The character builder lists swarm of bats and swarm of ravens as companion options. I’m pretty sure they aren’t meant to be options RAW, but I just wanted to check and see if anyone has seen anything on it.
(either way, I’m still making a crazy bat-carried gnome ranger for a home game)
Swarms aren't legal, but the character builder is full of all kinds of bugs and failings.
EDIT:
Pun intended, but home games are their own special animal. Personally, I allow a wider range of animal companions so long as they're functionally CR 1/4. This includes beasts like the riding horse (for medium characters) and black bear (no Multiattack). I also give them more hit dice and add the ranger's proficiency bonus to all their saving throws; including those imposed on targets like the wolf's ability to drag a creature prone. But I digress.
Swarms, in my opinion, are pushing the envelope of what's possible. I know it's fantasy, but it's like herding cats. And I don't want to deal with the logistics of shrinking and growing creature swarms. Especially when there's the Swarmkeeper subclass; currently in UA and soon to be published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
For a home game it would be a lot of fun! Technically, yes, swarms aren't a legal choice for DDAL organized play and KISS RAW tables. For me, a 1/4 is a 1/4. I could see having a conversation with someone and (as a DM) allowing a swarm, monstrosity, aberration, elemental, plant, fey, etc. This is D&D make believe! Everyone complains about the PHB beast master ranger but isn't open to anything other than KISS RAW, revised ranger (also not viable in DDAL), or the class feature variants (UA at the moment, but becoming an option later this year).
If your DM is fine with it then I don't see why not.
You'll want to talk to them about maintaining the swarm though, as RAW most (all?) swarms can't recover hit points, as every point lost is a creature in the swarm that's killed. You could ask them to allow healing out of combat to represent replenishing the swarm, otherwise you'll want to discuss how easy it should be to replace the swarm when it gets too weak.
I doubt it would harm balance, Beast Master pets plateau in strength eventually anyway; the most recent UA variant rules add additional options for higher levels, and you may want to talk to your DM about that as well, as otherwise you'll hit a ceiling on how tough a pet you can get.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
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The character builder lists swarm of bats and swarm of ravens as companion options. I’m pretty sure they aren’t meant to be options RAW, but I just wanted to check and see if anyone has seen anything on it.
(either way, I’m still making a crazy bat-carried gnome ranger for a home game)
Swarms aren't legal, but the character builder is full of all kinds of bugs and failings.
EDIT:
Pun intended, but home games are their own special animal. Personally, I allow a wider range of animal companions so long as they're functionally CR 1/4. This includes beasts like the riding horse (for medium characters) and black bear (no Multiattack). I also give them more hit dice and add the ranger's proficiency bonus to all their saving throws; including those imposed on targets like the wolf's ability to drag a creature prone. But I digress.
Swarms, in my opinion, are pushing the envelope of what's possible. I know it's fantasy, but it's like herding cats. And I don't want to deal with the logistics of shrinking and growing creature swarms. Especially when there's the Swarmkeeper subclass; currently in UA and soon to be published in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
For a home game it would be a lot of fun! Technically, yes, swarms aren't a legal choice for DDAL organized play and KISS RAW tables. For me, a 1/4 is a 1/4. I could see having a conversation with someone and (as a DM) allowing a swarm, monstrosity, aberration, elemental, plant, fey, etc. This is D&D make believe! Everyone complains about the PHB beast master ranger but isn't open to anything other than KISS RAW, revised ranger (also not viable in DDAL), or the class feature variants (UA at the moment, but becoming an option later this year).
If your DM is fine with it then I don't see why not.
You'll want to talk to them about maintaining the swarm though, as RAW most (all?) swarms can't recover hit points, as every point lost is a creature in the swarm that's killed. You could ask them to allow healing out of combat to represent replenishing the swarm, otherwise you'll want to discuss how easy it should be to replace the swarm when it gets too weak.
I doubt it would harm balance, Beast Master pets plateau in strength eventually anyway; the most recent UA variant rules add additional options for higher levels, and you may want to talk to your DM about that as well, as otherwise you'll hit a ceiling on how tough a pet you can get.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.