Zookeeper Class?

[Eloel]

I came to think of getting animal-master build. Level 20 build.
9 Druid/1 Sorcerer/10 Beastmaster
Gives 4 animal companions & 1 Familiar
Get a 7 Druid/1 Sorcerer/10 Beastmaster cohort
Gives 4 more animal companions & 1 Familiar
Both can wildshape, for 2 more "animals"

That's a total of 12 animals, without summoning.
Now, what would be a good zookeeper character to buff them all? (also, did I miss any way to add more animals?)

[Fax Celestis]

Try my Animal Trainer class.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Wild Cohort, of course. Obtain Familiar. Leadership+Catfolk.

Keep in mind that this Char will be very weak and most of the animals will only hit on nat-20s(duw to the beastmaster levels not stacking).

[Eloel]

Wild Cohort, of course. Obtain Familiar. Leadership+Catfolk.

Keep in mind that this Char will be very weak and most of the animals will only hit on nat-20s(duw to the beastmaster levels not stacking).

I have familiar, my cohort can Wild Shape, no need for catfolk, same for me.
Also, there will at least be the PC, the cohort, and their first companions that hit quite hard. Others could be used as scouts, flankers, mounts and whatnot.

[tarbrush]

Isn't there a really good one in Dungeonscape? Might be NPC only, but worth a look if you have an accomodating DM.

[JeminiZero]

If you want an army of monsters at your command, use undead. Scales better than beast master, and provided you don't lose too many levels, caster as a base means you are at least garunteed a semi-decent build at the end.

You can also choose between a small number of strong troops, and a large number of weak ones, or some medium between the 2.

Edit: Splashing 1 Mindbender also grants you another charmed minion, and is a worthwhile consideration.

[Eloel]

But then I would lose the zoo-like fluff. Also, checking right now, I could technically have
2-10 hawks
and
2-10 eagles

as long as they add up to 12. That would be a great flock of birds under my control.

[Hal]

Isn't there a really good one in Dungeonscape? Might be NPC only, but worth a look if you have an accomodating DM.

I don't have the book in front of me, but it gives you a magic beast companion. I don't think it stacks for advancing an existing animal companion, though. Plus, they're quite correct in the fluff; most characters with this class are gonna have a hard time making it in any normal city.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I have familiar, my cohort can Wild Shape, no need for catfolk, same for me.
Also, there will at least be the PC, the cohort, and their first companions that hit quite hard. Others could be used as scouts, flankers, mounts and whatnot.

But Obtain Familiar would give you another Familiar. Catfolk were so that you had "Animalistic" followers.

The problem with this build is that you end up with 20+ minis under your control that take forever to act and don't actually do anything. One of them hits hard(your 'primary' AC), one hits okay(your Cohort's AC), the rest are pretty useless. You and your Cohort will probably be weak, sorry.

[Fixer]

The problem with this build is that you end up with 20+ minis under your control that take forever to act and don't actually do anything. One of them hits hard(your 'primary' AC), one hits okay(your Cohort's AC), the rest are pretty useless. You and your Cohort will probably be weak, sorry.

Have you ever tried using the Aid Other option with all those companions?
Round 1) All animal companions aid PC to engage in grapple. With a tremendous bonus to grapple, even really big creatures are in trouble.
Round 2) All animal companions jump into the grapple and help out.

Clusterfoobar. :)

[Kantolin]

The biggest problem I see with beastmaster is that the animal companions you get from it are based off your beastmaster level, not your effective druid level.

Thus as a result, at level 20 (assuming you went Druid10/Beastmaster10 or something similar which keeps your effective druid level maxed), you'd have a level 23 animal companion, a level 7 animal companion(Worthless trash), a level 4 animal companion(Even more worthless trash), and a level 1 animal companion(Amazingly trash).

Summarily, buffing them or expecting to use them for pretty much anything won't go very well. Anyway...

Now, what would be a good zookeeper character to buff them all?

You need effects that effect an area, and not a quantity of creatures. Summarily, a bard (Who can actually do both). Focus on making inspire courage awesome. Also grab obtain familiar for one more animal.

You may also be able to, utilizing this variant: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...sorcererWizard , swap familiars for weaker animal companions, if that's your schtick. It may also function with obtain familiar, if you ask your DM politely.