Help please with custom hero?

[Axian]

So I'm trying to figure out and balance this hero, and I'd appreciate some help!

The core concept of the hero is a sort of "shamanic beast master", who is at all times accompanied by a mystic beast.

At the beginning of the quest, and at the beginning of every turn of yours, you choose the shape of the mystic beast: wolf, bear, or panther. It is controlled by the player the same as mercenaries etc.

The mystic beast mirrors the hero's statistics, including bonuses to attack and defense from gear.

The beast's body points and mind points are tracked separately from the hero's, and changing the beast's shape does NOT reset its BP and MP.
If it reaches zero BP or MP, it is gone for the current quest, but it is available again for the next game.

The three different beast shapes grant different bonuses to both the hero and the beast: the wolf grants +1 attack die; the beat grants +2 defend dice; the panther grants an extra movement die and the ability to move through opponents.

So, these are the bits I don't really want to change, because I'm really happy with how it all works on the board: the hero is super fun to play because you can, at every turn, adapt your hero to the strategy you want to pursue or the situation you're currently facing.

I can see this hero is VERY powerful:
He has endless uses of specific buffs (+1 AD; +2 DD; +1MD & special movement)
He controls two virtually identical pieces on the board (the hero and the beast having the same statistics), meaning you are able to deliver 2 attacks, use your beast as a meat shield to pin opponents, block passages, etc.

What this is means is the hero needs some heavy nerfing with the BP & MP stats, starting gear, and usable gear.

My current version is: 5 BP & 4 MP, starting with a staff (so 1 AD & 2 DD), and unable to use metal armor (that's helmet and chain/plate). Shield is allowed.

As I said before, the character is very fun to play because every turn you get to decide if your best option is tank enemies and hold the line (bear), make stronger attacks (wolf), or move faster & outflank enemies by moving through them (panther). It is visually satisfying because you get to swap the beast's mini every time you change its shape (I use the bear, wolf and panther from the 2011 Drizzt & Ashardalon D&D board games). It is comfy to play because you only need to track the beast's BP and MP, for everything else you use the same statistics as the hero's.

In play it is, of course, very strong. So here's a list of possible nerfings or limitations I'm considering:

- BP may be lowered to 4, as you'd still get 4 for you and 4 for you beast, still totaling 8.

- Giving it "same gear restrictions as the wizard". I don't particularly like the idea of a character who cannot progress with new gear, especially considering that this is a hero that you basically fight monsters with, and that the expansions introduce mightier and mightier monsters.

- No gear limitations but "you pay twice the cost for new gear" (because it needs to be consecrated or something), thus slowing down the gear upgrade speed.

- Making a custom list of usable weapons and armor, thus setting specific limitations to top weapons and armor.

What should I do? What would you do? Some of the above? Something else entirely?

[lestodante]

I suggest to not copy other characters limitation, like denying metal armor usage. It is a beast master, not a classic wizard, so why not allowing him to use standard weapons?
I would add instead a limitation to the beast shape changing, maybe introducing the cost of 1 mind point each time you wish to change shape to your lovely pet.
If you don't like the idea of using Mind Points because could be too limiting, introduce some special tokens. He has a limited number of tokens and each time the beast is changing its form, a token is discarded.
Beetween quests, the beast master must roll 1 red die and will recover as many tokens as the number shown by the die. Or decide a fixed number of tokens that will be recovered (instead of rolling the die). Or recover as many tokens as the number of body points left to the beast at the end of the quest.
This will add much more strategy for your character because the player can't abuse of the shape changing and must save some token for the next quest.
If your character has 2 standard defend dice, allowing him to add two extra dice would be too much. Or give the bonuses only when the beast is adjacent to the hero. Anyway I guess if the beast is defeated, no more bonus should be granted to the Beast Master and all tokens are discarded at once. He may summon a new beast from the next quest, with a fixed number of token. Hope it helps, ciao!!

[Axian]

I'm considering gear limitations because this definity is a magic type of hero: he has a magic, shapeshifting beast companion, not a regular animal, and the bond between the two, that causes the hero to be buffed, is definitely magic.
While I'm thankful for your ideas, I don't like the idea of limiting the number of times you can change the beast's aspect, basically because it limits what's unique and fun about the hero. I would rather limit anything else!
I agree that the bear aspect +2DD is too much, unless the hero isn't allowed to wear armor. If he is, then +1 DD is enough.
I like your suggestion of trying to think out of the box.
These are some of the ideas I'm considering right now, and I'd love your feedback.
I'm currently considering 4 BP and 4MP, and the following rule: you can use all weapons and armor, but you must consecrate each item before using it. Consecrating an item costs the same as the item. Artifact weapons and armor don't require consecration.
Having such a small BP value really requires careful play, which I like.
Another possibility would be to have the hero and the beast have a single BP pool between the two or (which is the same) have the hero lose BPs when the beast is wounded. I believe a value of 6 BP (with 4 MP) could be ok. While a total of 6 BP might seem low, you'd get several perks: you get to keep both the hero and the beast in play until your last BP; healing potions and spells would restore you and the beast; the whole thing would become even easier to track with a single BP pool instead of two.

[lestodante]

if you don't limit the times the beast can mutate, it will be a bit overpowered. It is like having a wizard being able to cast one of the following spells per turn, without the need of discarding them: Courage, Rock Skin and Swift Wind+Veil of Myst.
Although Courage grants +2 dice and Rock Skin only +1 die (in the US version at least) they are approssimatively the same effects of your Wolf and Bear.
Another idea is to mentally link the beast to its master, so they share the same Body and Mind points. If one of the two suffer a damage, the other will suffer too.