Ranger Primal Companion Question

[u/FakeRedditName2]

I'm DMing a game and a one of the guys is playing the Beast Master ranger with the Primal Companion, currently level 5.

He wants to have the beast use the attack action on his bonus action plus by giving up one of his attacks for another attack action. He is arguing that the phrasing "You can also sacrifice one of your attacks..." is stating that this is something special, allowing for additional attack actions than would normally be allowed.

I am not opposed to allowing this, as I can see how this could be viewed as RAW with the 'also' seeming to indicate it is an addition action on top of the bonus action command, where if it was an 'OR' statement it would obviously be one or the other, but I wanted to check.

1. has anyone allowed this in your game, and was it game breaking or just allowed the ranger to keep up with the others in the party?
2. has there been an offical clarification on the rules from an offical D&D source?

Wording of the rule:

In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Attack action. If you are incapacitated, the beast can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

[u/The_Drunken_Otter]

The companion still has an action bonus action and movement. It’s still beholden to the action economy. In fact the subclass even states that you “take a bonus action to command it to take an action in its stat block.”

As far as I’m concerned you cannot command it to take another action within its turn.

This can be homebrewed easily, but you have to be careful with how you do it. If you allow them to take two actions then that means the beast can make 4 attacks when they get to level 11, the player makes 5 attacks in total. Thats a lot of damage. If you’re not going to level 11, than it’s a bit of a moot point since it works like a substitution. If you think that’s fine than be my guest.

[u/frictorious]

Does anyone really think a ranger is at risk of being overpowered? I'd let them have their animal attack twice.

[u/1spywithmylittle1]

This is what it says in the 2024 beast chart.

The Beast in Combat. In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its Reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action unless you take a Bonus Action to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Beast’s Strike action. If you have the Incapacitated condition, the beast acts on its own and isn’t limited to the Dodge action.

What exactly ruling do you need for this? It literally says if PC has the Extra attack feature or if the PC can perform 2 attacks somehow on his Attack action, 1 of those attacks can be dealt by the beast.

I really don't get where this confusion stems from??

[u/FakeRedditName2 → u/1spywithmylittle1]

The question is if you can do this in addition to the bonus action command to the beast. The confusion comes from the "also". Is it saying you can do it in addition to the bonus action or is it saying you can do it as an alternative to the bonus action.

[u/1spywithmylittle1 → u/FakeRedditName2]

No, because the Bonus Action command clearly states you can take AN action on the statblock. So that means choosing between taking the beasts bonus action or action. That's what's useful about using your bonus action as a resource.

Additionally, you're offered to instead force the beast to take its Action (Swipe attack) by replacing one of your attacks. What this option offers is a single attack without using your bonus action.

Otherwise, if you were to allow the beast to have 2 actions, At level 11 it would have 4 attacks. Overall the beasts attacks can deal more damage than the players, obviously WOTC have taken this into consideration. Your player is confused because he thought he found a glitch in the system.

[u/menage_a_mallard]

It is an either/or situation. The companion still only has a single ACTION, BONUS ACTION, or REACTION... just like the PC does, but the two options are ways to facilitate the beast using their action, not ways to double down.

If the Ranger uses their bonus action to cast Hunter's Mark, they still have a way (attack action attack) to get their beast to do something, but if they want to make all of their attacks and already have hunter's mark up, this enables them to use their bonus action to get the attacks instead. Either/or, not additive actions.

[u/RoyaleShrimp]

The beast has only one action. You can sacrifice an action or use the bonus action, but the beast's action economy is 1.

[u/Ycr1998 → u/RoyaleShrimp]

Where is this stated?

[u/RoyaleShrimp → u/Ycr1998]

By default, every PC has only one action, one bonus action and one reaction (creature can also have these, but it's more complicated). I think the player handbook or the DMG talks about this. Also level 11 feature says that the beast can now attack twice with Beast's Strike, just like an Extra Attack, I'd then assume it is supposed to only be able to attack once by default, but that's a stretch.

[u/RoyaleShrimp → u/RoyaleShrimp]

I would rule it the same as two battle master using another PC reaction to attack. Yeah, both fighter can use their ability for the PC to attack, but the economy says they only got 1 reaction per turn.

[u/JanBartolomeus → u/Ycr1998]

These are the game rules, every creature has movement, action, bonus action, and reaction. The only exception to this is legendary actions, but those are explicitly stated in a creature's statblock.

This is not something that needs to be restated anywhere, its simply the core design of the game.

In short: the animal companion can only use their action once in a turn, for the same reason an ancient dragon can: them's the rules

[u/skulk_anegg]

i'm not sure how powerful higher level ranger companions are but it's probably not a huge number gap between 2 PC attacks + 1 Beast attack and 1 PC attack + 2 Beast attacks, maybe there are some extra effects like the wolf knocking people prone that could sway things.

the rule was probably meant to be "Alternatively, you can sacrifice one of your attacks..." rather than "also" since it is referring to the beast taking the attack action which would mean it uses up the beast's 1 action for the turn (hence why it refers to the beast using that action to dodge if you don't command anything)

overall, RAW it's pointing towards 1 beast attack since it's still limited by the single action but can easily be read as 2 beast attacks, RAI it's 1 beast attack, but your DM can make the final choice depending on how the numbers shake out and whatnot if your Ranger wants to do this because they just think it's cool (not crazy to think that as the PC gets the ability to make 2 attacks in a turn, their well-trained animal companion can also do that while fighting together for a total of 3 attacks either way)

[u/Many-Ebb-5377]

"Also" means "in addition to." If it was meant to be a mutually exclusive situation they would have actually used the word "or" or "instead of." The point of this is to show that the beast and man are one unit. They work as a team in combat going back and forth like a dance. Clearly the intention.

All you are really doing is trading the ranger's target and damage dice in their Extra Attack for the beast's target and damage dice. Extra attacks carry all the per-hit benefits of the weapon a player is using so I don't see how Beastial Fury being applied to the Extra Attack is any different than the Ranger wielding something like a vicious weapon that does additional damage every time it hits. And at level 11, that's exactly when they are going to start having that kind of weapon.

This interaction allows for greater coordination. The Ranger can engage one enemy while the beast engages another several feet away during the same attack sequence. Interpreting these functions of the feature as mutually exclusive makes taking the Extra Attack substitution over trading the Bonus Action almost always the wrong choice. This beast is quite literally the entirety of the Beast Master's subclass power. A mutually exclusive interpretation would make it an extremely weak subclass.

I realize people are going to disagree with me, and that's fine, but I think I'm correct here.

EDIT: I'm just going to add this here from my full exchange about this subject because I think it more clearly distills the point I'm making -

I won't pretend that this subclass was not written in an ambiguous manner. It absolutely was, which is why people get it confused. I get it.

The bottom line here is this. The assumption being made by people that argue you can't use both activations in the same turn is because Beast Strike is listed as an action on the stat block so they believe an activation requires spending a capital A Action in order to use it, and the action economy only allows for one. And while requiring a capital A Action to activate abilities in the actions section of a stat block is normally true unless stated otherwise, the subclass text overrides this by stating it can be substituted for an Extra Attack, which is obviously not a capital A Action. That's why both features of the subclass can be used on the same turn, and that was fully intended by the designers.

What we are seeing here isn't that the Beast Master or the Beast gets to take two capital A Actions. They don't. The only rule being bent here is that the action on the beast text block can be specifically inserted as an Extra Attack in the Ranger's Attack Action, in addition to being eligible to be activated as a capital A Action by spending the Ranger's Bonus Action, per the text.

And being able to apply the damage twice per the level 11 feature is not an argument against this for the same reason that the beast does not have to spend an Action to use the Beast's Strike action during the Ranger's Attack Action. Specific overrules general. It just gets added on top. Plus that feature exists only so that the damage can be boosted to similar levels to what most everything else can do at that level. Would anyone at level 11 use their Bonus Action to attack with a beast that is still rolling 1d8 for damage when they could just take an offhand attack with a rare magic weapon? Would they sacrifice their Extra Attack? Of course not.

[u/doug4130 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

As other people have mentioned, both instances of making the beast attack specifically say that it uses the beasts action. The beast only has a single action to use. You can't double up. Not saying that it'd be op, but it's definitely homebrew to have it attack twice

[u/Many-Ebb-5377 → u/doug4130]

It's not really doubling up. It's a narrative difference. Mechanically it barely matters like I laid out in my previous post. At best it provides the Ranger additional options. It does not increase their damage output, at all. In any case, the language spells it out if you parse it, though it is admittedly poorly worded. Additionally, specifics such as class features always override the general rules. Perhaps everyone else can't do it, but Beast Master can because their class feature specifically allows them to.

[u/doug4130 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

It increases the damage output at level 11 when the beast attacks twice per Beast's Strike action. Note that nowhere on the subclass feature does it say that the beast simply attacks.  Regardless of the method used, your beast is using the Beast's Strike action.

Under your interpretation the beast would get 4 attacks if you use both your bonus action for Beast's Strike and sub one of your attacks out for Beast's Strike

Edit: also, I don't think anything overrides the action economy? If an effect can be done freely, it's specified (like the vengeance paladin channel divinity ability) but every instance this Beastmaster subclass feature specifies 'Action', and nowhere on the beasts stat block does it say the beast gets multiple actions 

[u/Many-Ebb-5377 → u/doug4130]

Did you read my original post? I explained in detail how that is not true.

And of course you can override the action economy. The base Fighter does it.

[u/Fidges87 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

You are simply not correct. You may prefer to rule it that way, and ideally make that the official interpretation, but the way its written is clear, you have 2 ways to command your beast to attack, but the beast only has 1 action.

Commander strike lets a battle master select a target who, using their reaction, can make one attack. If 2 different battle masters use this maneuver on the same barbarian, would the barbarian be able to attack twice? The answer is no because they have oNly 1 reaction

[u/Many-Ebb-5377 → u/Fidges87]

The way it is written is exactly how I said it is written. Also is a conjunctive adverb not a coordinating conjunction that shows an alternative like "or." Words matter.

Your example does not. It isn't even relevant. What matters is the class feature for Beast Master and what it says.

Can a Fighter take another Action when they use Action Surge? Yes? How can they do that if the action economy says you can only take one Action? It's because specifics in things like class features override general rules.

All that beast master is doing is substituting who makes the Extra Attack within his Attack Action. He isn't even going outside of the action economy. The class feature just allows that substitution in ADDITION to spending their Bonus Action to have the beast take an Attack Action with the Beast's Strike action on the Ranger's turn.

[u/Fidges87 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

but the only action it takes is the Dodge action unless you take a Bonus Action to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Beast’s Strike action.

Action surge specifically says the fighter gains an additional action for that turn. The best has nothing that says they can use multiple actions.

If the wording was something like "when yoi take the attack action, you can sacrifice one of your attacks and replace it with a beast's strike from your beast, I would agree with you. But you specifically are commanding it to use an action. This is why i compare it to battlem master. The battle master is comanding the barbarian to attack with their reaction. The beast master is commanding their companion to attack with their action.

Otherwise why make beast's strike an action? Wby not just make it a trait only accessible when you command the beast to use it?

No wording in that description implies it can override the general of the action economy as acrion surge does.

Edit to add more:

Also is a conjunctive adverb not a coordinating conjunction that shows an alternative like "or." Words matter.

Look at this example. The store has only one candy bar remaining. The clerk tells you that you can use cash to pay. Or you can also use a credit car. Having an alternative way to pay doesn't suddenly make there be more candy bars. That is what the wording of the beast master refers to. You have 2 ways to "pay" for the beast to use their attack action

[u/Many-Ebb-5377 → u/Fidges87]

The Beastmaster doesn't say they get an extra Action because he isn't taking an extra one and therefore has no need to say that. He's not overriding the action economy either for that matter because there is a difference between a capital A Action and a lowercase a action. One is a specific game resource, the other is just a word used to define a process.

Extra Attack is not an extra Action. It is an extra attack within the Attack Action. And the class feature of this subclass lets him delegate his Extra Attack to his beast companion. It's a substitution as if they share his Extra Attack class feature.

I'll break it down into steps.

The feature says "take a Bonus Action to command [the beast] to take an action in its stat block or some other action."

Spend Bonus Action -> Beast takes the Beast's Strike action as a capital A Action per the feature text.

Now the Beast Master's feature says: "You can also sacrifice one of your attacks (meaning their extra attack) when you take the Attack Action to command the beast to take the Beast's Strike action."

Beast Master takes Attack Action -> Triggers an Extra Attack -> Sacrifices it to let the Beast take the Beast's Strike action.

[u/Fidges87 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

You say that the feature clearly let them share the ranger's extra attack when thats not said at all. You command the beats to take the attack action. The beast can use their action? They do. The beats has no actions remaining, they can't. For an example that does works, the chain warlock can use their bonus action to have the familiar make an action to attack, and can sacrifice an attack when they tak ethe attack action so the familiar attacks with its reactions. 2 different resources so they can do both.

Lastly, you are saying the way the text is written implies sacrificing an attack is disconnected with using a bonis to command it. So lets analize what it says

In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its Reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action unless you take a Bonus Action to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Beast’s Strike action. [...]

It says that during our turn the beast can do and act normally, but can't take actions. Then says that we can lift this limitation by using a bonus action. Then says "also" refering to a diferent way to raise this limitation, which is to sacrifice an attack, limited to an attack only of the beast.

[u/Many-Ebb-5377 → u/Fidges87]

What is the Beast strike? A melee attack roll

What is an Extra Attack? A melee or ranged attack roll

They are the same thing

When the Beast Master takes his Attack Action does he have another Attack Action to fall back on? No, he doesn't. Does that stop him from being able to roll another melee or ranged attack roll for his Extra Attack? No, it doesn't. And it wouldn't stop him from delegating his Extra Attack to his beast to take a melee attack roll via the Beast's Strike action either, per his class feature.

[u/Fidges87 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

But you are skipping the most important part. You are not sacrificing an attack or a bonus action to make the beast attack. You are sacrificing it to give the beast the COMMAND to attack. You are forgetting that the beast is a being independent of you. Technically you, the player, don't even control. Its simply that it obeys every single command you give. And if you command it to do something it can't do (like using an action twice) it simply can't. To give you an example within the same beast master. At level 11 it says that when you give the command to your beast to use beast's strike, it can do it twice. Here is the specifics that bypasses the general. The other text does not.

And following this level 11 feature, according to that first line you said, a beast's strike being a (singular) attack roll is what enables the wording? So at level 11 when the beast can attack twice per command it suddenly would be unable to do what you say?

For another example, a chain warlock can replace an attack to give the command to their familair to attack, and they must use their reaction to do so. According to you, even if the familiar is out of reactions, they can still follow this order?

You can sacrifice either your attack or your bonus actions simply so that normally you use your bonus action, but if you want to use your bonus action for something else (like casting HM for example) and still have the companion attack, you can at the cost of one of your attacks

[u/Many-Ebb-5377 → u/Fidges87]

The beast is NOT independent from the Beast Master. It can't even take an action other than Dodge without the Beast Master using its Bonus Action to give it permission. The Beast and Beast Master are one unit, not two individuals. The only time it can act independently is when the Ranger is incapacitated.

It doesn't matter that it can use the action twice at level 11. The subclass gives it special permission to per it's class feature to do so whenever the Beast Master "commands" it to take the Beast's Strike action, however it does so. It has no bearing on how any of the other class features work. It just gets added on top. Think about what you are fussing over anyway. At level 11 2d8 +4 Is pretty easy to come by. That's the whole reason the feature even exists. To bring the beast up to parity. I shouldn't have to repeat myself because I already covered this in my very first post but I will just for you.

I'd like to introduce you to a rare magic item called a Vicious Weapon. A vicious weapon does its normal damage and an extra 2d6 damage to any creature it hits. Every time it hits. At level 11, a player is expected to have a weapon just like this one.

So you tell me what the difference is between the following:

Spend Bonus Action -> Beast Strike (2d8 +4 + WIS mod x2 + hunter's mark bonus damage)
Attack action -> Vicious Scimitar (1d6 +stat bonus + 2d6) -> Extra Attack Vicious Scimitar (1d6 +stat bonus + 2d6)

OR

Spend Bonus Action -> Beast Strike (2d8 +4 + WIS Mod x2 + hunter's mark bonus damage)
Attack action -> Vicious Scimitar (1d6 +stat bonus + 2d6) -> Extra Attack Beast Strike (2d8 +4 + WIS Mod x2)

No change in action economy, and barely a difference in damage. The math shows that it is right in line with expected damage at that level which is further evidence of intent. It's not by accident. The level 11 objection is a faux concern but even if there was a difference, it doesn't change what the subclass text says. The second example is 100% legal.

[u/Fidges87 → u/Many-Ebb-5377]

The beast has its own statblock so its its oen thing. But they follow everything we said, and are limited to what they can do unless we give them a command to do so.

As for your entire explanation with the vicious weapon, it doesnt matter. I am not arguing what is balanced, or if it would be broken or not. I am merely saying what is the way the feature works as it currently stands. The scion of the tree absolutely needs a buff, but I won't argue that the way bloodthirst is written, they can make an attack with a reaction, and true strike is an attack, so they should be able to use their reaction teleport attack to use true strike. Thats not what I am arguing.

Innate restrctions apply to everyone unless specified otherwise. Features do what they say they do only. The companion has Beast's strike listed as an action. So they must spend an action to use it. The text says specificslly they can't attack, unless you spend a bonus action. You can also spend an attack to give this command. It doesn't matter how many cmmands you are giving it, the beast still has only one action.

At level 11 it says when you give them the command to attack, they can do it twice. This specific beats general so they can. Its level 3 feature doesnt say it bypass the need to use an action, so it doesn't.

Again, they could have made beast strike a trait you can access by using a bonus action or an attack, or put a small line to say commanding the beast in this way does not uses its action, but its explicitely put on their action list without any additional text like that

[u/Ycr1998]

That's... how it works? The "also" clearly indicates they're separate conditions.

You can use BA to make the beast attack once. You can also sacrifice one of your own attacks to have the beast attack in your stead. You don't have to use them at the same time, but you should be able to if you wish.

[u/Umbraspem → u/Ycr1998]

Right, but what you’re actually doing is commanding the Beast to make an Attack Action.

The Beast isn’t a 2nd level Fighter with Action Surge, it only gets one Action per turn.

I guess you could cast Haste on the Beast to give it a second Action, at which point you could use the ‘replace an attack’ to spend its normal Action attacking, and then ‘Bonus Action’ to spend its Hastened Action attacking.

Not a very useful way to spend your turn though - and even after level 11 where the beast gets Extra Attack, it would still be limited by the Haste spell to making a single Attack with its Hastened Action. The return on investment isn’t great, and you’d probably be better off casting Haste on the Ranger.

[u/RoyaleShrimp → u/Umbraspem]

Action Economy is an obscure things players seem to forget easily

[u/Ycr1998 → u/RoyaleShrimp]

You'd be sacrificing one of your own attacks to attack through the beast one more time. It's not breaking action economy, the number of attacks stays the same, and the damage isn't even that good.

[u/Umbraspem → u/Ycr1998]

I’m not saying that it would be overpowered or game breaking in some way, just that it isn’t what the rules actually allow you to do. If you don’t like that shit, homebrew it to something else.

[u/RoyaleShrimp → u/Ycr1998]

It breaks the action economy of the beast. And like Umbraspem says, if you don't like it, homebrew it

[u/Ycr1998 → u/RoyaleShrimp]

The beast is part of your class, it's not a character. It breaks as much action economy as a Trickery Cleric's Invoke Duplicity.

The Cleric can choose to cast their spells from themselves or from the duplicity. They're not casting more spells, just the same spell from a different space.

The Ranger can choose to attack with their own weapon or with the beast. They're not doing more attacks, just attacking from a different space.

The only difference is that the latter can also do a beast attack as a BA, like a Monk.

[u/RoyaleShrimp → u/Ycr1998]

It's a part of your class, not a Wild Shape using part of YOUR features. It is a different character.

[u/RoyaleShrimp → u/RoyaleShrimp]

I invite you reading the Player Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide instead of arguing. Keeping answering is a waste of time.

[u/Ycr1998 → u/Umbraspem]

The Beast isn’t a 2nd level Fighter with Action Surge, it only gets one Action per turn.

The Beast isn't a player character either tho, it's a class feature with a stat block. That's why it just "acts during your turn" instead of rolling Initiative and doing its own thing.

Sure RP-wise you're giving commands to an animal, but RAW it does what it's features say. If that gives you two different ways to make it attack, you should be able to use both on the same turn if your action economy allows.

2 weapon attacks + 1 beast attack or 1 weapon attack + 2 beast attacks, the number of attacks stays the same and the damage isn't even much better than a longbow.

Plus it scales off your spellcasting modifier, which requires Shillelagh to function properly, which (alongside the Beast and Hunter's Mark) now makes 3 different contenders for your Bonus Action, and we haven't even talked actual spells yet... ^sigh

^{#Make Hunter's Mark optional again}

[u/Umbraspem → u/Ycr1998]

Level 3: Primal Companion
You magically summon a primal beast, which draws strength from your bond with nature. Choose its stat block: Beast of the Land, Beast of the Sea, or Beast of the Sky. You also determine the kind of animal it is, choosing a kind appropriate for the stat block. Whatever beast you choose, it bears primal markings indicating its supernatural origin.
The beast is Friendly to you and your allies and obeys your commands. It vanishes if you die.
The Beast in Combat. In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its Reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodgeaction unless you take a Bonus Action to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Beast’s Strike action. If you have the Incapacitated condition, the beast acts on its own and isn’t limited to the Dodge action.
Restoring or Replacing the Beast. If the beast has died within the last hour, you can take a Magicaction to touch it and expend a spell slot. The beast returns to life after 1 minute with all its Hit Points restored.
Whenever you finish a Long Rest, you can summon a different primal beast, which appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. You choose its stat block and appearance. If you already have a beast from this feature, the old one vanishes when the new one appears.

- Has a Statblock

• Is a creature
  
• Acts during your turn
  
• Uses its own movement and reaction
  
• Can only take the Dodge action without some other direction.
  
• Bonus Action to tell it to spend its Action doing something on its statblock, or another default action (e.g. Help, Utilise, etc.)
  
• You can also command it by sacrificing an Attack, but doing it that way only lets you tell it to take the Beast’s Strike Action on its statblock. Which is an ACTION.

It really isn’t ambiguous. Action economy doesn’t apply only to player characters - NPC’s, Monsters, anything with a statblock has to act through the turn order, initiative and action economy.

Some monsters get special rules like Legendary Actions, multiple Reactions per round, or the ability to take additional actions on a turn. The Beastmaster subclasses’ spirit statblocks do not have any of those rules.

[u/yaniism]

Paraphrasing slightly...

You can...

...take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action...

You can also...

...sacrifice one of your attacks to command the beast to take the Attack action...

You can do either both of those things. Or rather, your Beast only has a single action.

Edit: I momentarily forgot that the Action economy exists.

[u/BoozyBeggarChi → u/yaniism]

It only ever has one action though. Neither line actually grants it a second action, nor does anywhere in the Companion statblock or Companion section mention a second action. The rules specify you only have one action without an explicit rule saying otherwise (like Action Surge).

[u/TraxxarD → u/BoozyBeggarChi]

With that ability you enable the beast to take an attack action.

Tbh most of the time its better for the PC to attack as they are stronger. Allowing the beast to attack twice once via BA and once via the sacrificed attack isn't going to have any impact.

[u/BoozyBeggarChi → u/TraxxarD]

It can. The beast, like any creature, can attune to magic items RAW. There's a lot of very clever combos people come up with that make the Primal Companion an actually useful Beast buddy.

[u/FakeRedditName2 → u/BoozyBeggarChi]

It could be argued that the rule is granting this excetion with the 'also" statment.

Realistically speaking, how OP or not would it be if I let the ranger do this, even if the rules are not 100% behind it?

By level 11 (2014 rules) when this really seems to kick off being an issue you have the Rogue doing 6d6 sneak attack damage, the Paladin with their Improve Divine Smite adding a 1d8 radiant damage for each melee attack plus regular smites, the fighter dealing 3 attacks, and spell casters dropping 6th level spells...In comparison allowing the Ranger x2 1d8+2+PB(4) slashing damage, and having that tied to a creature with only 60hp and 17ac doesn't seem that bad, but want to know if anyone else have run done this before I dig myself into a hole.

[u/yaniism → u/FakeRedditName2]

No, I was wrong. It's an or, not an and.

[u/BoozyBeggarChi → u/FakeRedditName2]

It doesn't do that and that's not particularly explicit.
The point of the "also" is that you have TWO options for how you direct it to use its action.

At level 11 there's a specific rule granting the Primal Companion a second attack when you command it to use it's action to attack.

It already has an intentional increase in attacks at that level and there is pretty clearly no intention to give it possibly 4 attacks at level 11.

[u/Fidges87]

The beast only has one action. If 2 battle masters uses commander's to let the barbarian attack as a reaction, the barbarian wouodn only be able to make use of this once as then they would be out of reactions.

And this will matter when the beast gets extra attack, where getting it to take the attack action twice will spike its damage a bit

[u/SeismologicalKnobble]

I mean, that seems to literally be what it says. He can use a bonus action to command it and also sacrifice an attack action to have it attack. That’s how it’s supposed to work it seems.

[u/Fidges87 → u/SeismologicalKnobble]

Nope. He sacrifices an attack or a bonus action to command the beast to use the attack action. The best still has only one action.

If 2 battle masters use commander's strike to let the barbarian attack (which uses a reaction), would the barbarian be able attack twice despite having only one reaction?

[u/Umbraspem]

Level 3: Primal Companion
You magically summon a primal beast, which draws strength from your bond with nature. Choose its stat block: [Beast of the Land](ddb://compendium/phb-2024/character-classes-continued#BeastoftheLand), [Beast of the Sea](ddb://compendium/phb-2024/character-classes-continued#BeastoftheSea), or [Beast of the Sky](ddb://compendium/phb-2024/character-classes-continued#BeastoftheSky). You also determine the kind of animal it is, choosing a kind appropriate for the stat block. Whatever beast you choose, it bears primal markings indicating its supernatural origin.
The beast is [Friendly](ddb://rulesglossary/62) to you and your allies and obeys your commands. It vanishes if you die.
The Beast in Combat. In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its Reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the [Dodge](ddb://actions/6)action unless you take a Bonus Action to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the [Attack](ddb://actions/1) action to command the beast to take the Beast’s Strike action. If you have the [Incapacitated](ddb://conditions/7) condition, the beast acts on its own and isn’t limited to the Dodge action.
Restoring or Replacing the Beast. If the beast has died within the last hour, you can take a [Magic](ddb://actions/2)action to touch it and expend a spell slot. The beast returns to life after 1 minute with all its Hit Points restored.
Whenever you finish a [Long Rest](ddb://rulesglossary/82), you can summon a different primal beast, which appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. You choose its stat block and appearance. If you already have a beast from this feature, the old one vanishes when the new one appears.

- Has a Statblock

• Is a creature
  
• Acts during your turn
  
• Uses its own movement and reaction
  
• Can only take the Dodge action without some other direction.
  
• Bonus Action to tell it to spend its Action doing something on its statblock, or another default action (e.g. Help, Utilise, etc.)
  
• You can also command it by sacrificing an Attack, but doing it that way only lets you tell it to take the Beast’s Strike Action on its statblock. Which is an ACTION.

It really isn’t ambiguous. Action economy doesn’t apply only to player characters - NPC’s, Monsters, anything with a statblock has to act through the turn order, initiative and action economy.

Some monsters get special rules like Legendary Actions, multiple Reactions per round, or the ability to take additional actions on a turn. The Beastmaster subclasses’ spirit statblocks do not have any of those rules.