Primary/Secondary or Pool: Primary
Archetypes: Mastermind
[This powerset, more than most, *screams* for customization. The set I've listed is based on creatures available in North America (well, except for the snake, which is pure fantasy...), but a set customized for an African Beastmaster could use Hyenas, Lions and a Gorilla, for instance, and use a more Cobra-like appearance for the Serpent. A more dark-themed character could use shadowy versions of the creatures listed, with raven like 'Eagles' and a demonic-looking 'Bear.' This powerset also has a serious Achilles Heel. No ranged pet utility. As a result, both of the initial MM attacks have some way of bringing a pesky flying mob down to the ground, so that the pets can reach them.]
1) A Flight of Eagles – a group of predatory birds swoop down and tear at a single foe, causing Minor Lethal Damage over Time and reducing Accuracy for a short time afterwards, with a good chance of driving a flying foe from the skies! (-Fly)
2) Wolf Pack – calls up one to three wolves which come walking up from behind the MM. Wolves have punchvoke (or, bitevoke), and get a pair of bite attacks, acting similar to Hack and Slash for damage / Def debuff. They are best used surrounding a single foe, where their taunting attacks have a chance of causing the foe to spin around, hitting one after the other, rather than killing any one of them outright.
3) Serpent’s Grasp – summons a large snake, combining the worst traits of a viper and a boa constrictor that wraps around a single foe, biting him for an initial Trivial Lethal / Moderate Toxic attack, and acting as a Hold and causing Minor Smashing Damage over Time. This ‘snake’ is only a graphical representation of the attack / hold and cannot be attacked. (Although that would make an interesting variation, a Hold that can be ‘killed,’ by anyone not the Holdee, that is…)
4) Training – Wolves gain a chance for Knockdown on any bite attack.
Mountain Lions gain a ‘pounce attack’ (treat as Build-Up, usable about once / minute?, with the cat seeming to crouch, wag it’s tail, and spring at the target for extra damage), and the Slash Claws attack (which appears as a single claw strike, and also includes a minor Lethal damage over time component in addition to the Lethal damage and –Def debuff).
The bear gains a crushing ‘bear hug,’ that does Heavy Smashing damage over time and Holds a target, and it’s Jab and Punch attacks are enhanced so that the chance for Stun (Jab) and Knockback (Punch) applies to *both* attacks.
5) Swarming Insects – calls up a swarm of buzzing wasps that do Minor Damage over Time (Toxic) to all in their area. The swarm moves around, aggroing on targets near them, but cannot be damaged, lasting about 30 seconds and covering a small area. (Sort of like a Tornado, mobile and randomly aggressive, but not attackable.)
6) Catamount – calls up one or two Mountain Lions, which drop in gracefully from the sky. They use the Claws powers of Swipe (appearing as claw attacks) and Swipe (appearing as a bite), but with an additional –Def component (similar to Broadsword attacks) and a higher Defense than the Wolves.
7) Vocalization / Call of the Wild – The MM (and perhaps her pets, wolves howl, panthers scream, bear roars / growls) throws her head back and howls into the air, paralyzing all in 30’ sphere around her in Fear, and also producing an AoE Placate-like effect, causing even those mobs that resist the Fear to lose aggro on the MM.
8) Rousing the Slumbering Giant – One *gigantic* bear comes padding onto the scene. It rears up on two legs to fight, and bashes with it’s paws for attacks that have the effect of the Super-Strength attacks Jab and Punch (but do Lethal damage instead of Smashing damage). It has a much higher Resistance than the other henchmen, and accumulates a form of Defiance that causes it to do more and more damage the lower it’s hit points get, increasingly incrementally like a Brutes Fury (not all at once like Defiance).
9) Uplift / Evolution – Each Wolf gains a form of Build-Up that triggers automatically after they Knockdown a foe, allowing them to do heavy damage to someone they’ve pulled to the ground (it costs them nothing to use, triggers automatically and can trigger every 10 seconds or so, but only lasts for a few seconds (enough time for one attack, if timed right) and only when a foe is knocked down. [Alternately, they gain a form of Containment that allows them to Critical on any foe that is Knocked Down, Feared, Slept, Held, Immobilized, etc.).]
The Mountain Lions gain the equivalent of perma-Hasten, and a claw-strike equivalent to the Follow-Up Claws attack (with a –Def component *and* a Minor Lethal DoT added!).
The Bear gains Fast Healing, Quick Recovery, Knockout Blow and Haymaker.