question for DMs: would you allow this alternative to pet classes and summoners?

[ftafp]

Because sometimes players want to focus on their pet/summon in combat and their player in RP, I had an idea for a system that doesn't require any homebrew

Using the Sidekick rules from Tasha's Cauldron of everything, a player could substitute their character for two sidekicks: a humanoid expert and a monster warrior or spellcaster. Because the sidekick classes are designed to be significantly weaker (in particular, the expert was designed as a non-combat class) there should be few balance issues as long as the player is kept to more reasonable stat blocks like Flumphs or Gazers

[kingcheesepants]

I'd be open to trying it out at least. But to be honest this sounds like a messy and complicated way of solving a problem that is not really clear to me. What exactly is the issue with your PCs that use companions at the moment?

[ftafp]

I'd be open to trying it out at least. But to be honest this sounds like a messy and complicated way of solving a problem that is not really clear to me. What exactly is the issue with your PCs that use companions at the moment?

Pets and summons are designed to be simplified so they're unobtrusive in combat, but there are genuinely players out there who want the spotlight to be on the pet, not the master. If you want to play Drizzt you have dozens of options, but if you want to play Ash Ketchum, you're kind of screwed. This is meant to shift things, making the character unotrusive and simplified in combat, while adding more complexity to the pet.

[BerzerkerUnit]

I designed a class called the Companion that also comes in an Overlord flavor. Mechanically the two are identical, but flavored very differently.

The idea was your pet was the big deal and you were this guy/gal/etc that hung around with it. Similar to the companions in Doctor Who, Watson, Iolus, etc. As you gained levels you could get a more powerful buddy capping off at CR 7 at 18th.

The Overlord variant was flavored as an "I'm the Brains, that's the Muscle" type villain. Give it a look if you're interested.

Here's a link (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/246117/Class-Option-The-Companion)

[False God]

I'd be more inclined to allow my player to put class levels on the animal (such as in fighter, rogue, or barbarian as appropriate) and have a human "pet" with 1 level.

"Balance" isn't really the issue. What comes out of this is that your two "sidekicks" are not really good in either area of the game. Your "pet" is a substandard combatant while your "human" gets drug around into dangerous combats and the party has to cover them. Your "pet" on the other hand does nothing to enhance your "human" in social areas where the human is rather lackluster.

The secondary issue is the management. The more complex either character gets, the more time they consume at the table. Even though they're just "sidekicks" you're still essentially asking to play two characters.

As a DM, it's not really MY approval you'd need, you'd need the party's approval and to demonstrate your two "half" characters are as good as if you had just made a single-character Ranger or a Druid or some other pet-class.

I think your concept works but it needs party support. To reference Pokemon, if your party is Brock and Misty and Ash, all of them terrible in combat themselves and having pokemon to fight for them, great! They're all then in turn good at different social areas. Great! Ash, by himself, in a standard D&D party and standard D&D game, is more likely to end up dead.

Ultimately, this comes off an awful lot like wanting to be good in all areas of the game. You just have your "pet" for all that combat stuff and your "human" for all that non-combat stuff. The point of classes is to keep people from being good everywhere in order to facilitate a functional party.

[whateew]

Because sometimes players want to focus on their pet/summon in combat and their player in RP, I had an idea for a system that doesn't require any homebrew

Using the Sidekick rules from Tasha's Cauldron of everything, a player could substitute their character for two sidekicks: a humanoid expert and a monster warrior or spellcaster. Because the sidekick classes are designed to be significantly weaker (in particular, the expert was designed as a non-combat class) there should be few balance issues as long as the player is kept to more reasonable stat blocks like Flumphs or Gazers

I'd have to take a look at how this would work, but in the meanwhile have you heard of the soul binder class? I think it fits a lot this idea, and has more mechanics to sink your teeth into.