Before I spend the talents and have to rebuild if it's not allowed...

Can Loyal Companion be taken for Sc'math for those Ss'ressen that have one? I would assume yes since it is the Ss'ressen equivalent of a war horse.

unless the scmath is one of the above listed things OR has specific text on it that says is can be a loyal companion im going to go with no.

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").

you mean are impossible to aquire in the living campaign.... so your missing out on wolves? everything else is purchasable in some form and there have been certed animal exceptions already.... so whats your issue?

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...

I am not going to take offence (again) at this line:
I guess we'll wait and see what the official answer is...

but please realize that if you only want an offical answer send an email, by posting this to the boards you are opening up the forum to all sorts of people, including me, this is tantamount to just telling me my opinion is not worthy of consideration (and incredibly rude)

oh so you have changed the conversation from "whats possible" to "what can I begin play with" and it would be pretty difficult to start with a bird of prey, but then again thats what character progression is about, do you play DnD and expect to start with a +1 sword

I am fairly certain that PCI intended that the kickstarter rewards were not about making your character more powerful, they were about providing different limited options

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).

Hello Steve,

Given that the Sc'math was a buy in from the Kickstarter, they are not available for "purchase" for the Living Campaign.

Sorry.

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

John

Correct. I already have the Sc'math from the Kickstarter. I would like to take Loyal Companion for it (it seems to basically be a ss'ressen warhorse but is not on the list of allowed animals for the Loyal Companion talent).