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View Full Version : DM Help [3.5] Ranger AC ACF


Thurbane
2019-09-09, 08:23 PM
Not sure if this would be better in Home-brew.

If you were to give a ranger an ACF where they can get a Grimalkin (MM2 p.122: medium magical beast [shapechanger], 4HD, CR 2) as an animal companion, what do you think would be a fair trade? It would be treated as a "base-level" AC and get all the relevant boosts as per the Ranger's level. It's a significantly better AC than a wolf or similar, and it's polymorph ability is somewhat abusable.

Rangers are generally in need of a boost: maybe if it was a trade of Woodland Stride, or 2nd Favored Enemy?

I feel like the ranger should give up something, and it not just be a freebie.

I'm the DM, if that matters.

Cheers - T
RedWarlock
2019-09-09, 08:31 PM
Maybe compare it against the monstrous companion feats from Eberron.
Thurbane
2019-09-09, 08:44 PM
Maybe compare it against the monstrous companion feats from Eberron.

Good point.

If I was to compare it to the Exalted Companion feat, it might be around the equivalent of a Blink Dog...

Totem Companion allows a Displacer Beast at 7th level, but it also has a feat tax.
RedWarlock
2019-09-10, 12:00 AM
Sure, but that gives you a feat-based unit of measure. Does X class feature compare to a feat? Including scaling?
RNightstalker
2019-09-11, 09:24 PM
Rangers are generally in need of a boost: maybe if it was a trade of Woodland Stride, or 2nd Favored Enemy?

I feel like the ranger should give up something, and it not just be a freebie.


Are you really boosting them if they have to give something up?
Elves
2019-09-12, 09:33 AM
Don't make it an ACF, just make it a special ranger option for an alternate animal companion. Rangers absolutely should be getting their ACs from 1st level anyway, so rule that they do and make the graymalkin only available at 4th/6th/whatever.
liquidformat
2019-09-12, 09:56 AM
even simply changing the animal companion class feature from being 1/2 ranger level to ranger level -3 would be a reasonable adjustment that wouldn't break anything. Making graymalkin available to a ranger with effective 'animal companion level' of 4 translates over to being a level 8 ranger to get a graymalkin. That in and of itself is already a pretty high level to get access to graymalkin.
Troacctid
2019-09-12, 07:20 PM
Not gonna lie, I totally thought this thread was going to be about ACFs to boost your AC, like the Moon-Warded Ranger.