Quick question on the Beastmaster

[Reijura]

Hey there folks,

My apologies for the simple question I just can't seem to figure this out and wanna make sure I have the right answer.

One of my players, A druid, classed into the Beastmaster class from the complete adventurer.

Now the question is, the first level of that says, that he gets an Animal Companion. Now if he already has an animal companion does that mean that he acquires a second one (which attains the same level of power as his original druid pet) or would he get nothing until the later levels where he gets another pet.

On top of that, are there any particular companions I should watch out for? i.e powergaming?


P.S not a pun pun joke :P

[Wordmiser]

Now the question is, the first level of that says, that he gets an Animal Companion. Now if he already has an animal companion does that mean that he acquires a second one (which attains the same level of power as his original druid pet) or would he get nothing until the later levels where he gets another petLook at the third paragraph of the "Animal Companion" class feature. You determine your Effective Druid level for your original companion like this:
[Effective Druid level from other classes]+[Beastmaster level]+3+[Miscellaneous]


On top of that, are there any particular companions I should watch out for? i.e powergaming?Watch the Fleshraker Dinosaur (Monster Manual 3, I think)

[Frosty]

By the time you're a beast master, Fleshrakers aren't scary anymore.

[Reijura]

Right o, so no new pet for the druid.

That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. An extra pet at full power did seem a bit overpowered.


Another question for anyone interested. Whats a good suggestion for a pet for this player? Landbased, cause he wants a dino but none exist in the game for I was gonna suggest something else.

He already has a lion... though that thing always seems to critical fumble.

[Stephen_E]

As a general rule companions with a -3 or -6 Effective Druid level adjustment are best.

If he takes one with a -6 he should take the natural bond feat to cancel EDL penalty.

You say no Dinos and land based. I assume you mean not aquatic, not flying.

Frankly I'd look mainly at the -6 penalty ones.
Specifically
Brown Bear - Grapple monster from hell
Dire Ape - weapon weilding
Dire Wolf - Tripmeister
Dire Wolverine - cute. tie a bow on it's head and call it fluffy.
Rhino - intimidating mount, lots of hit points.
Tiger - Best of the cats because it can start a grapple on a successful bite or claww attack.

Note: If he wants to build a feat chain/set he should look at one that has 1HD less than is divisible by 3. i.e. 2HD, 5HD, 8HD, this means you get a feat of choice as soon as you gain bonus HD (3rd EDL) and a 2nd feat at 6th EDL.

Stephen

[Stephen_E]

If he takes further levels in Beastmaster (don't ask me why he'd do so if you playing it as RAW) then he will eventually gain 3 additional very weak animal companions.

If you'd like him to consider taking further levels in BEastmaster I'd suggest you give it Casting advancement every odd level or even every level from 3rd on, gve Wildshape advancement every odd level, and have the additional animal companions include druid levels from non-beastmaster levels when working out the EDL for them.

It's one of those prestige classes I think are wonderful concepts, but the designer needs to be taken out and have his head bounced against a wall while he's asked where his/her brain was when designing this.
1) Prestige classes built for entry from spellcasting classes should always have some spellcasting progression of some sort (both Ranger and Druid classes are spellcasters).
2) If the base has an extremely powerful scaled class ability (wildshaping) unless you're replacing it with equally powerful abilities, the previous class ability should continue to get some support (Beastmaster has bo particular powerful class scaled ability).
3) Masses of very weak animal companion are just a pain in the arse for both player and DM. They are way to fragile and clutter the gaming envioriment to no good purpose (why did the designer think the 3.0 animal companion/herd concept got dropped).

Stephen

[Reijura]

ya know oddly enough, the player isn't to worried about losing caster or wildshape progression. He really wants to play a beast master. He's a confused power gamer oddly enough.

Anyways the other players can pick up the casting slack so it's no big deal and I can cater to his player needs.

In all honesty his play style is liable to get him killed soon anyways. :P

[Stephen_E]

ya know oddly enough, the player isn't to worried about losing caster or wildshape progression. He really wants to play a beast master. He's a confused power gamer oddly enough.

Anyways the other players can pick up the casting slack so it's no big deal and I can cater to his player needs.

In all honesty his play style is liable to get him killed soon anyways. :P

Give him the additional stuff (just the 1/2 caster advancement, not 8/10ths). At least leave him with the illusion of been useful (it still isn't as powerful as a straight Druid). He sounds a VERY confused powergamer, but I'm a big beleiver in giving some goodies to powergamewrs that choose low-power options, to bring them upto mid power levels. Encourages them to experiment.

Stephen