Cooshee as a Ranger's Hunter's Bond?

canuck_ladcanuck_lad
in d20PFSRD
Would it be reasonable to allow a Ranger to use a Cooshee as his Hunter's Bond?

The Ranger in question is an Elf. The Cooshee seems a thematically appropriate choice.

Comments

  • oldravenoldraven
    Are you asking as a GM? Or as a player?
    As a player, ask your GM. It is their choice. 
    As a GM review the stats and see if the Cooshee is equivalent to other options. If it is equivalent there seems no reason to deny it. If it has abilities which make it significantly superior to other level appropriate options, then you could restrict those options and have them manifest as the Ranger levels, perhaps making them to take certain feats. 
    Or if it is in your mind to do so, deny the Bond. 
  • canuck_ladcanuck_lad
    edited October 2020
    GM.

    I don't do well with granularity (in life in general). If the Cooshee has 1 HP more, is that too powerful, 1 level more, 20 levels more, where does one draw the line?
  • oldravenoldraven
    Again, that is a question for the GM.
    No one in this Forum gets to override the decision made at the table by the person who is running the game. 

  • canuck_ladcanuck_lad
    oldraven said:
    Again, that is a question for the GM.
    No one in this Forum gets to override the decision made at the table by the person who is running the game. 

    I'm the GM.
  • oldravenoldraven
    I did ask if you were the GM and you did not answer. 
    In that case, what level is the character?
    Do any of the other PCs have animal companions?
    In what ways will the Cooshee affect your your story?
    Find the nearest equivalent companion from the published list of choices and see how they match up. It is my impression that the Cooshee have a number of abilities which go beyond standard animal companions. So from that single perspective the answer should be no. HOWEVER, if you feel like the pairing should be allowed:
    Make a list of the abilities of the Cooshee. 
    Do a little research on the abilities Rangers gain as they progress. 
    Compare the abilities of the Cooshee to similar spells. 
    Make it a young Cooshee and grant its special abilities as the Ranger levels up at levels appropriate for a spell caster or similar to gain an equivalent spell, unless the Ranger wants to dedicate a new Feat to allow acquisition of a new ability. 
    This is just my opinion, it is your game, but granting special abilities to one character and not others, and abilities which make that one character more central to combat or other story elements is not fair to those not so privileged. You may need to adjust the CL of encounters, but make sure that adjustment is not overly difficult for other players. 
    Again, the answers have to come from you. 
  • avravr
    edited October 2020
    Hopefully this isn't too late to be useful. In PF1 you don't take an actual monster's stats for an animal companion, you make some changes to an animal companion base stats.

    A cooshee's special abilities look a lot like what you'd get with a small cat (cheetah) animal companion. Sprint, bite + 2 claws. A few notable differences are that a cooshee is a magical beast with darkvision, Int 4, the option of grab rather than trip if it chooses, better natural armor and better damage dice, but speed 40' rather than 50' and 2 lower dexterity. Make some changes along those lines to a small cat and it makes a decent feat along the lines of monstrous mount IMO.
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