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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next [Advice Requested] Balancing an odd beast companion



BinkyBonky
2020-12-22, 07:13 PM
In an upcoming 5e campaign, my DM has approved me for a bit of an...odd combination.

I will be playing a Beastmaster Ranger Half-Drow, who, obviously not getting on well in society in the Underdark, took to messing about with the various beasts that wandered the area instead of other drow, before eventually making their way to the surface in search of a better life.

I have hatched and am raising a darkmantle, found before leaving home. It will just be a companion that doesn't do much and requires training to keep it manageable until I reach level 3 in order to use it as a Beast Master, but the issue is figuring out how to level it up as we go along.

I think some adaptation from the UA revised ranger would work, but I'm not sure how to calculate it using the base stats for a Darkmantle, as it obviously isn't in the approved list of companions. I'm also afraid of making it either over or under powered, since it's just outside the CR it "should" be, and has odd attributes.

Any suggestions on how to handle this would be great!

Damon_Tor
2020-12-22, 09:10 PM
A beast companion with an at-will blind attack (that can also potentially silence, depending on how you read the ability) is very strong.

As a DM I would balance it as follows: the Darkmantle gives a target it is engulfing 3/4 cover, or +5 AC. As it happens, this mostly cancels out the benefit of advantage on your attacks. For some reason, I can't find any official art of a Darkmantle engulfing somebody, but since it's a small creature (not tiny) it's easy enough to rule that it covers the entire head and most of the torso of a medium creature, making it very difficult to hit them.

BinkyBonky
2020-12-22, 10:30 PM
A beast companion with an at-will blind attack (that can also potentially silence, depending on how you read the ability) is very strong.



Good point! Although it would only work on medium or smaller creatures, it definitely makes a difference we need to account for.

GiantOctopodes
2020-12-22, 10:42 PM
I would say it's a baby one, and adjust as follows:
It's a baby one. It has 4x your Ranger level in HP, even from levels 1-5. It has 2 lower strength than normal (so 14 Str, +4 on hit, 1d4+2 base damage, same as a Panther), and it does not cover their mouth, so they can still breathe. Depending, Damon Tor's suggestion might still be needed.

Personally I'd probably start it tiny, having an even lower strength, like kitten-esque, from 1-2, and no Darkness Aura at those levels. At 3 it would be as described. I'd likely then phase out my nerfs, and turn it into a normal one, as you went higher in level (since BM hunters need some love imho anyway) and eventually fade out Damon Tor's as well as it grew more experienced in combat. To me that would still be fun, interesting, and playable, and not OP to a problematic extent. That being said, depending on the DM's enemy selection, blindness could matter a lot more or less than expected, and that would in turn affect the relative power of it, so whatever is determined, I would walk into it with the expectation of tweaks being done if needed.

BinkyBonky
2020-12-23, 06:09 AM
So far we're figuring it'll be a useless baby/juvenile until I'm level three, and will do nothing (aside from probably misbehave).
Given that my character itself is somewhat handicapped being a half-drow (disadvantage in broad daylight) having it able to help me is a bonus since it can "see" better (echolocation). My saving grace will be casting faerie fire 1/day to negate some of the disadvantage. Definitely a strong dungeon crawler but outside I'm pretty nerfed, especially as a ranger.

We're thinking of adapting Tasha's rules for beasts with some modified stats to reflect the darkmantle. Darkness will be a 1/day cast for the darkmantle as well, so it'll help, but not always. I think the no breathing feature of its attack will not be applied (or not until later in levels?)

I'm not very familiar with how beasts level using tasha's rules, so I'm not entirely sure how well/poorly this guy is going to level. Not ever having a magical attack will put it at a disadvantage as we progress to more resistant enemies, but the fact that it assists me in my own attacks should probably be enough. It has a pretty low AC so I think (hope?) it will help keep it from being OP even as it levels. The fact that it can only attach to medium or smaller creatures also helps keep the blinding factor of its attack from being ridiculously overpowered.

I think basically we're hoping for it to kinda buff the somewhat weak build of a beast master ranger, and make for some interesting gameplay. A half-drow with a big ugly monster is certainly going to be a challenge in any city setting, as I don't think the npc's will take kindly to us.

Still brainstorming! This is going to be tricky, but I think it'll be fun.