[3.5]Companion Beasts

[AfterCrescent]

Mommy! I Want a Pony!

Premise: After a discussion with Robby, Midnight, and a couple others on my Knight revision, I realized that one of my CORE issues with mounts/animal companions/familiars/etc, dubbed "Companion Beasts," is that they're either too weak (Warhorse at any level above 3, I'm looking at you) or they're too powerful (Venomfire Fleshraker, I'm looking at you).  There's no balance across the board. There's no scale.  And let's face it, when you're drunk and playing a Paladin for flavor (the only reason you'd play a core paladin, of course ), you want to be able to get a special mount griffin and not have it suck donkey nuts. But that's impossible. The rules just don't allow for it. But what if they did?

Inspired by Astral Construct rules, I propose a new method of selecting your companion - creation.  Obviously there are some similarities across the board (Share spells), but most classes have different abilities that scale based on level. So the next post in this thread will be the compilation of rules for classes, including tables for ability selection, etc.  Ideas, criticism, etc are welcome. Right now this is a rough idea, but I think it can work.

[AfterCrescent]

COMPANION BEASTS

Companion Beast (CB) Basics
Companion Beasts are creatures granted to a character via class feature, class ability (barring spells), or feat.  The current D&D 3.5 rules for Animal Companions, Leadership, Special Mounts, etc. are terribly unbalanced. Companion Beasts are a variant rule meant to replace all of the above.

Prerequisites:
A character must have one of the following class features, class abilities, or feats to have a CB.
[spoiler]*Placeholder*[/spoiler]

Obtaining:
Unless specified otherwise, a CB requires 24 hours (or meditation, prayer, studying, self-flogging, whatever) and an expenditure of 100gp per HD of the CB to be called (in incense, prayer beads, books, whips, whatever).

Dismissing:
A CB can be dismissed at any time, taking only a minute of concentration. Upon being dismissed, a CB immediately returns to its home plane (If not already on it) and heads back to the life it lived prior to joining the character it served.

Replacing:
At any time, a character who has a CB can dismiss his CB and being the process of obtaining a CB again. It may also elect to obtain a new CB if its prior CB has been killed.

*More to come*

[AfterCrescent]

Okay, so first we need to look at all classes that get companions:
Arcane casters (Wizard/Sorc automatically, others via Obtain Familiar)
Psionic classes (Psicrystal Affinity)
Hexblade (Shadow Companion)
Druids & Rangers
Paladins, Blackguards, (My Knight fix)

What else is there, or is that the baseline?

[Midnight_v]

Freakin... awesome.

[AfterCrescent]

Okay so here's what I've got so far...

Animals - Druid, Ranger, "Wild Cohort"

Magical Beasts - Wizards, Sorcerers, "Obtain Familiar", Paladin, Knight

Constructs - "Psicrystal Affinity", Artificers(?)

Undead - Dread Necromancer(?)

Unsure - Healer (Should it be Animals or Magical Beasts?)

Unknown - Incarnum (Isn't there a soulmeld? I'm AFB), Shadowmagic (The book I'm least familiar with), Hexblade (I'm thinking Magical Beast, but maybe something else)

Comments, ideas?

[veekie]

I think the Thaumaturgist's Planar Cohort is better done this way as well.

Worked on a pet focused class once, but uhm, got sidetracked, as usual(it happens a lot). Ah heck, I'll dump my notes(muddled and incomplete as they are), in a spoiler here, if anyone gets inspiration from that, it's worth more than sitting on my HDD gathering mold until I get around to it once more:
Master side stuff
[spoiler]
Bonded Companion(Ex): The Summoner can bond a companion. Doing so is a ritual that takes 24 hour. The bonded companion is either an  an outsider or a magical beast(chosen during the ritual, this cannot be changed until the summoner gains a new level). An outsider is summoned and bound by means of this ritual, while a magical beast is usually an animal of some sort bonded by the summoner. The creature serves as a companion and servant.
The bonded companion acts on it's own initiative in combat, based on Tricks(see Handle Animal), taking a move action to issue a command. A bonded companion can learn tricks as if it were an animal, regardless of it's actual type, and can learn 3 additional tricks per point of Intelligence above 2. The bonded companion can be trained to use specific special abilities or feats, each of these counts as a single trick. The summoner can choose to take direct control of his companions with a standard action. Commanding multiple companions(if the summoner has more than one), requires an action one step higher(e.g. commanding 3 companions to use the same trick(with different targets) requires a standard action, commanding 3 companions to use different tricks requires a full round action, and directly controlling 3 companions requires 2 full round actions).
The summoner gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Handle Animal checks involving her companion. The Handle Animal skill is used for magical beast companions, while outsider companions substitute their choice of Diplomacy or Intimidate for Handle Animal.
The summoner chooses the form his companion takes, an outsider companion is summoned in that form, while a magical beast changes over time to fit the chosen abilities. The companion has a maximum number of Hit Dice equal to his summoner level, and has additional abilities as defined in it's own section. As the summoner advances in level, his bonded beast grows with him.
A bonded companion begins with 4 special abilities, chosen from Menu A below. It gains an additional special ability every even Hit Dice. When the summoner reaches level 5, the companion may choose from Menu B, and at levels 9, 13 and 17 respectively, it may choose abilities from Menu C, D and E. At every even level, the bonded companion may replace one of it's special abilties with an abilty from the same menu.
If the bonded companion is an outsider, the summoner can resummon it with a ritual requiring an hour if it is banished or destroyed. It suffers from a negative level, though this negative level does not kill the companion even if this would result in the companion having as many or more negative levels than Hit Dice, and never reduces the companion's hit points below 0. If the companion is destroyed while it still has negative levels, the penalty stacks. Each negative level also causes the companion to lose the highest level special ability it has until it recovers. Negative levels from death and banishment recover at the rate of 1 per 24 hours.
If the bonded companion is a magical beast, the summoner can bond a new companion with a ritual requiring 24 hours if it is killed, or raise it from the dead with no loss of level or Constitution point. If the newly bonded creature does not already possess the special abilities chosen by the summoner, it gains them at the rate of 1 per 4 summoner levels per day, though it's Hit Dice automatically adjusts to match.
A summoner may only have one bonded companion at a time, unless he takes the Great Tamer special ability for additional companions. Classes that grant or advance animal companions, special mounts or familiars can choose to improve the summoner's bonded companion instead of their usual benefits, this grants the companion increased Hit Dice, and a special abilty at every even Hit Dice, though the companion is limited to Menu options that they already qualify for.

Share Spells(Su)Spellgift(Ex): All of a summoner's spells with a range of Personal or a target of You become touch range and targets a touched creature instead.
Spellgift only affects spells granted by the summoner class's spellcasting

Inspiring Master(Ex): At 2nd level, the summoner gains the ability to inspire his companions to greater heights. He may add his Charisma modifier as a morale bonus to a single ability score of an adjacent bonded companion. The bonus can be changed once per round as an immediate action. Summoners with multiple bonded companions can assign and change the bonuses individually or as a group. Summoned monsters count as bonded companions for the purpose of this ability.

Expanded Knowledge(Ex): At 4th level and every 4 summoner levels after, the summoner may choose a conjuration or transmutation spell from the sorceror list and add it to his spells known. He must be able to cast spells of that level. The summoner may choose to learn a spell from the sorceror, cleric or druid spell list instead, but this spell is learned and cast at one level higher than the original spell.

Beast Improvement(Ex): The summoner's bonded companions gains an additional special ability at level 3 and every odd level after. This special ability can be chosen from any that the companion qualifies for. At level 5, the companions may now choose from Menu B in addition to Menu A, and this improves to Menus C, D, and E at levels 9, 13, and 17 respectively.

Great Tamer(Ex): The summoner may choose one of the following special abilities at level 6 and every 4 levels after. He may swap a Great Tamer special ability for another every 2 levels. Each ability may only be taken once unless otherwise specified.

Extra companion
The summoner can bond an additional bonded companion of the same Hit Dice as his highest Hit Dice bonded companion. The summoner does not increase his bonded companions' Hit Dice this level(all his companions will be one Hit Dice lower). This ability may be taken multiple times, and the Hit Dice loss is cumulative.
The summoner can call or bond as many companions as his maximum with a single ritual.

Legion
The summoner gains 2 additional bonded companions, 1 Hit Dice lower than his highest Hit Dice bonded companion. These companions are limited to abilities from Menus one step below the highest(e.g. if the summoner's regular companions my choose from Menus A and B, the Legion can only choose from Menu A). The summoner does not increase his bonded companions' Hit Dice this level(all his companions will be one Hit Dice lower). This ability may be taken multiple times, and the Hit Dice loss is cumulative. Each time Legion is taken, the number of companions it grants increases by 1.
The summoner can call or bond as many companions as his maximum with a single ritual.
Note: Unless you love micromanagment and area buff spells, Legion is not recommended.

Mighty Companions
All the summoner's bonded companions gain 1 Hit Dice and a special ability. Creatures summoned by the summoner also gain this benefit, and may choose any one special ability from the menus that the Summoner has access to. This ability may be taken multiple times.

Presence
The summoner increases the range of his Inspiring Master ability to a 5ft radius per 2 summoner levels. If the summoner has the Greater Link ability, Inspiring Master's effect extends to any Linked bonded companions as well. If the summoner has both the Greater Link and Greater Inspiration ability, he extends Inspiring Master's effect to all linked creatures.

Greater Inspiration
The summoner adds +1 to the bonus of his Inspiring Master ability for every 4 class levels. He may share this bonus with other allies, but they gain only half the bonus.

Command
The summoner can issue commands to his bonded companions with an action one step lower(Full round -> Standard -> Move -> Swift). This ability may be taken up to four times, with a minimum of swift action for any command.

Link
The summoner gains an telepathic link to his bonded companions, up to a distance of 1 mile. He is automatically aware of the current status and location of his bonded companions, and can communicate with them telepathically within that range.
This is a Supernatural effect.

Greater Link
Requires: Link
The summoner's link to his companions improve further, and he can now share senses with them within the range of the Link. The summoner and Linked creatures cannot be flatfooted while within line of sight of each other as long as one of them is not flatfooted. Linked creatures use the highest Will save bonus of all the Linked creatures against Mind Affecting effects.

Shared Link
Requires: Link
The summoner may add up to his charisma modifier of additional willing creatures to the link with 1 minute of concentration per additional creature. They remain linked as long as they remain within 1 mile of the summoner.

Wide Link
Requires: Link
The range of the Link ability of the summoner improves to 1 mile per summoner level. The summoner may designate one Linked creature to have a superior link as a full round action. That creature remains linked regardless of distance or planar boundaries. Banished outsider or elemental summoned creatures and companions do not count for the purpose of this link.

Cast As One
Requires: Greater Link or Greater Share Spells
The summoner is always considered within reach of a Linked creature for the purpose of spells and effects. The summoner can cast spells such that they originate from a Linked creature instead of from the summoner.

Greater Share Spells
The summoner's share spells ability now functions at a range of 5ft per 2 caster levels. If the summoner possesses the Shared Link ability, he may treat allies as if they are bonded companions for the purpose of the Share Spells ability. If the summoner possesses the Greater Link ability, he may cast Touch range spells through the link.

<Insert new Tamer powers here>
Improve Summoning
Improve Buffing
[/spoiler]
Pet Side Stuff
[spoiler]
Bonded Companion Types
Magical Beast(animal, plant all go here)
Outsider(elementals and abberants all go here)

Bond companion basic traits
Size: Tiny
HD:
Magical Beast d10
Outsider      d8

Starting Ability Scores:
Magical Beast
Stats Str 10 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 4 Wis 8 Cha 8
Outsider
Str 6 Dex 14 Con 6 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 8
Distribute 16 points of bonus to stats, max +6 per stat
+1 to two stats / 2 HD + regular stat gain.

AC:
Magical Beast: Nat AC +4
Outsider:      Nat AC +2
+1 nat AC per 2 HD.

Saves         Fort Ref  Will
Magical Beast Good Good Poor
Outsider      Good Good Good

BAB Good
Skills
Magical Beast 2+int
Outsider      8+int

Class skills
Balance(Dex), Climb(Str), Concentration(Con), Disguise(Cha),  Hide(Dex), Intimidate(Cha), Jump(Str), Listen(Wis), Move Silently(Dex), Perform(Cha), Spot(Wis), Survival(Wis), Swim(Str), Tumble(Dex)
Outsider extra class skills
Bluff(Cha), Craft(any)(Int), Decipher Script(Int), Diplomacy(Cha), Heal(Wis), Knowledge(any)(Int), Search(Int), Sense Motive(Wis), Speak Language,

SQ Darkvision 60ft
Magical Beast Low Light Vision
Outsider      -

Feats: As normal + Weapon Finesse
Speed: 20ft

Special abilities:
These abilities can only be taken once unless specifically mentioned otherwise.
A bonded companion gains 4 abilities at it's first Hit Dice and 1 more at every even numbered Hit Dice, in addition to those granted by it's tamer.
Powers: Menus A(1-4), B(5-8), C(9-12), D(13-16), E(17-20)
Menu A

Ability Boost
The bonded companion gains a +4 bonus to one ability score. This ability can be taken once per ability.

Barrier
The creature is protected by a barrier of force, and gains a deflection bonus to AC equal to 1/3 it's Hit Dice(min 1).

Energy Assault
<placeholder>
Energy Aura
<placeholder>
Energy Breath
<placeholder>

Breath Weapon(energy)
1d6/HD, pick 1 energy

Burrow
The bonded companion gains a burrow speed of half it's land speed. This ability can be taken twice, for a burrow speed equal to the bonded companion's land speed.

Constrict
Requires: Tentacle or Improved Grab
The bonded companion gains a Constrict attack. This deals damage on a successful grapple check as shown on the table below. The bonded companion adds it's full strength bonus to the damage.

Code: [Select]

Fine Dimunitive Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal Colossal+
1d2  1d4        1d6  1d8   2d6    3d8   4d6  6d6        8d6      12d6

Damage Reduction
The bonded companion gains damage reduction equal to it's Hit Dice, penetrated by magic.

Energy Resistance
The creature gains Resistance 10 to one energy type(acid, cold, electricity, fire or sonic). This ability can be taken up to four times, each time it is taken, an existing energy resistance improves by +10 or the creature gains  energy resistance 10 to another energy type. If Energy Resistance is taken 4 times for a single energy type, it becomes Energy Immunity to that energy instead.

Evasion
The creature gains evasion, as per the rogue class feature. It takes no damage on a successful reflex save against effects that normally deal half damage on a successful reflex save.

Fast Healing
The creature gains Fast Healing 2.

Flight
The bonded companion gains a Fly speed of 10ft at perfect manueverbility, 20ft at good manueverbility or 30ft at average manueverbility. This ability can be taken multiple times, each time it is taken, the summoner can choose to increase the companion's fly speed by +10ft(Max +50ft) or improve manueverbility by one step(max perfect).

Humanoid Form
The bonded companion is approximately humanoid in shape and has limbs capable of fine manipulation. It can also use equipment for humanoids of it's size.

Improved Grab
Requires: Natural Weapon(Bite), Natural Weapon(Claw) or Natural Weapon(Tentacle)
The bonded companion can attempt to start a grapple as a free action when it hits with a natural weapon. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
The summoner must choose which natural weapon(Bite, claw or tentacle) Improved Grab applies to when the companion gains this ability. This ability may be taken once for each type of natural weapon.

Natural Weapon
The bonded companion gains a Bite, Slam, 2 Claws or 2 Tentacle attacks.
Bite attacks have a x3 Critical multiplier, Tentacle attacks have double the companion's natural reach(minimum 5ft) and claw attacks have a critical threat range of 19-20. Bite attacks deal Piercing or slashing damage, Claw attacks deal slashing damage, Slam and Tentacle attacks deal bludgeoning damage.
Natural weapons of a bonded companion are treated as magic weapons.

Code: [Select]

Fine Dimunitive Tiny Small Medium Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal Colossal+
Bite 1    1d2        1d3  1d4   1d6    1d8   2d6  3d6        4d6      6d6
Slam 1d2  1d3        1d4  1d6   1d8    2d6   3d6  4d6        6d6      8d6
Claw -    1          1d2  1d3   1d4    1d6   1d8  2d6        3d6      4d6
Tent -    1          1d2  1d3   1d4    1d6   1d8  2d6        3d6      4d6

Pounce
Requires: Two or more natural weapons.
The bonded companion may make a full attack when it charges.

Regeneration
The bonded companion gains regeneration 0. This regeneration is penetrated by a material(silver or cold iron), energy type(acid or fire) and damage type(piercing, bludgeoning or slashing). The companion cannot be immune to the type of damage.
Special: Outsider companions cannot gain this ability.

Scent
The creature gains the Scent special ability.

Size Control(Su)
Requires: Size Increase or Size Decrease
The bonded companion may change it's size at will as a move action. It can change between Tiny and it's largest or smallest(depending on if the companion selected Size Increase or Size Decrease) size. This ability may be taken twice, if so, the bonded companion can choose to become any size category between it's largest and smallest size. When the companion gains this ability, Size Increase or Size Decrease, the summoner decides which size that it can become is the companion's natural size(this is the size it reverts to in an antimagic field).
The ability modifiers of Size Increase and Size Decrease only apply when the companion is of the appropriate size.

Size Decrease
The bonded companion's size decreases by 1 size category, up to a maximum of Fine size. It gains -2 to it's Strength and Constitution scores and +4 to it's Dexterity score, as well as the normal modifiers for size.
Special: Cannot have Size Increase with Size Decrease unless the bonded companion has Size Control.
If the companion has Size Control, this ability sets the smallest size of the companion.
This ability may be taken multiple times.

Size Increase
The bonded companion's size increases by 1 size category, up to a maximum of Medium size. It gains +2 to it's Strength and Constitution scores and -2 to it's Dexterity score, as well as the normal modifiers for size.
Special: Cannot have Size Increase with Size Decrease unless the bonded companion has Size Control.
If the companion has Size Control, this ability sets the largest size of the companion.
This ability may be taken multiple times.


Sonar
The creature has Blindsight out to 30ft in water. A Silence spell negates this ability.

Speech
The bonded companion can talk, it knows 1 language of your choice, plus 1 per point of intelligence bonus. Outsider companions do not need this ability to talk.

Speed Increase
The bonded companion gains +10ft to it's land speed, to a maximum of twice it's initial land speed.

Swimmer
The bonded companion gains a swim speed equal to it's land speed, a +8 racial bonus to Swim checks and the ability to breath underwater.

Tremorsense
The creature gains Tremorsense to a range of 30ft.

Trip
Requires:Natural Weapon(Bite), Natural Weapon(Claw) or Natural Weapon(Tentacle)
The bonded companion with this ability can attempt to trip opponents when it hits with a natural weapon as a free action, without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails the opponent cannot react to trip the companion.
The summoner must choose which natural weapon(Bite, claw or tentacle) Trip applies to when the companion gains this ability. This ability may be taken once for each type of natural weapon.

Menu B
Damage Reduction
penetrated by one material(silver or cold iron) or damage type(slashing, piercing or bludgeoning) or The companion's natural attack penetrates damage reduction as if it were the same material as it's own damage reduction.
e.g. A creature can have damage reduction of silver and slashing and magic, but not silver and cold iron and magic.

Energy Resistance
Cap 1, Gain Menu A Resistance twice

Fast Healing
Fast Healing 4, stacks w/ A

Greater Natural Weapon

Rend
movement modes
Dimension Step 20ft move action(light load only, + master if master is light)
burrow +20ft speed
swim +20ft speed
land speed +20ft
fly speed +20ft speed

Blindsense 30ft
poison 1d6 no con

SR 12+HD
Regeneration

Size Increase
Large

Menu C
Swallow Whole
Dimension Step +20ft or swift action
burrow->earth glide
land speed +40ft
fly speed +40
Swim speed +40ft
Damage Reduction(/aligned, if has B ability, double DR, but vulnerable to B&C)
(/Adamantine)
Energy Resistance(3x A, cap once)
Fast Healing 6 Stacks
Size Up(Huge)
See Invisibility
Blindsight 30ft
Blindsense +60ft
Poison 1d8 any

SR 14+HD or 16+HD(req B SR)
Menu D

DR(or -> And, add quality)
Energy Absorption(1/2, Req Energy Immunity)
Fast Healing 8 Stacks
Size Up(Gargantuan)
True Seeing
Dimension Step +40ft or 2/round
land speed +80ft
fly speed +80
Swim speed +80ft

Blindsight +60ft
Blindsense +120ft
poison 1d10 any
Spell absorbing(temp HP)(Req SR)
Spell turning(req SR)
Menu E

DR(and x2, 3 things needed to pierce)
Energy Absorption(100%, Req Absorption D)
Fast Healing 10 Stacks
Size Up(Colossal)

Dimension Step +80ft or immediate(req C&D)
land speed +160ft
fly speed +160
Swim speed +160ft
Blindsight +120ft
Blindsense +180ft
poison 2d6 any
Spell Redirect(replace turning)(Req SR)
[/spoiler]

[Bauglir]

The main thing you have to watch out for is keeping the companion useful without being its own party member. This is an EXTREMELY tiny window of balance, and I don't think anything I've ever tried working on has quite got it right. But I wholeheartedly approve of a modular approach and then calling the result whatever animal or whatever that you want.

[veekie]

I think the key difference between a 'pet grade' and a 'party member grade' is not exactly one of power(though it does mean something), but one of options. A pet does not need too many options, hence why I ripped off pokemon in the number of 'tricks' you can command a pet to perform in combat, each trick representing one of it's activated abilities. Doesn't do jack for more intelligent pets though, since they technically have their own initiative.

[BowenSilverclaw]

As for Artificers, you can do something with Homunculi

[AfterCrescent]

veekie, why'd you pick these numbers?

Starting Ability Scores:
Magical Beast
Stats Str 10 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 4 Wis 8 Cha 8
Outsider
Str 6 Dex 14 Con 6 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 8
Distribute 16 points of bonus to stats, max +6 per stat
+1 to two stats / 2 HD + regular stat gain.

Bauglir, I agree that the window for balance is small. And thanks for the encouragement.   I partially agree with the options comment of veekie, but I think even with limited options, it can enter broken territory if those limited options are too good. So anyone with ideas of broken options to avoid, I'm definitely interested in. Never hurts to have a second pair of eyes.

Bowen, I'm AFB, so I don't actually know the specifics of the Artificer's Craft Homonculus Class Ability, but I plan on examining it, the expansions of it, and the Warforged Sub for inspiration.  Ideally I want this compendium to be able to seemlessly replace all class ability/feat companions. That's a lofty goal, but we'll see what we can accomplish

[Midnight_v]

diseregard....

[Bauglir]

Well, my best advice on types of abilities is that support is probably the best way to go, since that sort of thing makes it more of a class feature and less of an auxiliary character. The Hexblade's Dark Companion is an interesting idea, for instance, but maybe expanded on. I'd imagine attacks should be less powerful than an average character's (but maybe have debuff options like poison or acid that decreases AC or saves or something like that), but defenses should be on par with a normal character's. Also, disable "Uses the master's skill ranks" unless, maybe, the master spends a full-round action guiding it, and/or kill UMD entirely.

[AfterCrescent]

Well I plan on nixing the Skill use/UMD instantly. The easiest way possible. Each CB will advance in HD, which generates its own skills, so it'll use those.

So two ideas/questions.

On skills, should it just be that Type X creatures have Y class skills, or do we build selection for a chassis? Like maybe "Pet" "Ally" "Mount" "Guardian" etc?  I'm leaning towards the latter, personally, but I'm not sure what chassis to use..

Magical Beast is a pretty good type. d10 HD, Full BAB, 2 Good saves, Darkvision, etc. It's straight up better than the other types, save for Dragon & Outsider.  I'm already figuring there will be separate feats to make your CB a dragon or outsider. So should that be the case for Magical Beasts too? Reasons either way?

[Sinfire Titan]

Soulspark Familiar is the soulmeld you are looking for. Rather underpowered. If it could have been used as a mount, it would be much better. Really, all it's good for is being a flying glowstick.




Of course, the best mount is a Totemist. Leadership.

[AfterCrescent]

I'll look into Soulspark Familiar. Thanks SiFir.

And yes, Leadership makes the best anything, since it's the most broken feat. Which brings up another question, I'm thinking that leadership can be replaced with these rules by allowing the Humanoid/Mon Hum/Giant types. They'd follow the same basic rules. Maybe allow for some other abilities, but the key is it would be a CB, not another PC?

[veekie]

veekie, why'd you pick these numbers?

Starting Ability Scores:
Magical Beast
Stats Str 10 Dex 14 Con 10 Int 4 Wis 8 Cha 8
Outsider
Str 6 Dex 14 Con 6 Int 8 Wis 8 Cha 8
Distribute 16 points of bonus to stats, max +6 per stat
+1 to two stats / 2 HD + regular stat gain.

I vaguely remember something to do with baseline stats, modified for size(note the starting beastie is Tiny). Can't remember why the 16 points now though, it's been a while.
The Outsider being more intelligent, it can act on it's own initiative(like a minor NPC with perfect loyalty), while the Magical Beast is more of a 'brute', somewhat stronger and tougher for it's size, but dumber.
If you crank them to Small, the Outsider would be at 10/10/10/8/8/8, and the Magical Beast at 14/10/14/4/8/8, the 16 point increase with the caps could then boost 2-3 stats to roughly starting PC levels, though the remaining stats will be a good bit behind it's master.
The <8 mentals are pretty simple, didn't want the pet to be smarter than it's handler by default, so if you want a smart pet, buy it up. Not that you usually need a smart pet...

As for Leadership, yeah, that could do it too. The same Build-Your-Own thing applies in a similar manner to Polymorph and summoning really. Though in the latter two cases you'd have to set a cap on certain number of 'known critters' statistically.

[Operation Shoestring]

The Soulmeld that gives you a "soulspark familiar" is pretty useless.  The familiar cannot deliver touch spells, cannot have a soulmeld shared to it, and is a crappy combatant.  It also unshapes if it dies or goes too far away, leaving the slot bare until the next day.

[AfterCrescent]

Yeah, that soulmeld blows. I'll replace it with this system if possible. Since it can be reshaped, it'll probably have to be weaker than the other CBs, though..

Anyways, here's what I am thinking along the type/class connection. Thoughts or critiques?

Aberration: Psicrystal Affinity, Hexblade, Knight
Animal: Druid, Ranger, Wild Cohort, Wizard, Paladin, Knight, Healer
Construct: Psicrystal Affinity, Wizard, Artificer
Elemental: Wizard, Sorcerer, Dread Necromancer (Unsure about this one), Artificer
Fey: Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Hexblade, Healer
Ooze: Wizard, Sorcerer
Plant: Druid, Ranger, Healer
Undead: Wizard, Sorcerer, Dread Necromancer, Hexblade
Vermin: Druid, Ranger, Wild Cohort, Dread Necromancer, Knight

Leadership will cover Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, and Giant types
Dragon Companion will cover Dragons, duh. Same for Outsider Companion and Magical Companion (Magical Beast).

[veekie]

Hmm, certain outsiders might be familiar material though. Particularly the dumb/weak ones like imps and stuff. Same goes for Dragons and Magical Beasts, though granted, nearly all of those come from feats modifying an existing pet class feature.

[AfterCrescent]

Hmm, certain outsiders might be familiar material though. Particularly the dumb/weak ones like imps and stuff. Same goes for Dragons and Magical Beasts, though granted, nearly all of those come from feats modifying an existing pet class feature.

Well this is how I see it: Getting those companions already requires feats as it is. Plus, since it's build your own, we have to look at the value of the type itself, and those 3 types are superior to all the others. So keeping it in flavor and combined with power, it makes sense (to me at least, if I miss something, let me know ) that they need feats to get those.