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I have a character who has a special mount that also counts as an animal companion, per the Devoted Tracker feat from Complete Adventurer.

Is there any way of gaining the share powers ability (as found e.g. on psicrystals) on such a creature? Specifically, I am interested in being able to duplicate manifestations of my psionic powers on my mount—vigor for the both of us, mirrored share pain, and so on. Merely giving my mount the ability to use psionic powers itself is not useful for this purpose.

I do have some ideas on what an answer might look like, but I don’t know of any options for accomplishing them. Maybe make it count as a psicrystal, or embed a psicrystal in one. Or maybe a psionic nature-type class exists that does something like this? I suppose one might also be able to make a case for the magic mantle; if you feel like wading into those waters, have at.

You can assume psionic–magic transparency, but note that I’m pretty sure that those rules don’t cover the share spells feature that the companion/mount already has—anyone claiming they do would have to make that case very thoroughly and very strictly in accordance with RAW. But if it helps with any other aspect of your suggestion, psionic–magic transparency applies.

Also, note that Devoted Tracker enforces that particular order of operations: you must start with a special mount, and make that count as an animal companion. You cannot make an animal companion count as a special mount. Getting a new companion/mount for this purpose is fine (I’ll just refluff it anyway), but it has to be a mount first.

I am primarily interested in Wizards of the Coast content, Paizo content (including 3.5e Dragon/Dungeon), or Dreamscarred Press content.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ So share spells isn't transparent enough to also share powers. Is the GM as restrictive on other game elements that use the term spells but didn't anticipate psionics? (To be clear, I found a monster suitable as a mount that this DM would totally allow to share spells and powers even though the description specifies "spell effects.") \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Feb 1 '19 at 15:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ @HeyICanChan Like class features, racial/monstrous abilities aren’t mentioned in the magic–psionic transparency rule, so it’s unlear. But I really want to see this creature now, so go ahead! \$\endgroup\$ – KRyan Feb 1 '19 at 15:27
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Travel astride a kuldurath

"A kuldurath measures nearly 14 feet long, is 8 feet high at the shoulder, and weighs as much as 7,500 pounds. It is similar in shape to a rhinoceros, except its legs are longer and more muscular and it lacks the rhino’s horn; in place of this is a pair of huge, razor-sharp tusks. The hind legs of a kuldurath are much more muscular and limber than its front legs, allowing it to jump and kick with great power. A running kuldurath looks similar to a running rabbit, although it is much more menacing."

The kuldurath (Fiend Folio 116 that's originally for Pathfinder's antecedent Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition) has the—so far as I'm aware—utterly unique supernatural ability share defenses that says, "A kuldurath automatically gains the benefits of its rider’s damage reduction and energy resistances, as well as any spell effects with a range of personal." Below are its issues.

  • According to the Dungeon Master's Guide, a PC's mount's "Challenge Rating should be no more than 3 less than the rider’s character level" (204). With this in mind, the CR 8 kuldurath—that can't fly but that possesses a climb speed!—is an appropriate mount for a PC that possesses a character level of at least 11. Nonetheless, the player must consult with the GM as to where a kuldurath falls on the Paladin Level by Mount Availability chart (205).
  • If the GM obeys to the letter the rules for psionics–magic transparency (Expanded Psionic Handbook 55–6) the DM may rule that—despite the ability's name—the kuldurath's supernatural ability share defenses can't apply to anything other than spell effects exclusively. This would also forbid a kuldurath from benefiting from, for example, its rider's spell-like abilities… like those employed by the rilmani (FF 140–3) who, according to the kuldurath's description, use kulduraths as mounts.
  • Even if the GM allows the supernatural ability share defenses to work with psionic powers (as this GM would), in addition to other shared defenses, the kuldurath benefits only from effects that have the entry Range: Personal. This means that while a kuldurath mount could benefit from its rider having manifested the 1st-level psion/wilder power vigor [psychometabolism] (XPH 140), the kuldurath mount couldn't benefit from the rider's manifestation of the 2nd-level psion/wilder power share pain [psychometabolism] (XPH 132).

In short, this gray-scaled rhino-bunny from the Outlands is far from a perfect answer to the question, but at least it's something to consider until a third-party publisher releases for Pathfinder a supplement like Mounts I Wish Existed So Now They Do.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ That’s going to be hard to use for me (the size alone could be problematic—my character is a halfling! and we spend a lot of time in tight corridors), but that’s an awesome critter. I think I’m going to hold off on accepting an answer—none of these is likely to be “what worked for me,” and I would have preferred a straight, explicit example (though it does seem to not exist), but +1 nonetheless. Also, now Mounts I Wish Existed So Now They Do might end up in fitting in a heading entitled Supplements I Wish Existed So Now They Do. \$\endgroup\$ – KRyan Feb 1 '19 at 19:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ @KRyan All of my research on 3.5 mounts (and I think I can say with some confidence that's a lot) says that—although there are some difficulties with climbing aboard and climbing off—nothing stops a rider from using a mount that's more than one size category bigger than it, and the corridor thing is solved with the incredibly awesome magic item belt of the weasel. No matter what, though, good luck on your quest, sir. \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Feb 1 '19 at 19:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ Oh, yeah, I wasn’t suggesting that it would be a mechanical problem, just possibly awkward for the character. The plan with an alternate mount had been to refluff, but it’s a little harder to refluff a 7,500-pound rhino-bunny as my trusty riding dog :P The belt of the weasel is awesome though, thanks for pointing that out. Actually, with that... maybe I will go with this. You may well get the checkmark at some point in the future (though it’ll probably be a bit). \$\endgroup\$ – KRyan Feb 1 '19 at 19:22
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    \$\begingroup\$ @KRyan No problem. Take your time. True Story: I was a player in a CSI-style Innistrad-set Pathfinder campaign, and I was tasked with putting together another player's druid PC. Fleetwood, her elephant animal companion, was incredibly inconvenient until I discovered the belt of the weasel. That magic item enabled the druid to bring Fleetwood into people's homes during investigations. Folks could, because of the belt, literally ignore the elephant in the room. \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Feb 1 '19 at 19:35
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The does not appear to be a published option to accomplish what you want.

I see two possibilities work arounds.

One is a workaround, rather than a solution, a poor man's share powers, if you will.

The power Soul Crystal creates a crystal containing one power, and a maximum number of power points based on the manifester's level. Any creature holding the crystal can manifest that power as long as the power points last, and even choose augments, if the power allows.

This probably requires the creature to be smart enough to pull this off. A familiar or psicrystal probably could, a mount or animal companion probably can't, unless alternate companions are in the table.

The second option is more likely, but still problematic. Elemental Envoy feat allows one to replace a psicrystal with an Elemental Steward, who then gains the same boosts, abilities, and progression as a psicrystal, including the Share Powers ability.

This is the only other creature that is a valid target for the Share Powers ability to my recollections.

Being small creatures, it would be tough to make them a mount, and they are elementals, not animals.

If there exists an elemental as animal companion or mount variant somewhere, then this becomes easier.

Also, a generous DM might allow the Stewards to advance using elemental hit dice anyway, and thus becomes larger, if that is needed.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah, all I got was the elemental envoy, too. I was hoping your familiarity with the fan-made-but-WotC-approved Dark Sun stuff would provide another avenue even though that stuff's outside the asker's ideal range of material. \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Jan 30 '19 at 17:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ I will check, maybe over my lunch break, I'll have time to check. \$\endgroup\$ – nijineko Jan 30 '19 at 17:34
  • \$\begingroup\$ Soul crystal is useless to me; the point of share powers isn’t just to get the power on the companion, but to also duplicate the power when it’s manifested, saving actions and power points. Elemental Envoy, I’ll have to look into, but if the elemental steward is a particular creature, it is very unlikely we’ll find any option to get that particular creature as a special mount (which would be necessary, since Devoted Tracker allows you to count your mount as animal companion, rather than the other way around). Some elemental, sure, but that particular one seems unlikely. \$\endgroup\$ – KRyan Jan 30 '19 at 18:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also, I think your bit about psicrystal HD is off-base—the advancement is irrelevant, since no companion creature gains XP and advances normally anyway. More relevant is that the “HD As master’s HD” is fairly reminiscent of the way familiars work—except that familiars specify that familiars only count as having that much HD “For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice,” while I can find no similar statement for psicrystal. RAW, it would seem, psicrystals gain real HD–and thus feats—rather than just counting as having a certain number of HD. \$\endgroup\$ – KRyan Jan 30 '19 at 18:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ @KRyan The description of the psicrystal as a monster under the combat heading (XPH 208) straight-up says that a psicrystal’s “Hit Dice are equal to its master’s Hit Dice (counting only levels in psion or wilder),” and, damn, do I wish that parenthetical weren't there! \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Jan 30 '19 at 18:54

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