Rangers/Druids/Animal Empathy

If Rangers do not currently gain XP for successful use of Animal Empathy, I think it would be good to grant 50% of the XP that would be gained from killing the creature for charming it instead.

Perhaps knows differently, but I was not under the impression that this was a scriptable function.

A VC command that works in tandem with the Player Select Tool would probably work if thats the case, no?

The above method might also work for allowing druids to charm elementals using animal empathy as was suggested in another thread?

The VC command/script would only need to know the class, skill ranks, stat mod, and bonuses etc that the character has... then it could make the check as normal for rangers and award XP if successful, and for druids do the same, except also work on elementals...

That's a possibility.

While I like the idea of gaining more XP, this could be exploited as the same critter could be Dominated multiple times. If there was a way to only gain XP a single time, like in exploration XP for new areas, this might be OK.

I would think once a PC has befriended an animal, the friendship should be permanent. Its not like such a thing would just suddenly "wear off" as the skill is not a magical spell, it represents knowing how to get the animal to trust you. The effect should not have a set duration... unless the PC hurts the animal, etc. Then there should be no re-charming allowed...

If the friendship lasts until reset or the animal dies, then there is no worry about multiple XP awards.

I would recommend limiting the number of charmed minions somehow, maybe to something like character level, or ranger/druid levels.

Also the skill user would be able to dismiss the animal from the party, and at this point it should despawn, as the PC has essentially "sent it away".

Thanks for the thought, but Pleeeeeeease no such lasting menagaries for Rangers. Like Noah, I ain't into cleaning up all that mess.....

Actually, as a Player, I am good with no bonus XP on this one. While occasionally I do miss the kill XP, it is so satisfying to Dominate summoned critters and sending them back to feast on the opposition, and it is this extra little perk that makes the investment worthwhile. Well, we also get to Dominate gorgons and other enchanted critters too, which is handy when on trek across the map.

Possible suggestion for Epic Animal Empathy (ie; 24+ ranks or 21+ lvl class lvls) : Mass Animal Empathy - get the entire pack of wolves instead of watching one single Los Lobo get torn to shreads. Perhaps include all of the same type in the area, or some large AoE. Now that would make meeting (and making) an Epic worshipper of Andra worth the encounter.

Nobody would be forcing Rangers/Druid to get a menagerie of critters, and I did suggest there be a limit of some kind, since unlike summoning spells which are a limited resource per day, a Ranger/Druid never runs out of animal empathy uses. Perhaps a maximum of some sort, like 5 or so.

While I respect your personal stance on it, it does seem unfair to deny the XP to PCs who "overcame" the challenge that the charmed critter represented. Also, it wouldn't be equal to that from killing the creature, it would be less.

I don't think you should get any xp for AE'ing a creature. You already get an extra creature to take hits for you, and ultimately in the long run, help you gain xp easier.

Duration of the AE should be permanent.

AE'ing elementals is something thats probably better reserved for druids as is mass AE. Ranger's could use improvements in other aspects though...I'd love to see bulls strength & barkskin added to their spell list; longstrider spell from 3.5 (represented as say 20-30% movement boost for turns per level); possibly make blade thirst scale to +5; perhaps a low level damage buff say +3 points dmg of physical to mirror the paladins. In fact as near as the ranger could be made to the 3.5 edition one the better.

For the XP, I think it's quite nice when you get a little bit of XP from stuff outside of combat. Rogues get something like 10 or 25 XP for disarming a trap they find in a dungeon or such... there's some XP from IDing tracks, everyone gets XP from exploring....

Except for the exploration XP (which can be big with 400 XP per area for 40th level PCs), the XP gained is small, and really just token XP... but it's still nice.

The reason for the XP gain is simply this: if there is no gain from AE (other than a minor meat shield, which can actually increase average party level and makes spawns more deadly and pretty much negate any benefit of having the minion), then the incentive is for these characters to actually kill the creature to gain the XP.

I have no issue with non-nature related classes killing hostile animals, as they wouldnt have options other than to bypass or run away. Rangers and Druids do have another option, and their Animal Empathy skill should pay some dividend for using it (and playing more in line with the theme of these classes) whether or not the PC uses the animal as a minion. Some Rangers or Druids might AE an animal and then release it immediately, as they dont want to "use" it unfairly and place it in harms way without a dire need. Others might convince the animal to protect them at the cost of its life, but in either case the use of AE rather than killing it, should yield some gain.