Animal Companions for Everyone (PEACH)

[GalacticAxekick]

Spoiler: For Yakk

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Why are companions weaker than mounts? Is there a mechanical difference?

A mount is a companion you can ride. So ... by making it ridable, you get more CR?

A mount is a companion that only obeys orders while you are riding it, and that cannot be ordered to take any action other than Dash, Disengage, or Dodge. That's all laid out in the Player's Handbook.

Because mounts are harmless, and because the ways you can interact with them are significantly more limited, I think it's safe to allow higher CR mounts. For example a warhorse has a CR of 1/2, and seems to me like a suitable mount for a 1st level PC. But a crocodile has a CR of 1/2, and is way too powerful as a companion. A mastiff (1/8), eagle (0) or poisonous snake (1/8) are more in line.

The scaling HP of the BM companion is the major feature of the subclass. It single handedly turns that subclass into HP sponge that rivals the Bearbarian.

The companion you wrote up has HP similar to that, but next to no offensive features (again, this will depend on the monster manual expansion you have). So it puts most of its "oomph" into HP, and the only thing mitigating the raw scale of that oomph (doubling the characters controlled total HP) is that the creature's offence is abysmal (so monsters should mostly just ignore it). Your MM extension might just change that, making it insanely good.

A really good feat in 5e is one that you might consider swapping for +2 in your primary attack attribute at level 4. SS/PAM/GWM/XBE are at this scale. And that scale is about 3-5 damage per round, give or take. That honestly doesn't leave much design room, unless you want to make it a must-have feat.

And doubling your HP budget is more than 3-5 damage per round. A decent model of character power is the square root of HP times damage output; you can tweak offence and defence and the power (1.7 is a bit better than 2), but it is it. Regardless, doubling the HP you have available is HUGE in terms of impact.

Okay, so the Beast Master has to be weakened to prevent it from being a must-have. I'll rewrite the beast's HP scaling so that (like a Beast Master Ranger's companion) it scales with the player's level, but at a low rate.

(OTOH, if you are dropped your companion probably becomes useless. That again makes the "damage the companion" a trap for monsters.)

Oh! I should probably write a clause that says "if you are incapacitated or absent, your companion continues to act according any orders you left it and its best judgement." This way the DM could have the companion continue fighting.

I'll steal one from the Beast Master Ranger.

Spoiler: New & Revised Homebrew Rules (changes to old rules in bold)

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Charisma (Animal Handling)
Animal Handling is now a Charisma skill, representing the user's ability to influence the behavior of beasts. If you begin the game proficient with Animal Handling, you also begin with one companion or mount of your choice from either the official Monster Manual or my homebrew Bestiary. In either case, your companion must be a beast with a CR of 1/8 or lower, or your mount must be a beast with a CR of 1/2 or lower. For example, camels, donkeys, horses, and ostriches are acceptable mounts, but bulls and elephants are not. Dogs, cats, birds, and venomous snakes are acceptable companions, but wolves and cheetahs are not.

Animal Companions
You can command an animal companion only if it has been trained to accept you as a master. Your animal companion obeys your commands as best as it can. It takes its turn on your initiative. On your turn, you can verbally command the companion where to move, and you can command it to take Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, or Hide actions (no action required by you). You can use your action to command your companion to take any other action it is capable of. If you are incapacitated or absent, the companion acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself.

Feat: Beast Master
Prerequisite: proficiency in Animal Handling

Choose an animal companion of yours. Over the course of one day, you train the beast to fight alongside you. The beast then gains the following benefits until you train another animal companion:

• The companion's hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or four times your level: whichever is higher.
• The companion's proficiency bonus increases (but never decreases) to equal your own
• When you take the Attack action, you can forgo one or more of your attacks and order your companion to make them instead, up to the maximum number of attacks it could make with its own Attack or Multiattack action.
• Your companion's weapon attacks benefit from any features you have that improve upon your weapon attacks (e.g. Divine Smite, Fighting Style, Rage, Sneak Attack). If a feature requires that the weapon has a specific property, your companion's weapon attacks are considered to have that property.

Feat: War Rider
Prerequisite: proficiency in Animal Handling

Choose a mount that is loyal to you. Over the course of one day, you train the beast to fight alongside you. The beast then gains the following benefits until you train another mount:

• The mount's hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or four times your level: whichever is higher
• The mount's proficiency bonus increases (but never decreases) to equal your own
• While you are riding your mount, you can use your action to command it to take any action it is capable of.
• While you are riding your mount, you can forgo one or more of your Attack action attacks and order the mount to make them instead, up to the maximum number of attacks it can make with its Attack or Multiattack action.
• While you are riding your mount, its weapon attacks benefit from any features you have that improve upon your weapon attacks (e.g. Divine Smite, Fighting Style, Rage, Sneak Attack). If a feature requires that the weapon has a specific property, your mount's weapon attacks are considered to have that property.

Feat: Beast Whisperer
Prerequisite: proficiency in Animal Handling

You have cultivated the ability to empathize with beasts, especially those close to you. You gain the following benefits:

• You can comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts.
• You can nonverbally communicate with any animal companions or mounts you have, as long as they can see you.
• As long as you can see or hear your animal companion or mount, you can perceive through its senses, and vice versa. Anything that the beast cannot comprehend (such as writing) or recognize (such as a stranger's face) appears vague you perceive it using this feature.