D&D 5E Help with creating Animal Companions for players.

[Tonystar73]

I need a little bit of help with a homebrew/house rule idea. In a D&D game I run for a bunch of my friends, one of the players decided to tame a Giant Boar, rather than killing it.

Since this player happened to by my younger brother, and that I thought it would make for interesting entertainment to try and taming a giant beast, I decided to role with the idea and made him role for Animal handling and athletics a few times before the Giant Boar was eventually tamed.

Shortly after this point, I put a pause on there adventure for the day as it was getting quite late. So now, before there next game, I want to lay out a few ground rules regarding animal companions for them.

I have a few ideas already regarding this, as well as how doing this might effect the rangers companion that they get at level 3. But before I mention my ideas, I was hoping if some fellow DM's on this forum might give a few suggestions on how they would over come this idea?

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Welcome to the boards Tonystar73!

You mentioned that this is a younger brother, so depending on how old your bro is depends on how useful I would make it. At the very least, he succeeded in some saves and did something creative so that can be rewarded with a loyal pet. I personally would make sure this pet is useful in social and maybe even exploring situations (maybe the Boar finds something to eat and ends up uncovering a hidden panel or something). However, I would keep the relationship away from combat situations. Combat is where the Ranger pet comes more into play, and you don't want to step on toes. If your bro presses for combat then I would provide a warning that it could get killed and if he persists then treat the animal as normal (which is probably just running away when injured or straight up dieing).

Overall though, you could have a lot of fun with this one. The Boar could rummage through companions' backpacks while resting, maybe eating rations. He could chase down something that leads the party headlong into trouble. Basically you have a little mascot. The more you make use of the Boar as a DM the more your bro will love it, and if your table is like mine then the rest of the group will be entertained by the antics.

 

[Tonystar73]

Welcome to the boards Tonystar73!...

Thanks.

I personally would make sure this pet is useful in social and maybe even exploring situations (maybe the Boar finds something to eat and ends up uncovering a hidden panel or something). However, I would keep the relationship away from combat situations. Combat is where the Ranger pet comes more into play, and you don't want to step on toes. If your bro presses for combat then I would provide a warning that it could get killed and if he persists then treat the animal as normal (which is probably just running away when injured or straight up dieing).

Hmm... Are you saying to avoid having it join in combat as it will only complicate things? or is this from personal experiences that you have had in the past with animal companions?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Hmm... Are you saying to avoid having it join in combat as it will only complicate things? or is this from personal experiences that you have had in the past with animal companions?

Its not clear whether your brother's character is a Deastmaster Ranger.
By "stepping on toes", I think WarpedAcorn means that if there is a BM ranger in the party, giving a more powerful animal companion to another character for free is going to possibly cause issues, since it is their class focus, as well as being a big combat boost.

(If you are going to have a BM Ranger in the group, I really suggest that you use the Unearthed Arcana Revised Ranger for it.)

 

[Tonystar73]

Currently, my group doesn't have any BM Rangers... In fact, there's no Ranger class in the group.

Me little brothers character is a Dragonborn Sorcerer, who uses wild magic and has a background of outlander. So knowing this, I was wondering if combat with the boar would of been OK, or if perhaps it would still complicate things?...

FYI: I current have 6 players in my campaign, which consist of:
- Half-elf Bard
- Half-elf Sorcerer (Dragonic bloodline)
- Human Rogue
- Dwarf Paladin
- Dragonborn Sorcerer (Wild Magic)
- Half-orc Fighter

 

[SkidAce]

Since there is no stepping on toes, roll with it.

Use the rp non combat suggestions as above, and use the rules for ranger's pets when in combat.

Be aware it will be a boost in combat power, and look for ways for the other players to get unique abilities or special tricks as game play progresses.

 

[Hillsy7]

Currently, my group doesn't have any BM Rangers... In fact, there's no Ranger class in the group.

Me little brothers character is a Dragonborn Sorcerer, who uses wild magic and has a background of outlander. So knowing this, I was wondering if combat with the boar would of been OK, or if perhaps it would still complicate things?...

FYI: I current have 6 players in my campaign, which consist of:
- Half-elf Bard
- Half-elf Sorcerer (Dragonic bloodline)
- Human Rogue
- Dwarf Paladin
- Dragonborn Sorcerer (Wild Magic)
- Half-orc Fighter

I think there's a Matt Colville video where he talks about how he deals with NPCs and hirelings. Using that advice I would straight up stat out the Boar and have it as another party character for the purposes of encounter building and so on. During Combat, have it roll intiative and have your little brother control it.....and during exploration, he can control it for the purposes of making checks and scouting and so on (remembering of course he is playing a character with an effective intelligence of 2). Then over the course of the adventure, I would periodically fold the Boar's mood into the story so control can be passed around the group so they get to "control" the groups NPC during combat.....Over time one would hope that the group treat it as everyone's NPC (after all, they are basically giving orders to a dumb animal - there's not a whole lot of back n forth), it's just your Brother gets to roll the dice more often than the rest....

Look up the video, Colville says it much better than me....think it's around episode 18-20 I think

 

[akr71]

I have had to deal with PCs buying/rescuing wild animals. I made the player roll Animal Handling checks repeatedly over the coarse of several (in game) days. Too many failures in a row would result in the animal leaving the character and going back to the wild (it never happened - I set a fairly easy DC). I also used this for any 'trick' that they wanted to teach the pet. 3 successes/trick to a maximum of 3 tricks, unless the animal is particularly intelligent.

Animals are squishy and prone to dying in combat. They don't scale in power the way a character does. My group has a falcon and a lynx - good scouts and they can even take the 'Help' Action in combat to give the PC advantage on attacks. I've tried to be clear to my players that if they intend to use these animals to get more attacks and do more damage, I won't hesitate to have them targeted by the hostiles. Not because I am trying to be an ass, but because I reason that if I am attacked by an animal, I'm likely to attack the animal back, not its master.

 

[Hillsy7]

Animals are squishy and prone to dying in combat. They don't scale in power the way a character does.

Also worth noting here that Bounded accuracy still keeps them Attack Roll-to-AC Relevant all the way through the game....they just essentially get squishier.....

 

[Tonystar73]

Be aware it will be a boost in combat power, and look for ways for the other players to get unique abilities or special tricks as game play progresses.

Look up the video, Colville says it much better than me....think it's around episode 18-20 I think

I made the player roll Animal Handling checks repeatedly over the coarse of several (in game) days. Too many failures in a row would result in the animal leaving the character and going back to the wild (it never happened - I set a fairly easy DC). I also used this for any 'trick' that they wanted to teach the pet. 3 successes/trick to a maximum of 3 tricks, unless the animal is particularly intelligent.

One of the things i was considering before making this thread, was using a combination of the BM Ranger Trait (PHB Pg. 93), info on Creating your own monster (DMG Pg. 273 - 283) and the introductory Pages found in the Monster Manual (MM Pg. 4 - 11). By essential taking ideas and info found from all three places, i was thinking to creating essentially a way for players to have there own pet/companion, that they could read up like you do when checking your player character sheets, and that they could level up along side the players as they both gain exp.

An issue i did consider was what if a exsisting player or new player decideds to run a BM Ranger... how can i over come the issue of fairness when just about anyone could have a pet using this homebrewed idea?

So after looking at some of the responses i got here, i'm thinking to make this homebrew essential an optional extra character that players can aquire and use. If a BM ranger, you essential will be allowed to have a second companion. However, i hope to come up with rules that work seperately to other character abilitys. This will then prohibit the BM ranger from treating his/her second free companion like his/her BM ranger companion, avoiding the problem of the ranger getting too many moves.

This idea needs a lot of work and could be made to be seen as broken or over powered, however as a DM, i am willing to put in the work required to make this a viable option for my players. Hence why i am here in these forums, seeking out everyones great advice that they have given me so far. I certainly want to try and take a couple of things that where suggested into account with this homebrew for my campaign.