Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Temp0ral4nomaly May 15, 2015 20:28:21	I have a question.   Can a player awaken their beast companion if they are a beastmaster (with a druid's help)? Could they still use it as a beast companion if they treated it well and as an equal?   How would that change the rules of a beast companion?
#2 cowleymen May 15, 2015 23:07:21	That is......a difficult question. I believe for the first month after awakning that the animal will treat you as friends, and I would still let it function as a BM compagin during that time, however, if you treat it poorly, it wont remain after that month. I would definietly keep to the same combat rules and any homerules you have for them continue to apply no mater what, even after the first month. If your ranger can roleplay it, and desires it, I would let them run with it as well.
(Reply to #2) Temp0ral4nomaly	cowleymen wrote:
#4 cowleymen May 16, 2015 15:27:54	I mjean if your ranger still wants it as a companion then it needs to follow their rules. SO if they are trying to get a a just powerful companion its kinda just a power grab.
(Reply to #4) Temp0ral4nomaly	cowleymen wrote:
#6 Whir May 16, 2015 22:17:26	Depending on how prolific you are and how true to the book your DM is, you could have 1,000GP saved up by level 5. Base lair treasure for level 5-10 lairs averages 2,100 gold just in gold coins and there are also other coins and high chances for gems, art, and magic items in that tier.   My party of five (I'm the DM) walked out of a half-explored dungeon with 1,500gp worth of loot because they were smart enough to go to a city and wheel and deal with a jewelcrafter for all the gems they found. Granted, that's only 300gp each, but they've just hit 2nd level. I think that's pretty close to the goals that were set in playtesting.   I digress.   As for an awakened beast companion, I think the bond between the ranger and beast is meant to be one of respect and friendship, not master and servant. An awakened companion would likely continue to work with the ranger based on their past experiences, so long as the ranger was a good sort of lad or lass. If it were my player, I'd probably run the beast, and I'd try to run it in a way that added to the experience. Letting the player run the beast as well as his character would probably be a little too good for the player. That being said, if you don't play the beast well, and in a way that's beneficial, the player will probably not be too happy.   In essense, I don't think it would change the rules very much at all as far as combat goes. It would be more a roleplaying bonus.
#7 Xeviat-DM May 16, 2015 22:38:19	I don't like the idea of a player using money for a pure power gain; that's kind of why money doesn't buy magic items in the game stock anymore.   I'm siding with everyone who is saying an awakened ranger animal companion acts as an animal companion if the ranger wants it to be its animal companion. If the ranger simply wants a friend, then they can pick another animal companion and maybe the DM can run the awakened animal as an occasional NPC working with the party. If the group is okay with it, then the awakened animal could be ran by the ranger player as a second character; my first D&D game was with 3 players so one of the ran two. It worked. Remember, you want to make your DM's job easier and adding that much power (separate actions) to the beast master ranger could make it harder to create balanced encounters (and possibly make other players feel weak).
#8 Temp0ral4nomaly May 17, 2015 13:26:08	I think I see what you are saying.  I think it basically comes down to whether I feel the BM is balanced or not. If I think the BM is weak compared to other classes/archetypes, then I could view this as a way of bringing the BM back in line with the other classes.  In which case, I could allow the awakened beast to retain it's prof. bonuses. If I think the BM is balanced, then I wouldn't allow it, because it is basically giving a power boost for gold, which, as you said, 5th is getting away from because you can't buy magic items with gold. A lot of people on the web say the BM is weak, but I have also heard arguments that, in some circumstances with certain beast companions, they CAN out DPS other class/archetypes. Tough call.
#9 Xeviat-DM May 17, 2015 15:26:59	From my own glance overs, the Beastmaster (BM ... snicker) and Hunter seam reasonably close on paper. The hunter gets more milage out of Hunter's Mark, but the beast master effectively gets 3 attacks OR can use their pet as a constant source of advantage. It scales nicely; it's AC scales better than players. It's HP is low for a PC, and it sucks up healing resources, but I don't think its all out weak. It might be tougher to optimize, but that could be corrected by making some new spells rather than overhauling the class.