Reptilian animal companion

[Malapterus]

I am venturing into my very first 5E game, as a Kobold Ranger. Pack Tactics makes beast master an obvious choice, but I want something similarly scaly.

So far I like the dimetrodon - good speed, big bite.

I am also looking at the velocioraptor since it also has Pack Tactics, but I am worried that the Tiny size will be a huge problem for the razor chicken. I do not know how Tiny works in 5E.

Any input would be appreciated!

[the_brazenburn]

Tiny is anything smaller than a halfling (or a small child). It can span anything from a mosquito to a medium-size dog. I would assume that a velociraptor is around the larger side of this scale, maybe a little shorter than you.

[the_brazenburn]

maybe a little shorter than you.

Sorry, sorry, this is not meant as an insult. I meant a little shorter than your kobold.

[Quoxis]

Tiny means it can pass through spaces of medium creatures (at least two sizes larger), not much else - it does the same damage etc., afaik.

Regular animal companions are the giant constrictor snake and the flying poisonous snake, i'd look into those too.

[solidork]

In my opinion, you should just use the stats for a normal animal companion but just say that it is some kind of lizard instead of a wolf, or whatever.

[Malapterus]

Tiny means it can pass through spaces of medium creatures (at least two sizes larger), not much else - it does the same damage etc., afaik.

Regular animal companions are the giant constrictor snake and the flying poisonous snake, i'd look into those too.

Does it have to enter the space & provoke an aoo to attack like in 3.5?

[LordofGoats]

I would go Dimetridon of the dinos. Both you and the beast don't both need pack tactics in order to prock one another so you may as well use the scaley that dishes out more damage and has more HP. Velociraptor would be better served attacking a different enemy than your Kobold so you can grant even more allies advantage. Still a good option though but a beast that fights more often alongside your allies rather than your character seems kinda atypical.

Hadrosaurus is another great option if you want your beast to be able to serve as a mount as well. The most optimal option, in my opinion, is the Giant Poisonous Snake as it can serve as a mount on both land and in the water and deals poison damage. Still Dimetrodon wins on the coolness factor.

[Flashy]

Does it have to enter the space & provoke an aoo to attack like in 3.5?

No. There are (basically) no generic rules about size in 5e. It comes up in situations like swallowing or riding a creature, but generally everything you need to know about how a creature works is included in the statblock.

[Requilac]

Being tiny is not too debilitating in 5e. Most of the time size only matters if the creature is being grappled, restrained, knocked backwards, shoved prone, or if said creature tries to do any of those actions to another creature. In most fights being tiny will not make a massive difference at all though, you will only notice it on certain ocassions really. I would still go with something that has higher AC and HP then a velociraptor though, they could easily get one-shoted, especially at higher levels.


And I was always under the impression that scientists now believe that dinosaurs were closer to birds than they were to lizards.

[TundraBuccaneer]

And I was always under the impression that scientists now believe that dinosaurs were closer to birds than they were to lizards.


And I was always under the impression that scientists believed that dimetrodon were closer to mammals than they were to lizards or dinosaurs.

[SirGraystone]

I would ask your DM if you could use giant lizard, even if its a large beast, its stats and CR are very similar to the Dimetrodon, and you could use it as a mount for your kobold. It's bite do less damage but it can climb walls.

[RedMage125]

I'm something of a dinosaur nut, ever since I was a kid. It kind of bothers me that they made velociraptor Tiny. It's certainly not Medium, the deinonychus is Medium, but velociraptor mongoliensis would most likely be Small, not Tiny. They were 3 feet long, only a little smaller than protoceratops, after all.

Tiny is the size of a chicken, like procomposognathus or archaeopteryx.