, and even give it a mutation if they want it.

[Grooke]

I think there is also something in Draconomicon about raising a baby dragon. You could look into adapting that.

[Kraken]

If she's willing to take the natural bond feat, you could give her the full stat version as soon as level 13. Though for what it's worth, if she takes the feat I might give her the full stats from the get go. T-rexs aren't an especially powerful choice as an animal companion.

[Ephemeral_Being]

If she's willing to take the natural bond feat, you could give her the full stat version as soon as level 13. Though for what it's worth, if she takes the feat I might give her the full stats from the get go. T-rexs aren't an especially powerful choice as an animal companion.

No. No, it can't. Natural Bond can't raise your effective druid level over your character's level.

[Kraken]

No. No, it can't. Natural Bond can't raise your effective druid level over your character's level.


A druid of sufficiently high level can select her animal companion from one of the following lists, applying the indicated adjustment to the druid’s level (in parentheses) for purposes of determining the companion’s characteristics and special abilities.

At level 16, a druid's effective level for a t-rex companion would be 1 according to the accompanying table. Natural bond works fine.

[sideswipe]

At level 16, a druid's effective level for a t-rex companion would be 1 according to the accompanying table. Natural bond works fine.

thats a little too cheesey for me to allow, its some bad wording, the obvious meaning is that you need to be a 16th level druid to take t rex but your level counts as 1 for its boosts.

[Bronk]

thank you for your input but i think you miss read, they start at level 10 not 1.

Start everyone at level 16. Problem solved! GF hopefully happy!

[sideswipe]

Start everyone at level 16. Problem solved! GF hopefully happy!

honestly starting them this level is a push. they are all pretty new. this is the "second chapter" to a campaign or i would start at 3.

[Blackhawk748]

I second Cave T-Rex, it can become a full blown one at LvL 16

[eggynack]

At level 16, a druid's effective level for a t-rex companion would be 1 according to the accompanying table. Natural bond works fine.
No, it doesn't work for this. Natural bond increases your druid level relative to an existing companion. Your companion doesn't get the bonus until it's in front of you, and you can't get it in front of you without the bonus. Separately, natural bond only impacts the -15 penalty applied to druid level for the purposes of bonuses. It does not impact the massive "16th level or higher" sitting above the t-rex. There is a way to get a t-rex at 13th, however, and that way is unfortunately the ever-terrible beastmaster class, which explicitly grants access to higher level companions. Just to clarify other uses of natural bond, the feat does still work on a single classed druid running an alternative companion. It just doesn't do this thing.

[Bronk]

honestly starting them this level is a push. they are all pretty new. this is the "second chapter" to a campaign or i would start at 3.

Well, then I'd go with either the kid T-Rex approach, or...

I'd give the entire party a full blown T-Rex to ride around in a palanquin or something, only, as the druid, she'd be the only one to have a high enough Handle Animal skill to have any chance of controlling it if things go bad. That way it's 'hers', but everyone gets to benefit to keep your other PCs happy.

In fact, let the party find it right away in game, hurt, and your gf's druid can heal it up. Let her talk to it with 'speak with animals', and let her make a few wild empathy checks. Let it take to her like a scared cat, eventually making it her friend, with the assumption that it will soon be her animal companion.

This approach might have an added benefit for your gf... in the levels where the T-Rex is shared, the other PCs might help equip it.

[Kraken]

No, it doesn't work for this. Natural bond increases your druid level relative to an existing companion. Your companion doesn't get the bonus until it's in front of you, and you can't get it in front of you without the bonus. Separately, natural bond only impacts the -15 penalty applied to druid level for the purposes of bonuses. It does not impact the massive "16th level or higher" sitting above the t-rex. There is a way to get a t-rex at 13th, however, and that way is unfortunately the ever-terrible beastmaster class, which explicitly grants access to higher level companions. Just to clarify other uses of natural bond, the feat does still work on a single classed druid running an alternative companion. It just doesn't do this thing.

You're definitely right, I should have been more clear. I mentioned it the way I did because it would work here if the t-rex is already being given. I maintain it could be given at full strength just using rule 0, the more I look at it, they're not a particularly strong companion out of the box, nor even a particularly good base for optimization.

[Eloel]

There is the Beastmaster PrC in CAdv that gives +3. IIRC there's an ACF where you drop Wildshape for another +3 (dragon magazine). Those, unlike the Natural Bond feat, stack above your own druid level. Problem solved.

[WeaselGuy]

Pretty sure you can drop in the Vidalis Beastkeeper PrC from one of the Eberron books (5 Nations, perhaps?). IIRC, Vidalis increases your effective Druid level, as well as giving you other boosts (I wanna say Warbeast, but I'm AFB, so I'm probably wrong).

However, and this I know I'm right about, she could be a Talenta Halfling and she qualifies for a few different dino's as an animal companion from the get go, Velociraptor among them.

[eggynack]

There is the Beastmaster PrC in CAdv that gives +3. IIRC there's an ACF where you drop Wildshape for another +3 (dragon magazine). Those, unlike the Natural Bond feat, stack above your own druid level. Problem solved.
Natural bond already does effectively stack above your own druid level, at least for this purpose. Or, more accurately, it doesn't, but a 16th level druid using natural bond on a t-rex is not stacking above their druid level by gaining a +3. As for focused animal from dragon magazine 347, page 91 (my initial purpose in constructing this post was actually to provide a citation on that, cause I have one and finding them is annoying for dragon stuff), it only increases effective druid level by two, and like natural bond, it does not work for the purposes of selecting higher leveled companions.

Doesn't really work for this as a result, though beastmaster does, and lowers the necessary level for this specific plan by three. Of course, as Kraken notes, it wouldn't exactly be breaking the game to let the player get away with acting like these things do let you pick higher leveled companions, especially because the options outside of natural bond are quite terrible. In fact, it may even make sense to allow the boost on focused animal to be increased to +3 as well, because it's an ACF that may manage that difficult task of being worse than beastmaster. I mean, it's decent before you get wild shape, but at any point after that it's just awful.

[lytokk]

I would definitely third the cave t-rex. I did a similar thing for my wife, who wanted a triceratops AC. Granted, I felt the effective druid level listing I think in PH2 was too high for the cave trike. Its very similar to a rhino, so I felt like just using that one. She's happy, since now the rogue isn't the only one who can open locked doors.

[Sewercop]

hello playground

my group will be stating at level 10. and the new player (my long term fiancée) wants to have a T-rex, and to ride it.

the instant thing i was thinking was as an animal companion. but its a companion for a lvl 16 druid.
is there a way to manipulate this (i really don't care of the class, build or lost and traded abilities).

if not could i just trade druids spellcasting for the T-rex? its not really a high OP group and its a new player with no experience.

what are your suggestions and thoughts?

thank you in advance.

Are you jumping the same hoops for your other players?
Or will this be percieved as favor of the gm..

Often the biggest trap of having the gms SO in a group

[Necromancy]

Why is this that difficult? Level 10 Druid gets megaraptor. Just call it a young trex

[sideswipe]

Are you jumping the same hoops for your other players?
Or will this be percieved as favor of the gm..

Often the biggest trap of having the gms SO in a group

all are my close friends and i am helping the whole group (who have low system mastery) craft the character they want as powerfully as i can for as simple as i can.
most of their characters have leeway such as this.

[Bronk]

all are my close friends and i am helping the whole group (who have low system mastery) craft the character they want as powerfully as i can for as simple as i can.
most of their characters have leeway such as this.

Well, your game already sounds awesome. What are the others doing?

[danzibr]

Allosaurus is totally the name of a young T Rex.
Haha, can't believe this got no replies. Love it.

[Ruethgar]

Bubs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=7097263&postcount=38) is a thing and you don't need anywhere near that much Handle Animal optimization for the mere 18 HD T-Rex.

[Bronk]

I was thinking about this... if your gf gets an animal companion while waiting for her T-Rex to become fully available, she might (will probably) become attached to that too. If so, she could dismiss it as her AC at level 15, take the wild cohort feat and have it become the wild cohort, leaving her AC available for the T-Rex at level 16. Then she'll have both, without losing out at all. (Well, she could just keep whatever it was a pet, but still.)

[Elderand]

I think the real question here is this: Will it be powered by polka ?

[sideswipe]

Well, your game already sounds awesome. What are the others doing?

in my campaign the magic/XP of the long lost have returned to find their original source (long story, though i will elaborate through PM if you wish) and since the originals are long dead its run rampant and entered random people, including the PC's. this was my way of giving them a bit of a move around and rebuild if they wanted it.

one guy is going to be a Large size dwarf swordsage with the half dragon template (free). the "half dragon" bit used to be his cohort Raziel, a spitting felldrake who he merged with as the magic went rampant.
Raziel will be part of him ALA Nail in piccolo form DBZ abridged, constantly talking to him and offering hints/distractions.

we have a lesser assimar crusader with the saint template (free). a new character in the campaign.

a catfolk (totally not a furry) with no level adjustment who is based around this class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?175468-Ancient-Spice-3-5-Base-Class-Artifact-and-Unique-Monster) but as a female, and i will give other significant bonuses too as its a returning character from before the retool.

on top of this we have a master transformagist wizard, an incatatrix sorcerer specialising in fire magic's and metamagic blasting, the aforementioned character with a T-rex and potentially a returning DMM persist party buffing cleric.
the three teir 1/2's are played down and by basically noobs, they have powerful characters but are built specifically not to outshine too much, the wizard doesn't like to steal spotlight.

also a dipping in and out player will be playing a succubus when here. but not often.

all of them are built "with me" for them, i ask what they want, provide a template after many questions and then we flesh out the rest and change what they don't like. this way i know that at least nobody is left "useless".

[Ruethgar]

You could make the druid an Animal Focus druid with a level in Beast Master to have a T-Rex at level 10 without DM adjudication. Or skip the Beast Master and just add a major bloodline.

[eggynack]

You could make the druid an Animal Focus druid with a level in Beast Master to have a T-Rex at level 10 without DM adjudication.
You still need adjudication with that method, unfortunately, because focused animal both only boosts by two, and fails to apply to taking better companions early.

[Bronk]

in my campaign the magic/XP of the long lost have returned to find their original source (long story, though i will elaborate through PM if you wish) and since the originals are long dead its run rampant and entered random people, including the PC's. this was my way of giving them a bit of a move around and rebuild if they wanted it.

one guy is going to be a Large size dwarf swordsage with the half dragon template (free). the "half dragon" bit used to be his cohort Raziel, a spitting felldrake who he merged with as the magic went rampant.
Raziel will be part of him ALA Nail in piccolo form DBZ abridged, constantly talking to him and offering hints/distractions.

we have a lesser assimar crusader with the saint template (free). a new character in the campaign.

a catfolk (totally not a furry) with no level adjustment who is based around this class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?175468-Ancient-Spice-3-5-Base-Class-Artifact-and-Unique-Monster) but as a female, and i will give other significant bonuses too as its a returning character from before the retool.

on top of this we have a master transformagist wizard, an incatatrix sorcerer specialising in fire magic's and metamagic blasting, the aforementioned character with a T-rex and potentially a returning DMM persist party buffing cleric.
the three teir 1/2's are played down and by basically noobs, they have powerful characters but are built specifically not to outshine too much, the wizard doesn't like to steal spotlight.

also a dipping in and out player will be playing a succubus when here. but not often.

all of them are built "with me" for them, i ask what they want, provide a template after many questions and then we flesh out the rest and change what they don't like. this way i know that at least nobody is left "useless".

Wow, yeah, with all that going on, and with all the free +2ish and +3 templates and the Succubus at ECL 12 minimum, I wouldn't think an early T-Rex should be an issue. I guess I'd vote for letting her have the T-Rex no strings attached. Maybe her XP surge got the animal companion class part of another druid? Or she got part of another druid's magic/XP, and the T-Rex recognizes that in her (and yet likes her for who she is now somehow)?

Also, the story sounds fun!

[Thurbane]

perfect, i will have it gain HD advancement, and even give it a mutation if they want it.

Flying T-Rex for the win! :smallbiggrin:

[Bronk]

Flying T-Rex for the win! :smallbiggrin:

Well, they already have feathers...

http://img.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/T-Rex-with-feathers.jpg

Although maybe she'd want to go with a classic Jurassic Park type.

[YossarianLives]

I think the real question here is this: Will it be powered by polka ?
That goes without saying.