How do I handle an animal companion?

[huttj509]

Got me a party I'm DMing for, 3 characters, and I'm not sure how to properly handle the druid's animal companion.

a) Let the Druid control the companion as another character, choosing exactly where to move, who to attack, etc. This seems to negate the whole 'extra tricks' that animal companions get, as there's little need for any of them.

b) I control the companion, but the Druid gives commands, which I decide how to follow. The problem here is me sort of playing the character's class feature for them.

c) somewhere in between.

Basically I want to preserve the feel of the companion being a seperate entity, thoiugh utterly loyal to the druid. Advice?

[Ormagoden]

Why run it yourself?

You're going to control the animal companion for him? No point... After all its loyal to the max.

Cut out the middle man let the player run it like they're supposed to.

[Draz74]

Cut out the middle man let the player run it like they're supposed to.

No, technically, by RAW, they're not supposed to have total control like this. That's just a rule that a lot of groups blur or ignore for the sake of making the game play faster and smoother.

[Math_Mage]

As someone playing a druid in a campaign right now, the current status of my animal companion is that *in theory* I have to roll plenty of Handle Animal checks to govern the interaction between my character and her animal companion (else what's the point of that class feature granting +4 to HA checks involving your animal companion?), but *in practice* it turns out more like your option 1.

[Gerrtt]

Basically, to get their animal companion to be able to do what they want they need to use the handle animal skill. At early levels, depending on charisma, this means the animal might not always do as it's supposed to, but by level 3 or so the animal pretty much always acts the way they are told thanks to skill ups and the bonus that the druid gets to handling their animal.

So, let the player dictate what the animal companion does. It's supposed to be under their control. Just let the dice do what they are supposed to at the same time.

[frogspawner]

It may be loyal, but not an automaton. The DM doesn't need extra work, though. So I'd suggest the Druid has to make some sort of roll (morale?) when it does something scary/unnatural (normally including attacking). If it fails, he has to roll on a table for what it does - which would usually be "do nothing" but might be "run and hide", etc...

[Greenish]

If the animal companion doesn't know the trick, druid has to use move action to make the companion do as he wishes.

Teaching the animal a trick thus makes using it in combat a free action instead of move action, and far from pointless, even when the druid plays the animal.


[Edit]: Worth pointing out too is that you don't technically need any ranks in HA to make the animal companion perform a trick it knows.

It may be loyal, but not an automaton. The DM doesn't need extra work, though. So I'd suggest the Druid has to make some sort of roll (morale?) when it does something scary/unnatural (normally including attacking). If it fails, he has to roll on a table for what it does - which would usually be "do nothing" but might be "run and hide", etc...Why reinvent the wheel Handle Animal skill? Getting the pet to attack unnatural enemies takes two tricks.

[Devils_Advocate]

Attempting to get their animal companions to perform tricks they know is a free action for Druids and Rangers, which means that it's up to DM fiat how many tries they get. I say just let them automatically succeed on this. For that matter, let them do it on their animal companions' turns, too; so far as I can see, animal companions have their own Initiative instead of acting on their masters' turns.

Once a PC has the ability to make an animal companion attack whatever they say to attack or whatever, declaring that they instruct the animal to do it means, barring exceptional circumstances, that the animal does it. But if the animal companion hasn't been trained to do something, it takes a DC 25 Handle Animal check to get it to do it. This isn't due to a lack of loyalty; it's due to the difficulty of conveying one's intent to a cohort with an Int of 2 who is less than fluent in any language.

The speak with animals spell can get around this, but only temporarily. A dog is maybe as smart as a three-year-old human, and probably doesn't have much in terms of long-term memory. This it why is takes a week to teach one a trick.

It's reasonable to assume that an animal companion already knows the normal maximum of 6 or 3 tricks at the start of the game, in addition to bonus tricks.

Unless successfully instructed to do otherwise, an animal companion's priorities are probably, starting at the highest, roughly as follows:

- Attack or flee from creatures attacking it
- Avoid obvious threats to its life
- Avoid obvious threats to its health
- If hungry or thirsty, find food or water
- Avoid pain and discomfort
- Follow master
- Attack creatures threatening master
- Attack creatures threatening anyone else who gives it yummy treats

[Sophismata]

Unless successfully instructed to do otherwise, an animal companion's priorities are probably, starting at the highest, roughly as follows:

- Attack or flee from creatures attacking it
- Avoid obvious threats to its life
- Avoid obvious threats to its health
- If hungry or thirsty, find food or water
- Avoid pain and discomfort
- Follow master
- Attack creatures threatening master
- Attack creatures threatening anyone else who gives it yummy treats

I disagree. Given what an animal companion is, and the literature from which they are derived, I'd argue:

- Defend and protect its master.
- Ensure its own survival.



Directly addressing the original post, I would ordinarily control the animal at the direction of the player. Since tricks are free actions, the player can essentially give whatever orders it desires, given two caveats:

- The animal companion has very limited ability to reason.
- The animal companion will act according to its nature.


So, ordering an animal companion to attack does not mean that animal walks in, provoking attacks of opportunity so that it can flank with the rogue. It does mean that the animal attacks to the best of its ability, given its nature.

Keep in mind that, as pack animals, wolves and fleshraker dinosaurs (as an example) are quite likely to flank targets wherever appropriate. Bears are probably not.

[absolmorph]

You handle an animal companion with your hands.
How much SAN damage is that?