Animal Bond + Dominate Beast, acceptable combination? Plus other AB & DB stuff

[PiXeL01]

Since it was not that a stupid question after all as it sparked at discussion then let's continue here:

So Animal Bond can be done every round until success has been achieved, but should it be allowed to be done against an animal being held mesmerized by Dominate Beast or similar effects?
I vaguely recall an example of a beastmaster going into the jungle and tried to bond with some cats but got eaten.

Also, should both of these Talents be touch range because of awesome?

[Telarus]

I think you may be mis-reading the Talent slightly. There is no "bond" effect separate from the Attitude Improvement. Once the Attitude is improved to Loyal, the animal counts as an animal companion. (Thus, you must wait the required time between rolls.)

I also agree with Mataxes in the other thread, I think uses of Dominate Beast count as mistreatment for the purposes of Attitude.

[The Undying]

Both your questions I think are "whatever feels right for the table." The book doesn't provide any specifics. As long as the table agrees, especially if this is a retroactive change to an existing game, I think all is fair, go with what's fun.

For me, touch would be a requirement for Animal Bond. Yes, it's magical, but I just can't envision execution without some actual cuddling and patting. Dominate Beast (DB), though, I wouldn't put into the touch range but would put into strike range (say 10 yards). You need to be close enough to really impose your presence upon the beast, but I wouldn't say you'd need to grab it by the horns and press your foreheads together. Really, especially for DB, I'd say talk with the player, find out how he thinks his character would perform the Talent, and that establishes the range. This is, more than anything, a great opportunity for the player to flesh out how his character interacts with the world around him, actually think about what the character is doing with a Talent rather than "I use X *rolls dice* success!"

As for DB impact on attitude, I'd say that it should degrade it, either straight to hostile or just a one-step loss. Even if an animal doesn't understand the concept of magic, I'd say that they should understand something is imposing on its will, which should not make it happy in the long term. But, this is flavor-driven, nothing in the book says that, it does technically degrade the Talent by adding a disadventage ... but, I think flavor is more important here with minimal significant change.

Lastly, on the explanation of "bond," Tel covered it, but here's a reference for the reference-minded:

Note: Many of the Beastmaster’s talents and abilities refer to Animal Companions. An animal may be considered an Animal Companion if it has a Loyal attitude towards the Beastmaster. See the Animal Bond talent on p. 125 for details.

[Tattered Rags]

Really, especially for DB, I'd say talk with the player, find out how he thinks his character would perform the Talent, and that establishes the range. This is, more than anything, a great opportunity for the player to flesh out how his character interacts with the world around him, actually think about what the character is doing with a Talent rather than "I use X *rolls dice* success!"

This.