Yeah, it's kinda weak for anything resembling combat, but there's some utility there.
I've gone through those sources, yeah. I'm aware of plant companion, but it seems a bit weak and has like a billion moving pieces. If there's a combination that makes it good, it'd be worth knowing about. Tricky part of it is that I'd probably have to rate each ability individually. Not that that strictly precludes inclusion, but it's a lot of work and handbook space for something that's probably weaker than normal companions. As for monstrous, I wasn't sure if I'd seen it, but now that I've looked I'm pretty sure I have. It's appealing on the surface, but the creatures you're getting aren't that exciting, and the fact that you have to wine and dine your companion reduces the utility by a whole lot. I'll take another look at the possible creatures though.Are you interested in Dragon mag stuff? I have issues that contain the plant companion and monsterous companions.