Change Animal Companion death penalty to negative levels

[DollarPhil]

I really like the custom companions and familiars, but a recent server change has made them a lot more difficult to use. Since your XP gain drops massively at 8, the effect of losing 200 XP from a dead companion is magnified hugely after L7.

Although I used my ranger's companion regularly on 3-7 quests, I simply can't afford to risk 200 XP loss from its death, and the extra supply drain that being certain of keeping it alive entails.  I appreciate that a decent penalty is needed to stop players treating these like disposable summons, but using my companion was previously a reasonable part of Utucha's concept which is now impractical. On higher level quests you're more likely to run into stuff that can pressure both you and your companion enough that you can run out of time to heal you both.

I suggest a change to the penalty system. Rather than 200 XP loss, if your companion (not familiar) dies, you are hit with a single negative level. Since these have to be bought off or last until reset, a character cannot afford to risk a companion repeatedly, or their effectiveness will go way down. However, losing a companion doesn't entirely negate the XP gain from a quest.  The result would be a penalty that is more harmful in the short term, but less harmful in the long term. Using a familiar regularly won't be an inevitable block on leveling as bad luck (such as crits on it and companion AI stupidity) stacks up, but it would still have an element of risk in return for gaining an extra party member.

EDIT:
A different idea I was mulling about was to apply spellfailure for 24 hours to a PC that loses their companion. Something else that would mess them up but could be waited out, rather then serving to hobble their chances of gaining XP.

[BoomdaddyBP]

I really think it's about the same or even making animal companions still that throw away type since there are ways to actually get rid of it or you can simply wait until a reset to basically have it as if nothing happened. Understandably it hurts to have that 200 xp loss which I have experienced plenty but with a pure build your animal companion is getting stronger every level. Just at higher levels it is more likely that you should use more buffs, perhaps, and overall be more careful.

[DollarPhil]

That's the point. There are ways to get rid of it that don't involve questing the XP back. You can hold Restoration devices in reserve against the eventuality of you getting your animal killed, or you can pay a cleric (PC or NPC) to sort you out. I don't think PCs would willingly take a negative level or maybe two in order to throw a companion at something like you would a summons, especially as you'd still get damaged if it died. Note also that the quests that are accessible to L8-9 have more elite foes that can suddenly crush you or break a line if you mess up or they get lucky, so the risk/reward for using a Companion goes out of whack.

[Paha]

My personal opinion is still that the companion is just what is says. A companion. It's not summonable being or random mob, so losing this being should have consequences that make the loss hurt, annoying even if nothing else. Also, like mentioned, they grow as strong as any compatant and can be buffed and healed, even if they are not self-drinking fighters.

[AceOfSpadesX]

This is a good suggestion, especially for PCs who have some of the more vulnerable companions. 200xp is kind of steep at those levels, and will often negate most of the xp you receive during the quest.