Animal Companion on Steroids!

[Rabiesbunny]

There's a very heavy roleplay campaign that I'm part of right now, that's in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. I'm playing a druid of the goddess of disease and poison, and so my animal companion is a rat. Since this is such a heavy roleplay campaign, and less of a free-for-all smash fest, he's made exceptions to many rules in the interest of storyline.

Currently, I'm lvl 7, and my Animal Companion is a Horrid Rat (From the Eberron Campaign Setting). The DM, once again for roleplay purposes, let me take the "Feral Animal Companion" feat from Champions of Ruin, and instead of pick a new feral animal companion, have it apply to my current one. His name is Pox.

I digress. At lvl 10, I'm multiclassing into Talontar Blightlord, and he will effectively begin to become useless, as I only gain druidic spell levels with that class. (I'll trade it to be able to violate my druidic oath. FULLPLATE HO!) I know there's a feat that will allow him to further by three effective druid levels, but I'm looking for other suggestions to help his progression. He's just too cool to stagnate! I'm allowed to utilize any D20 feats, spells, and the like., and I don't own anything not printed by WotC.
Thanks!

[Starbuck_II]

There's a very heavy roleplay campaign that I'm part of right now, that's in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. I'm playing a druid of the goddess of disease and poison, and so my animal companion is a rat. Since this is such a heavy roleplay campaign, and less of a free-for-all smash fest, he's made exceptions to many rules in the interest of storyline.

Currently, I'm lvl 7, and my Animal Companion is a Horrid Rat (From the Eberron Campaign Setting). The DM, once again for roleplay purposes, let me take the "Feral Animal Companion" feat from Champions of Ruin, and instead of pick a new feral animal companion, have it apply to my current one. His name is Pox.

I digress. At lvl 10, I'm multiclassing into Talontar Blightlord, and he will effectively begin to become useless, as I only gain druidic spell levels with that class. (I'll trade it to be able to violate my druidic oath. FULLPLATE HO!) I know there's a feat that will allow him to further by three effective druid levels, but I'm looking for other suggestions to help his progression. He's just too cool to stagnate! I'm allowed to utilize any D20 feats, spells, and the like., and I don't own anything not printed by WotC.
Thanks!

1 dip in Beastmaster would boost Animal companion by 4 levels (well 3 since you gave up a Druid level to enter it). Not a bad option for boosting your AC named Pox.

[Person_Man]

You can already wear full plate. It just needs to be made out of dragonhide. Then you dip one level in any class that grants you heavy armor proficiency (or maybe just medium - the Draconomicon has new rules for dragonhide armor - I think it acts as one catagory lighter, and grants energy resistance 5).

Make sure you invest in magical Wild armor as well, otherwise wearing it will be pointless when you Wildshape.

[Rabiesbunny]

Beastmaster is an interesting option, thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to try to be staying very in character, and taking hits for it, but I just might go that way. In the PrC, when I take my levels in it, my animal companion gains the blighted template. Any way I can make him advance makes him FAR more frightening.

Talontar don't much go in the 'animal' druidic path, but the 'let's make everything decay and poison it all' path.

[Quietus]

You can already wear full plate. It just needs to be made out of dragonhide. Then you dip one level in any class that grants you heavy armor proficiency (or maybe just medium - the Draconomicon has new rules for dragonhide armor - I think it acts as one catagory lighter, and grants energy resistance 5).

Make sure you invest in magical Wild armor as well, otherwise wearing it will be pointless when you Wildshape.

For what it's worth, the Draconomicon's Dragonhide armor rules aren't for regular dragonhide - it's for dragonhide that's been turned into armor by someone with the Dragoncrafter (or something similar to that) feat. You can make masterwork full plate out of dragonhide that a druid can wear if he's got the proficiency, OR, if you've got the dragoncrafter feat, it gets the special rules.