Rules for druid gaining new animal companion

[SleepyBadger]

Unfortunately there's precious little in the core rules about how a druid acquires a new animal companion only that it requires a 24-hour uninterrupted ritual to bind it. Now the question is, does the druid have to find the animal beforehand or does it get summoned by the ritual itself? (Assuming it gets performed in an environment the animal feels comfortable in.) And how about the training? The animal will instantly know the bonus tricks but how about the regular ones? According to the PHB teaching a trick usually requires a week. But it does not state whether it is a whole week without adventuring or whether it is enough to have a lesson or two every evening with your pet. Do you know about any supplemental rules? How do you normally play that?

[balistafreak]

When I initially read this I thought this was a proposition to replace a Druid's Animal Companion with... another Druid. :smalleek:

Back on topic... I handwave the business. Handle Animal checks/tricks is a pain in the arse to micromanage training and usage in combat. I just go with "you spend X time training your animal, and then boom, you can micromanage it however you want through your 'druidic bond', I don't want to bother arguing over animal intelligence and interpretation".

Perhaps it's more powerful, but it's simpler.

[SleepyBadger]

I just edited the title so hopefully it won't be misunderstood again :smallsmile:
Well thanks for the idea. I just thought druids would be powerful enough as they are so a few restrictions wouldn't hurt...

[kharmakazy]

When I initially read this I thought this was a proposition to replace a Druid's Animal Companion with... another Druid. :smalleek:

Back on topic... I handwave the business. Handle Animal checks/tricks is a pain in the arse to micromanage training and usage in combat. I just go with "you spend X time training your animal, and then boom, you can micromanage it however you want through your 'druidic bond', I don't want to bother arguing over animal intelligence and interpretation".

Perhaps it's more powerful, but it's simpler.

Heck, I thought this was how it worked RAW. Admittedly not familiar with those rules, but I thought druids didn't have to train animal companions, they just did what they were told.

[SleepyBadger]

Heck, I thought this was how it worked RAW. Admittedly not familiar with those rules, but I thought druids didn't have to train animal companions, they just did what they were told.
No, at least not according to raw. Druids would grant bonus tricks to the animal which don't have to be trained on but the animal is also capable of learning tricks normally (3 per Int score). Now I presume a wild animal does not come with predefined tricks (hey, I just recently learned Attack II. from a bumblebee), so those would have to be trained on. Until then the druid can push the animal with a handle animal check (at +4) to perform the requested trick.

[Taelas]

They are still of animal intelligence, so everything the animal is pushed to do should be interpreted by the GM.

Tricks, of course, are a different matter altogether; these are specific and you teach an animal to do them on command.

But animals won't just attack, for example -- you have to order them to (unless you or they are attacked first). Handling an animal companion is a free action and DC 10, though, so it isn't exactly difficult; most of the time, you can simply say you order your animal to do it. It only becomes important if some of the negative modifiers are in play (or if your Handle Animal skill is very low).

[SleepyBadger]

But animals won't just attack, for example -- you have to order them to (unless you or they are attacked first).

I guess they would if they know the tricks Attack I. and Attack II. because that's what they're meant for... but an animal would not automatically guard her companion druid unless it knows the trick Defend. At least that's how I interpreted the Handle Animal rules but they are pretty vague.

[Taelas]

Technically, you're right -- but I wouldn't force a druid to teach his animal companion Defend for it to automatically defend the druid.

[SleepyBadger]

That's also true. I just don't want the whole process to be automatic as Balistafreak suggested. As a DM I would definitely allow the first animal companion to start fully trained, but this would be quite irrational for the ones the druid has access to at higher levels.

[Coidzor]

That's also true. I just don't want the whole process to be automatic as Balistafreak suggested. As a DM I would definitely allow the first animal companion to start fully trained, but this would be quite irrational for the ones the druid has access to at higher levels.

Once you get to higher levels, the druid doesn't need to teach his animal companion any tricks due to the free action handling and pushing. :smallconfused:

[Taelas]

It's a move action to push their animal companion. Also, you would need +24 Handle Animal -- which, while hardly impossible, is not something most people are going to shoot for -- to be able to push with no chance of failure... assuming it is not currently under any negative modifiers, in which case you'd need +2 more for each negative condition.

[SleepyBadger]

It's a move action to push their animal companion. Also, you would need +24 Handle Animal -- which, while hardly impossible, is not something most people are going to shoot for -- to be able to push with no chance of failure... assuming it is not currently under any negative modifiers, in which case you'd need +2 more for each negative condition.
That's right. So I suppose it's still important to give the animal a proper training. The problem is that this still does not clarify the original questions. But perhaps this means that there is no official rule for these and you just have to wing it.

[Cerlis]

I think yall are interpretting the rules to literally. An animal companion isnt just going to stand there as his master is attacked. he will defend her, its in the animals personality. however how he defends her is probably up to tricks. Defend is to purposefully stay near a person and attack and assist them if any enemies approach. A companion might attack of its own accord but a well trained animal knows not to just attack anytime it feels there is a threat. thats what growling, barking, and mewling is for. Once the Druid tells its pet "yes its ok to attack it" it will be let loose. We have all seen movies where there is an animal. and no matter how "smart" or good the animal is, its limited to its intelligence. which usually results in plot situations such as the Master getting attack, the animal defending and it getting killed (when the master might have told it to stay), or it running off and chasing a bad guy and getting lost in the forest.


There is actually alot of room for the Player and DM to team up (and thus room for the player or DM to get in arguments) over an animal companion, since its basically an NPC that has details a player determins and the player can "force" it do do things, but is still technically an NPC.

Of course most people play as if the animal companion is telepathically controlled by the Druid, which is usually easier.

[SleepyBadger]

Yes, although I was really curious about how others would play the new animal getting involved. I wanted to avoid playing it like "OK, your new pet appears out of nowhere at the end of the ritual and will follow your telepathic commands from now on".

[Cieyrin]

I try to stick to RAW when it comes to skills, though I assume a starting druid has had adequate time to fill up their companion's trick slots. As long it's reasonably within the training they've been given, I tend to let it slide. When a druid tries to have their companions and summons act like Special Forces with retreats and feints and special combat maneuvers, I tend to get a bit annoyed and remind people that they're animals, not familiars.

As for acquiring new companions, I tend to make it a mini-quest where the druid has to go to the animal's native environment first (no polar bears in the tropics or sharks in the desert), make an appropriate Knowledge(Nature) check to know the animal's habits and then do the ritual. Sometimes they'll just have to make do with what's commonly in the area, which can be an interesting thing all by itself.

[SleepyBadger]

I try to stick to RAW when it comes to skills, though I assume a starting druid has had adequate time to fill up their companion's trick slots. As long it's reasonably within the training they've been given, I tend to let it slide. When a druid tries to have their companions and summons act like Special Forces with retreats and feints and special combat maneuvers, I tend to get a bit annoyed and remind people that they're animals, not familiars.

As for acquiring new companions, I tend to make it a mini-quest where the druid has to go to the animal's native environment first (no polar bears in the tropics or sharks in the desert), make an appropriate Knowledge(Nature) check to know the animal's habits and then do the ritual. Sometimes they'll just have to make do with what's commonly in the area, which can be an interesting thing all by itself.
Yes, that's a nice idea. Even if it is not stated by RAW it is obvious that the ritual needs to be performed in the creature's natural environment. But then you would also assume that the animal gets summoned by the ritual itself? Provided the druid has the appropriate nature skills?

[Cieyrin]

Yes, that's a nice idea. Even if it is not stated by RAW it is obvious that the ritual needs to be performed in the creature's natural environment. But then you would also assume that the animal gets summoned by the ritual itself? Provided the druid has the appropriate nature skills?

I think of it more as a calling effect than a summoning effect, personally. You put out something the animal likes and you lure it in so you can form a bond, enhancing its strengths as you invest it with your personal channel to the forces of nature.

[Coidzor]

About the closest thing I've seen in fiction to anything like an animal companion ritual would be from the Vlad Taltos novels (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Jhereg_%28novel%29) by Stephen Brust, where the titular character is bonding what is essentially a cross between a faerie dragon and a wyvern to his soul.

[SleepyBadger]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Had a look at the books too :smallsmile: