ingenua
2009-09-20, 07:03 AM
Hi! I'm a newbie player and just starting my third game, right here in GITP: Rise of Darkness (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122643), DM'd by DemonWasp. Made myself a level 1 Druid, Kvenil (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=149025), and a baby owl companion, Eui. (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=149437)
Then I realised a companion wasn't the same as a familiar. Now I'm trying to get my head around the mechanics of playing it ... through my interpretation of the Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm) skill. Need some clarification, please :)
Specifically, the idea of tricks. I chose seven for Eui (6 for 2 int + 1 for being a companion): Attack, Come, Down, Fetch, Heel (which I'm calling "Return"), Seek and Ride.
Few questions:
'Ride' is a homebrew. The trick gets the owl to ride on another person or creature as a mount. Eui's preferred mode of transport is to ride on Kvenil's shoulder rather than having to fly around behind her. With this trick I could get her to ride one of Kven's friends, as well. Is this reasonable for a trick?
But that makes 'Come' and 'Heel' basically the same thing, right? Or maybe it makes 'Heel' a combination of 'Come' and 'Ride on my shoulder like you usually do'. Or are they still different, and how?
If not, do I get to choose another trick? :P
Finally, if I send the owl out to 'seek' as in this situation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6955213&postcount=201), not being a sentient creature with communication skills, how would it show my character what it had found? A wolf could point, and in the forest where it was trained the owl could hover over what it had found or perch in the nearest tree, or just go and catch something small like a mouse. Here in a cavern full of tangled webs, I don't exactly want it to attack a giant spider (and I don't think even a baby owl is that silly). And what if it sees more than one? Is this workable?
Hope someone can help!
Ingenua
Then I realised a companion wasn't the same as a familiar. Now I'm trying to get my head around the mechanics of playing it ... through my interpretation of the Handle Animal (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/handleAnimal.htm) skill. Need some clarification, please :)
Specifically, the idea of tricks. I chose seven for Eui (6 for 2 int + 1 for being a companion): Attack, Come, Down, Fetch, Heel (which I'm calling "Return"), Seek and Ride.
Few questions:
'Ride' is a homebrew. The trick gets the owl to ride on another person or creature as a mount. Eui's preferred mode of transport is to ride on Kvenil's shoulder rather than having to fly around behind her. With this trick I could get her to ride one of Kven's friends, as well. Is this reasonable for a trick?
But that makes 'Come' and 'Heel' basically the same thing, right? Or maybe it makes 'Heel' a combination of 'Come' and 'Ride on my shoulder like you usually do'. Or are they still different, and how?
If not, do I get to choose another trick? :P
Finally, if I send the owl out to 'seek' as in this situation (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6955213&postcount=201), not being a sentient creature with communication skills, how would it show my character what it had found? A wolf could point, and in the forest where it was trained the owl could hover over what it had found or perch in the nearest tree, or just go and catch something small like a mouse. Here in a cavern full of tangled webs, I don't exactly want it to attack a giant spider (and I don't think even a baby owl is that silly). And what if it sees more than one? Is this workable?
Hope someone can help!
Ingenua