Customizing an Animal Companion

[Jay R]

[I am a long-time DM, first time 3.5e DM.]

I had a player designing a first level druid, and she wanted some sort of lynx or puma as an animal companion.

I couldn’t find anything above housecat and below leopard and cheetah (which don’t become available until 4th level). I asked her which of these she would want at 4th level, and she said cheetah.

So I designed a “young” cheetah. I took the basic cheetah, and reduced its strength by two, and its BAB, saving throws, natural armor, and hit dice by one. I also reduced its sprint ability from 500 feet to 300 feet.

This seemed to put it more-or-less on par with a wolf, which is available at level 1.

She knows that when she reaches level 4, the cheetah will grow up, and will act in all ways like a cheetah animal companion.

The decision is already made and announced, so I can’t change it. I’m not asking for advice, just a critique. Does this seem unfair (in either direction)? Are they any potential problems it could cause?



Trip (Ex)
A cheetah that hits with a claw or bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent (+1 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the cheetah.

Sprint (Ex)
Once per hour, a young cheetah can move six times its normal speed (300 feet) when it makes a charge.


Size/Type: Medium Animal
Hit Dice: 2d8+4 (13 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 50 ft. (10 squares)
Armor Class: 14 (+4 Dex, +0 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+4
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+2)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d6+2) and 2 claws +0 melee (1d2+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Trip
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, sprint
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +1
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills: Hide +5, Listen +3, Move Silently +5, Spot +3
Feats: Alertness, Weapon Finesse
Environment: Warm plains
Organization: Solitary or family (3-5)
Challenge Rating: 1
Advancement: 2 HD (Medium)
Level Adjustment: —

[Darg]

I see a lynx or puma fitting the leopard better, but that is the player's choice. Cheetah doesn't have pounce so I don't really think having it at level 1 is that much of a problem. The only thing you have to watch out for is that sprint ability. Other than that, there isn't much else except being able to trip with bite and claws with a full attack.

[ShurikVch]

Note: there is Lynx in Races of Faerûn - CR ½ Small Animal

Also, if you would be OK to use Kingdoms of Kalamar, Dangerous Denizens have: Civet, Clouded Leopard, Fishing Cat, Golden Cat, Lynx, Margay, Ocelot, Pampas Cat, and Serval.
Almost all of them are CR 1, 2 HD Small Animals
The strongest is, probably, the "Kalamaran" Lynx: it got ability scores 16/18/16/2/12/7 - if mental ability scores are the same for the almost all Small Hunting Cats in the book, then the physical scores are the best in the list. Moreover, it get - in addition to Pounce special attack, which is common along the all Small Hunting Cats - Improved Grab and Rake (1d3+1)
Benefits of other Small Hunting Cats:
Clouded Leopard: Improved Grab, Rake (1d3+1)
Fishing Cat: 1d4 claw damage, Improved Grab, Rake (1d4+1), swim 20' (instead climb 20'), +8 Hide (in heavy undergrowth)
Golden Cat: Improved Grab, Rake (1d3+1)
Margay: climb 30'
Ocelot: climb 20' and swim 20', Improved Grab, Rake (1d3+1), Cha 8 (MGS much?)
Pampas Cat: Improved Grab, Rake (1d2+1), Multiattack bonus feat; but it's the only Small Hunting Cat with just 1 HD, and its claws do only 1d2 damage
Serval: +7 Listen

[Fizban]

There's also the Serval in Sandstorm, which is listed as a 1st level companion. The Serval has only 1HD and lower damage across the board, but it also has Improved Grab, Pounce, and Rake.

I find your young cheetah strictly better than the wolf, as its main attack is already strictly better at +2 attack and +1 damage, plus it has claws for standing full attacks, and the sprint.

In my tweaks and brew doc, I have Small cats working from the housecat statblock but of course Small, with a full 1HD, a combined 1d4 claws (like the Hawk's combined talons) attack and 1d4 bite attack, with Str 9 for the 1st level animal companion version (being compared to the Small Dog).

The Wolf itself is basically a cheat, ignoring the original 3.0 companion rules so that druids could have a wolf at 1st level because wolves are cool, and then carried forward into 3.5 as the accepted baseline.

This is interesting because while clearly overpowered for a minion at 1st level (see: every argument that claims the druid's wolf is better than the fighter- regardless of the final verdict they should not be close enough for it to be an argument at all), the wolf's single natural weapon scales the worst out of anything. The 3.5 companion table actually does address this by giving them a second attack at -5, but this is still clearly, ridiculously inferior to the "alternate" (read: upgrade) companion options. So the wolf is deliberately overpowered at 1st, yet becomes obsolete with only a few levels, and is yet further thought of as the standard for comparisons. Such a shaky foundation.

[Gruftzwerg]

Are they any potential problems it could cause?


Since you are a new 3.5 DM: Are you aware of the general balance issues 3.5 has?

For a beginners group with zero optimization, druid is out of the box the strongest lvl 1 character you can get. And if you campaign only last for up to lvl 6-7 (as example), your druid will overshadow half of the party over all lvls (note the big power up at lvl 5 form wild shape).

If you have an unoptimized Fighter in your party, you have a problem. Your fighter has only 1 option: Attack. He is a 1 trick pony and unless optimized even very bad at that. A simple wolf is on par with an unoptimized lvl 1 fighter in most fights. And we haven't taken the druids own actions into account (Attack or cast a spell).

There is power gap between mundane and full casters in 3.5 and that can be a headache for party balance if you don't know what you are doing.

I'm not saying that your approach is bad. It looks fine. It's just the general balance issue of 3.5 I'm trying to point out here. Just be aware that no player should be totally overshadowed by another.

[Gorthawar]

My player started his snow cat as a serval from sandstorm (with cold endurance) and then had it grow into a leopard and then a tiger as they levelled up. Next level it will turn onto a dire lion stat wise. It gets a bit odd as the cat gained and lost feats every now and then but we just stuck to simple one like improved natural attack that only change some numbers slightly and didn't change the feel too much.

[eggynack]

Seems a bit overtuned. Riding dog is the best first level companion, and the big trade is that you're losing a decent amount of AC and a small amount of damage for a sizable boost to accuracy, a real full attack, a bump to speed, and even a bit of initiative. Oh also the sprint thing. Personally, I'd probably drop the attack bonus a bit cause it seems like both the most egregious and the least thematic aspect of the companion. Maybe set it to +3/-2. Then the trade is that you have slightly worse single attacks for reasonably better full attacks, and you trade the AC for speed. You could maybe go to +4/-1 if you want, because the AC for speed trade is probably tilted towards AC, but that still seems cheetah favored overall. You want companions to be relatively proactive, y'know?

[Biggus]

Since you are a new 3.5 DM: Are you aware of the general balance issues 3.5 has?

For a beginners group with zero optimization, druid is out of the box the strongest lvl 1 character you can get. And if you campaign only last for up to lvl 6-7 (as example), your druid will overshadow half of the party over all lvls (note the big power up at lvl 5 form wild shape).

If you have an unoptimized Fighter in your party, you have a problem. Your fighter has only 1 option: Attack. He is a 1 trick pony and unless optimized even very bad at that. A simple wolf is on par with an unoptimized lvl 1 fighter in most fights. And we haven't taken the druids own actions into account (Attack or cast a spell).

There is power gap between mundane and full casters in 3.5 and that can be a headache for party balance if you don't know what you are doing.

I'm not saying that your approach is bad. It looks fine. It's just the general balance issue of 3.5 I'm trying to point out here. Just be aware that no player should be totally overshadowed by another.

I have to say, this is not my experience of unoptimized low-level parties, with people new to 3.5 the Fighter has done just fine in games I've played. In fact, because the Fighter is easy to use right out of the box and classes like Druid take knowledge to use well, the Fighter has often dominated in combat-heavy campaigns at first. In some cases the Fighter has remained a valuable party member even to high levels.

The only core class which can't keep up in even an unoptimized party is Monk in my experience.

Obviously it depends on the campaign, if there's a lot of non-combat stuff the Fighter will often find themselves sitting on their hands.

[Jay R]

Since you are a new 3.5 DM: Are you aware of the general balance issues 3.5 has?

For a beginners group with zero optimization, druid is out of the box the strongest lvl 1 character you can get. And if you campaign only last for up to lvl 6-7 (as example), your druid will overshadow half of the party over all lvls (note the big power up at lvl 5 form wild shape).

If you have an unoptimized Fighter in your party, you have a problem. Your fighter has only 1 option: Attack. He is a 1 trick pony and unless optimized even very bad at that. A simple wolf is on par with an unoptimized lvl 1 fighter in most fights. And we haven't taken the druids own actions into account (Attack or cast a spell).

There is power gap between mundane and full casters in 3.5 and that can be a headache for party balance if you don't know what you are doing.

I'm not saying that your approach is bad. It looks fine. It's just the general balance issue of 3.5 I'm trying to point out here. Just be aware that no player should be totally overshadowed by another.

I'm aware. But in my experience, it has at least as much to do with personalities as with character class. From my Rules for DMs:


28. In every session, each PC should have at least one crucial moment when they are the essential character.

a. Identify the loudest player and the pushiest player. You will never need to set up their moments; they will do so.
b. Identify the quietest player and the least active player. You will need to set up their moments every session, and make it impossible for the first two to take these moments over.

In fact, I'm glad she chose druid, because she's one of the quiet players.

[eggynack]

I have to say, this is not my experience of unoptimized low-level parties, with people new to 3.5 the Fighter has done just fine in games I've played. In fact, because the Fighter is easy to use right out of the box and classes like Druid take knowledge to use well, the Fighter has often dominated in combat-heavy campaigns at first. In some cases the Fighter has remained a valuable party member even to high levels.

The only core class which can't keep up in even an unoptimized party is Monk in my experience.

Obviously it depends on the campaign, if there's a lot of non-combat stuff the Fighter will often find themselves sitting on their hands.

A big problem here is that the central way the cheetah dominates is in direct overlap with the fighter's core competency. A riding dog at level one is arguably already superior to even a reasonably well built first level fighter. And the cheetah is generally stronger. Even if the druid fills her entire spell list with cure light wounds, she'll likely outperform even a reasonably experienced fighter. Until level two, anyway, where the lack of companion advancement would give an optimal fighter a plausible edge. And then three sets them pretty close together. A big element here is that, while yeah, making optimal choices is important to beating a fighter, the cheetah is a very optimal choice. It's not necessarily going to set the game on fire that the druid straight up outperforms the fighter at literally everything at some levels, but it seems to me like that that outperformance is what's gonna happen.