Sc’math as Loyal Companion?

If true, that really sucks (and decreases the value of the Sc’math). Hopefully an official answer will be forthcoming.

Comparing to Heavy Warhorse, Sc’math has better Avoidance, an additional attack option, and NAR but has fewer talents and more flaws.

I really liked Loyal Companion when I first read it but have been becoming less and less enamored over time. Some of the listed animal types are nearly impossible to actually acquire (a prereq for the talent) and other animals that may make sense for the talent are excluded because it has an explicit list (I would have preferred something along the lines of “any non-adversary tier 1 natural animal”).

Is there a way to start with a bird of prey? They are exceedingly expensive. I just reread Heirloom (and Bestiary and FAQ) and can’t tell if they are legal for Heirloom. The talent doesn’t actually say anything about animals but then lists horses under examples – I could have sworn there was errata/changes somewhere (but can’t find it).

I guess my issue right now is that the Sc’math was an addon on the KS (eg real money) and I’m failing to see the value in it if it can’t be a loyal companion (relatively hard to command at tier 1 (slow or TN:20), does not scale at later tiers, and has all the same issues as a horse).

I fail to see the distinction between a heavy warhorse and a sc’math (one is for non-ss’ressen and the other is for ss’ressen). I had been assuming there was no issue until someone else asked the same thing in a different thread (so I decided to move the question here and ask before I have to (partially) rebuild my ss’ressen (again)).

I guess we’ll wait and see what the official answer is…

The board is not just about seeking other players opinions. It is also a place to post questions seeking official answers that will interest other people (and clearly this question interests at least one other player). I am interested in other people’s opinions as well. My intent was not to be rude (though I can see how it may have come across that way) – I was just recognizing that neither of us was likely to change our view.

If you don’t obtain the Loyal Companion talent before the end of tier 1, you are at a disadvantage (tiered = 1 per tier even if you missed previous tiers). I don’t think it’s possible to obtain the wealth needed to buy a bird of prey in tier 1. I would certainly not call any of the Loyal Companion options the equivalent of a +1 sword (unless you think all of the loyal companion options are equivalent to a +1 sword and then you *can* start with a “+1 sword” in Arcanis (just not a wolf or bird of prey)).

I don’t see the Sc’math as about making a character more powerful. I see it as the Ss’ressen warhorse (and anyone can take a warhorse as a loyal companion). Looking at the rules, I don’t even see anything barring a Ss’ressen from taking a warhorse as a Loyal Companion (though it doesn’t make sense to me that a horse would let a Ss’ressen ride it). If you think it makes a character more powerful, please explain how a sc’math companion is better than a heavy warhorse companion (there are differences but I don’t see a substantial benefit to one over the other except possibly the sc’math having higher Avoidance).

Henry
I believe he is asking if he can take loyal companion for the cs’math he bought for the kickstarter.

John

As stated in the Rules presently, you CANNOT take Loyal Companion (Ta) with a Sc’Math. All instances of non-standard animals gaining Loyal Companion are granted as other talents (ie: Infernal Servant, We Are All Her Children).

If it is intended to ‘upgrade’ your Sc’math, the easiest way to get around this would be to add to the reward document: “As part of this Kickstarter Reward, you gain the ability to take the Loyal Companion Talent with your Sc’math. You must meet every other prerequisite to gain this talent normally”.

As nobody has stated anything yet, I am thinking that the Drakhen Prestige Class from the old Ssethregore book is going to be making an appearance in the NEW Ssethregore book, and it is going to be through THAT Path, Talent, Background, etc (whatever way they chose to do it) that you can gain Loyal Companion with your new scaled friend.

I believe he is asking if he can take loyal companion for the cs’math he bought for the kickstarter.

Ah. My apologies. I read it quickly on my phone and misunderstood the question.

As Cody correctly stated, special creatures like the Sc’math require something additional such as a Path or other certificate. It cannot be taken as a standard Loyal Companion.

Henry, thanks for the official answer (even though it is not the one I wanted or expected).

Can you please explain the reasoning why the Sc’math is not eligible for Loyal Companion? Every race except Ss’ressen can have a Loyal Companion mount. The stats for the Sc’math are roughly equivalent to a heavy warhorse (Sc’math has 3 better Avoidance and NAR but several fewer talents and effectively can’t use barding).

Until someone else asked in a different thread/forum, it did not even occur to me that the Sc’math may not be eligible for Loyal Companion (in my mind, it is just a Ss’ressen heavy warhorse so “obviously” would be eligible).

Although, that does bring up another question about an assumption of mine – do Ss’ressen ride horses? I just always assumed they did not as horses would be extremely skittish around them (but I don’t recall seeing anything in the books about this).

1) This may just be my mis-conception. The Sc’math seems to fill the exact same niche as a heavy warhorse (possibly light/medium based on your later creature list) for other races. It is a different animal but I assumed (incorrectly it seems) that it would qualify for Loyal Companion just like mounts (horses) do for other races.

3) That was my assumption (that Ss’ressen and mammals don’t tend to get along too well).

2) Hmm. You may be right. Here’s a more detailed mechanics breakdown (mostly because I’m really curious) between Sc’math and heavy warhorse (format is Sc’math vs heavy warhorse):