Uber-raptor

I notice that the clawfoot dinosaur has a 3-6 HD advancement range. Would it be therefore possible to buy a spiffier HD clawfoot for a higher price?

Hmmm....
Will look into it for you

Ok, i've had a quick look and what concerns me is the challenge rating increase with the advancement of the creature, especially one that could potentially fight for the group..
If it is advanced too far then it could out-balance the challenge ratings of your opponents thus meaning that i would have 4 options, either simply disallow it, increase the challenge ratings of your encounters, put in place some kind of limit to the mounts hit dice, or increase the chance of the critter not doing as it's told.

Having given it a little thought i've decided that it is not unreasonable to let you have an advanced mount, BUT, the mounts HD/CR must be at the same as or less than your own (or your ECL). This way it can still be an asset without becoming an issue. I would also say that due to the fact that the creature is advanced it would be more difficult to handle, perhaps +3 per advanced level to handle animal checks????

As far as buying an advance mount i would say that for each HD you add it costs 50% more than the previous HD total.
eg. Clawfoot 2 HD - 150 gp
..................3 HD - 150 + 75 gp
..................4 HD - 225 + 113 gp
..................5 HD - 338 + 169 gp

As always I'm open to ideas and discussion

Well on the plus side, it can never be my ranger animal companion because it's no longer "completely typical for it's kind". I was mainly concerned for it's 13 HP vulnerability

I can see your concerns and totally apprciate them.
Rangers animal companions are typically weak anyway due to the fact that you dont get them until 4th level.
To be honest you may be better off reserving your animal companion for a creature with a skill-set that fills a weakness in your own character...? That way you can have a bigger mount and the added bonus of a 'helper'.

But i know you were wanting the dinosaur to be your companion so i'm sure we can work on the issue and come to a satifactory resolution.

I have an idea. In view of your justifiable worries about game balance, could I buy (for instance) a 5 HD clawfoot, but it's yet to develop fully so only counts as a 3HD until I reach level 4, when it gains a level, and so forth?

I am more than happy with that.

Also, to resolve any HD complications, should you wish for it to become your animal companion at a later date then it would be possible to ignore the first +2 Bonus HD as they have already been applied.

Sounds sensible - I was thinking vaguely along the same lines.When I go into Halfling Outrider I will get druid-style AC rather than ranger.

Infinity wrote:

I would also say that due to the fact that the creature is advanced it would be more difficult to handle, perhaps +3 per advanced level to handle animal checks

Just to clarify, this is due to the fact that the creature is a little bit more crazy or wilder than your average Clawfoot.
I will reduce the difficulty to +2 per advanced level - this is applicable from the moment that you buy it as a 5HD creature i.e. it will always be at +6 DC to Handle Animal checks.
This penalty will be halved as soon as it becomes your actual companion and will vanish as soon as the HD are balanced out from Animal Companion HD bonuses.

I like that, it's a cool image of this frothing barely-under-control ragemonster.

Do you want me to handle upgrading him, or will you do it? He gets a feat at 3 HD - I was thinking of Improved Natural Armour (+1 Nat AC, from the MM).

I'll let you do it - after all it's Kapek who decides which one to buy - and therefore his fault when it all goes wrong