Dogmeat D&D 5e edition & Taming the beast

[. Shadowblade .]

Because rogues could use a company of faithful pet especially for situations when other party members are not around or busy with mooks - is there a way how to increase the survivability of a pet (which is not Beastmaster's companion) ?
eg. the only trained pet in PHB - Mastiff - has just 5 hps

Maybe custom made light (leather) armor for dog and magic of fellow party casters, other ideas?
(for Rogue hero)


Do I need Animal handling skill for taming the wild beast (for pet with more hps) or it just helps when taming?
(no animal control magic, Beastmaster or Druid)

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'd probably let you buy doggie barding, if you really wanted it. I doubt it'd unbalance anything.

And you don't *need* any skill to do anything, it just increases your modifier if you have it.

[Ralanr]

A buddy of mine played a Rogue/Fighter who had a pet dog. Worked out fine without being broken in any way, even with using his action to attack and order his pet to distract targets.

[Grek]

Mounted Combat + Ride the dog.

[. Shadowblade .]

Mounted Combat + Ride the dog.

I would need Dire wolf as mount for that :smallsmile:

[Slipperychicken]

PHB 155; Barding (i.e. armor for animals) costs four times as much as equivalent armor made for humanoids, and weighs twice as much. In this case, I'd say it's fair to let it weigh the same amount because mastiffs are medium sized. If you find yourself fabulously wealthy, you could even buy fullplate for your canine companion.

Also, talk to your DM about letting the dog "level up" when it fights alongside you. Maybe it could have a CR equal to 1/4 the party's average level, with its proficiency bonus, damage, and hit dice increasing accordingly.

[SharkForce]

various effects can provide temporary HP for your pet. at lower levels, heroism is your best bet (5 HP per round). at higher levels, that buffer will obviously not do nearly enough.