Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jvance420 03-28-08, 02:53 AM	I have never had an animal companion, so I'm not real sure how to build it. I will be a fighter5/beastmaster1 and am going to choose the wolf, I think :P. If I understand correctly, this will be a 4th lvl wolf. I am not sure how the str/dex bonus changes the animals stats. And the 2 extra HD, does that just mean 2 more d8's? Or simply, a 4th lvl wolf has 36 HP? Any help is appreciated.
The_Shaman 03-28-08, 09:26 AM	Just add the bonuses to the standard entry (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/wolf.htm). Roll for HD and, iirc, give it a +1 bonus to an ability every 4 HDs. Oh, and it should get the bonuses to saves and skill points (or point, in this case) that HD give. In your case, it would be the wolf of a lvl 4 druid: with 2 extra HD, +2 NA, +1 Str/Dex, 2 extra tricks, etc. OTOH, fighter 5... I just hate odd fighter levels, especially when they don't even boost your saves. Any chance the DM might introduce some kind of a fix for empty levels, such as that article here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20061013a) or some kind of a substitution level that gives you such abilities (i.e. Zhentarim soldier from CoV web enhancement)? Otherwise, I wish you could retrain that last level for, say, ranger or barbie.