So RAW the companion for a beastmaster only allows Beasts, however my player would like to take a blinkdog which is fey, I'm happy with that. The ranger beastmaster is considered a weaker class, so I think this would be fine.
My question is if i boost the stats of the blinkdog to the Beast of the Land (BotL) from tashas couldron, does that then make this a bit OP'd? I'm thinking because the teleport is a recharge, and it's a bonus action to do that, it doesn't buff too much. The player is rolling a character as a halfling and intends to use this as a mount, he just lost his fighter 2 years into the campaign.
The boosts to the stat block of the blink dog would be; +4 AC as they have proficiency bonus of 4 at level 11, giving it an AC of 17 Main statline as per blink dog, not BotL +Darkvision at 60ft +Primal bond trait Add proficiency bonus to it's damage roll of 1d6 (BotL has 1d8+2+PB)
For flavour, the player doesn't want to use BotL, he likes the idea of a teleporting dog and doesn't want to "Summon" his companion, although you can flavour that by saying the BotL creature is always there and can be polymorphed during a long rest so it's always the same thing just looking different, he's not up for that. I don't want to introduce something insane though. He's a dual wield ranger, so bonus actions each turn will need to be decided how it will be used, making the attack probably not very common, although the AC boost might be a bit much?
I don’t know about OP, but it obviously stronger than intended. Does he imagine himself riding it and being teleported when the dog blinks? Cause that would be pretty OP, ride in take your attacks, and let the dog teleport you away without drawing an OA. Not to mention the dog getting an attack on its way out. Teleporting is pretty strong just in general. Being able to do it at least once, potentially a lot more than once, per fight without using any resources is very strong.
Why not tell him, just use the stat block RAW, you can make it look like a blink dog?
You need to be very clear with the player what he can and can not do with his companion becasue, as well as allowing a blink dog you are mixing the Tasha's and PHB companions.
The reason the beastmaster was considered a weak class was the ranger needed to use their action if they wanted the companion to do anything other than move and dodge. Using the Tasha's options beastmaster is middle of the road so I would be wary of buffing things up from BotL.
Teleport says "The dog magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space it can see" so RAW if the dog eleports the halfling (who is a creature not equipment) would remain though applying this would be no fun. Being able to teleport every other turn as a bonus action is a HUGE boon. Misty step is a 2nd level spell Fey touched is one of the best feats giving access to misty step once per day. Such a ruling would be way overpowered.
Standard tactics for a ranger here could be blink dog moves in ranger makes there attacks, bonus action command the blink dog to teleport that also include a bite attack. To move away from an opponent without op attacks most character have to either use a 2nd level spell or both have movement and an action to disengage.
One option would be to go with the PHB beastmaster rules except that the ranger can also issue the teleport command. This would mean the Blink dog gets PB added to AC (same as BotL) has the max of 22 and 4 * ranger level HP (a couple more at level 3 slightly less after that), looses darkvision and a climb speed but gains keen hearing and smell. Attacks are the same to hit if the ranger has +3 wisdom but do to lass damage than BotL. A slight nerf on BotL but more like a blink dog but the big thing you are doing here is requiring the ranger to lose his action if he wants to misty step away.
Even this would be a very powerful feature and I would probably nerf it further either by preventing the dog bite using the same action as teleport or to make it limited use (say PB times er day).
Another thing to consider is what happens if the blink dog dies. The PHB requirements that you need to find a replacement and spend 8 hours bonding with it at best slows things down and at worst ruins things for the ranger here I would go with the Tasha rule: "If the beast has died within the last hour, you can use your action to touch it and expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The beast returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored." If the ranger is out of spell slots I would allow another party member to do the same thing with a healing spell and/or allow potions to work.
These are some very good points. I have a warlock in the party and he reserves his free misty step for when he's really in trouble, and this would basically be giving the ranger the ability to do it when free.
I think one use per PB amount per day is reasonable, given that the character wants to be in melee (unlike the warlock who loves to stand right back). I will keep the attack as part of the teleport, but make it an action on the ranger to use the teleport feature.
At level 11, the character has access to the revivify spell, so I might actually be harsh and say that we use RAW for if the character dies, he doesn't come back and would need to spend 8hrs bonding with a new beast. But as the ranger has access to revivify, that's an option to not lose his beloved dog. In my mind, it also gives the players urgency rather than knowing "well if he dies then it's no bother cos I'll just bring him back".
These are some very good points. I have a warlock in the party and he reserves his free misty step for when he's really in trouble, and this would basically be giving the ranger the ability to do it when free.
I think one use per PB amount per day is reasonable, given that the character wants to be in melee (unlike the warlock who loves to stand right back). I will keep the attack as part of the teleport, but make it an action on the ranger to use the teleport feature.
At level 11, the character has access to the revivify spell, so I might actually be harsh and say that we use RAW for if the character dies, he doesn't come back and would need to spend 8hrs bonding with a new beast. But as the ranger has access to revivify, that's an option to not lose his beloved dog. In my mind, it also gives the players urgency rather than knowing "well if he dies then it's no bother cos I'll just bring him back".
The thing to watch for is healing, then. If the ranger’s player starts begging the cleric to heal the nearly dead dog, instead of other PCs. Depending on the group it could create some tension, or it could be an interesting tactical choice. Unless the dog gets the heal and the player rolls a 1 on a death save. But you know your group and how it will shake out better than we do here.
Another option would be to say he can’t go along with the dog when it teleports. It brings equipment, but a character is not equipment. It could keep the dog safe and not let him teleport all over.
So RAW the companion for a beastmaster only allows Beasts, however my player would like to take a blinkdog which is fey, I'm happy with that. The ranger beastmaster is considered a weaker class, so I think this would be fine.
My question is if i boost the stats of the blinkdog to the Beast of the Land (BotL) from tashas couldron, does that then make this a bit OP'd? I'm thinking because the teleport is a recharge, and it's a bonus action to do that, it doesn't buff too much. The player is rolling a character as a halfling and intends to use this as a mount, he just lost his fighter 2 years into the campaign.
The boosts to the stat block of the blink dog would be;
+4 AC as they have proficiency bonus of 4 at level 11, giving it an AC of 17
Main statline as per blink dog, not BotL
+Darkvision at 60ft
+Primal bond trait
Add proficiency bonus to it's damage roll of 1d6 (BotL has 1d8+2+PB)
For flavour, the player doesn't want to use BotL, he likes the idea of a teleporting dog and doesn't want to "Summon" his companion, although you can flavour that by saying the BotL creature is always there and can be polymorphed during a long rest so it's always the same thing just looking different, he's not up for that. I don't want to introduce something insane though. He's a dual wield ranger, so bonus actions each turn will need to be decided how it will be used, making the attack probably not very common, although the AC boost might be a bit much?
I don’t know about OP, but it obviously stronger than intended. Does he imagine himself riding it and being teleported when the dog blinks? Cause that would be pretty OP, ride in take your attacks, and let the dog teleport you away without drawing an OA. Not to mention the dog getting an attack on its way out. Teleporting is pretty strong just in general. Being able to do it at least once, potentially a lot more than once, per fight without using any resources is very strong.
Why not tell him, just use the stat block RAW, you can make it look like a blink dog?
You need to be very clear with the player what he can and can not do with his companion becasue, as well as allowing a blink dog you are mixing the Tasha's and PHB companions.
The reason the beastmaster was considered a weak class was the ranger needed to use their action if they wanted the companion to do anything other than move and dodge. Using the Tasha's options beastmaster is middle of the road so I would be wary of buffing things up from BotL.
Teleport says "The dog magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 40 feet to an unoccupied space it can see" so RAW if the dog eleports the halfling (who is a creature not equipment) would remain though applying this would be no fun. Being able to teleport every other turn as a bonus action is a HUGE boon. Misty step is a 2nd level spell Fey touched is one of the best feats giving access to misty step once per day. Such a ruling would be way overpowered.
Standard tactics for a ranger here could be blink dog moves in ranger makes there attacks, bonus action command the blink dog to teleport that also include a bite attack. To move away from an opponent without op attacks most character have to either use a 2nd level spell or both have movement and an action to disengage.
One option would be to go with the PHB beastmaster rules except that the ranger can also issue the teleport command. This would mean the Blink dog gets PB added to AC (same as BotL) has the max of 22 and 4 * ranger level HP (a couple more at level 3 slightly less after that), looses darkvision and a climb speed but gains keen hearing and smell. Attacks are the same to hit if the ranger has +3 wisdom but do to lass damage than BotL. A slight nerf on BotL but more like a blink dog but the big thing you are doing here is requiring the ranger to lose his action if he wants to misty step away.
Even this would be a very powerful feature and I would probably nerf it further either by preventing the dog bite using the same action as teleport or to make it limited use (say PB times er day).
Another thing to consider is what happens if the blink dog dies. The PHB requirements that you need to find a replacement and spend 8 hours bonding with it at best slows things down and at worst ruins things for the ranger here I would go with the Tasha rule:
"If the beast has died within the last hour, you can use your action to touch it and expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The beast returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored."
If the ranger is out of spell slots I would allow another party member to do the same thing with a healing spell and/or allow potions to work.
These are some very good points. I have a warlock in the party and he reserves his free misty step for when he's really in trouble, and this would basically be giving the ranger the ability to do it when free.
I think one use per PB amount per day is reasonable, given that the character wants to be in melee (unlike the warlock who loves to stand right back). I will keep the attack as part of the teleport, but make it an action on the ranger to use the teleport feature.
At level 11, the character has access to the revivify spell, so I might actually be harsh and say that we use RAW for if the character dies, he doesn't come back and would need to spend 8hrs bonding with a new beast. But as the ranger has access to revivify, that's an option to not lose his beloved dog. In my mind, it also gives the players urgency rather than knowing "well if he dies then it's no bother cos I'll just bring him back".
The thing to watch for is healing, then. If the ranger’s player starts begging the cleric to heal the nearly dead dog, instead of other PCs. Depending on the group it could create some tension, or it could be an interesting tactical choice. Unless the dog gets the heal and the player rolls a 1 on a death save. But you know your group and how it will shake out better than we do here.
Another option would be to say he can’t go along with the dog when it teleports. It brings equipment, but a character is not equipment. It could keep the dog safe and not let him teleport all over.