Animal companion aging

[Kafana]

Do animal companions age normally? Would an elf druid have to change animal companions on a regular basis due to his very long lifespan?

[Coidzor]

Do animal companions age normally? Would an elf druid have to change animal companions on a regular basis due to his very long lifespan?

Up to the DM, really.

[Kafana]

So it's not defined anywhere?

[HammeredWharf]

They don't get an ability that would stop them from aging, so yes, they age normally.

[Khatoblepas]

They don't get an ability that would stop them from aging, so yes, they age normally.

Wait, if they age normally, wouldn't they gain the mental stat bonuses from aging? Meaning they'd get like, Int 3 at middle age, up to Int 5 at Venerable? Then you'd have all old animals be sentient!

(I wonder if there's a way we can use this?)

[HammeredWharf]

Wait, if they age normally, wouldn't they gain the mental stat bonuses from aging? Meaning they'd get like, Int 3 at middle age, up to Int 5 at Venerable? Then you'd have all old animals be sentient!

Creatures with an int score over 2 can't be animals, so no.

[Curmudgeon]

Wait, if they age normally, wouldn't they gain the mental stat bonuses from aging?
What mental stat bonuses from aging? Those require an Aging Effects chart for the race, and there aren't any for Animal creatures.

[Khatoblepas]

What mental stat bonuses from aging? Those require an Aging Effects chart for the race, and there aren't any for Animal creatures.

But then if there's no aging chart for an animal, how do you know when it reaches it's maximum age, and so when it dies of old age? Does this mean that animals (and by extension, every other race that doesn't have an aging effects chart), do not age or die of old age?

Without an Aging Effects table for animals, the animals can't age by RAW. They come into existence as an entity and exist until killed. Note:


When a character reaches venerable age, secretly roll his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year.

Creatures cannot die of old age without first reaching the Venerable age catagory. If they don't have a Venerable age catagory, they can't roll their maximum age and thus they live forever.

If an animal can die of old age, it must first reach the Venerable age catagory, which gives you -6 Physical +3 Mental. If an animal can't reach the venerable age catagory, it just doesn't die of old age.