Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Toxic_Shaman 05-23-06, 08:06 AM	I'm running a Gestalt game and am finding that Mounts, Familiars and Animal Companions are a bit fragile. The Characters have more options, and usually can do more damage than in a normal game. The NPCs are gestalt too, and so far the party has lost the Paladin's Mount, and the Druid's Wolf Companion has almost died a few times. Any suggestions on how to fix this? I was thinking about either giving the Mount and Companion a few extra hit die to compensate.
Pellanor 05-23-06, 12:20 PM	Make the mounts, etc... Gestalt too. Give them "Class" levels to go along with their racial HD. I'd suggest simply giving them fighter levels. Or perhaps you could just max out their HP.
Toxic_Shaman 05-23-06, 04:24 PM	Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure I want to give them that many Fighter Feats, but I could bump their BAB up a step and give them some extra HPs.
Pellanor 05-23-06, 05:05 PM	One thing that could work woulb be to give them a list of "Animal Bonus Feats" instead of "Fighter Bonus Feats". Have the list include stuff like Weapon Focus(Any Natural Weapon); Weapon Specialization (Any Natural Weapon, requires 4 Animal HD); Improved Toughness; Skill Focus; Alertness; Stealthy; Improved Natural Armor; Toughness; Great Fortitude; Lighting Reflexes; Iron Will; Improved Initiatve; Run; Endurance; Armor Profeciency; Dash; Track; etc... That way they'll have more utility and survivability, without making them the Tactics Monkey's that Fighters are. Here's two versions of a 10th level Paladin's Warhorse, one using this method, the other as per standard, for your comparison. Warhorse, Heavy Size/Type: Large Animal Hit Dice: 8d8+24 (60 hp) Initiative: +1 Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares) Armor Class: 20 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +10 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+15 Full Attack: 2 hooves +11 melee (1d6+5) and bite +6 melee (1d4+2) Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, Empathic link, improved evasion, share spells, share saving throws, Improved speed Saves: Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +3 Abilities: Str 20, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 6 Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6 Feats: Endurance, Run, Weapon Focus(Hoof) Warhorse, Heavy Size/Type: Large Animal Hit Dice: 8d10+32 (76 hp) Initiative: +1 Speed: 65 ft. (13 squares) Armor Class: 20 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +10 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+15 Full Attack: 2 hooves +11 melee (1d8+7) and bite +6 melee (1d4+2) Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, Empathic link, improved evasion, share spells, share saving throws, Improved speed Saves: Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +5 Abilities: Str 20, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 6 Skills: Listen +7, Spot +6, Jump +20 Feats: Endurance, Run, Weapon Focus(Hoof), Improved Toughness, Skill Focus(Jump), Dash, Weapon Specialization(Hoof), Iron Will