How To Get An Animal Companion D&d Beastmaster

One of the easiest means to empower your PC for 1-on-i D&D is with an creature sidekick or companion. Plus, including a dear brute companion, whether a dire wolf or fey pug,* is actually fun!

There are a few special considerations y'all might want to take into account when incorporating an animal companion into your duet game, which we'll outline in this post.

Nosotros showtime instituted these rules in our home game for my PC, Iellieth, and her dire wolf, Daphne.

More recently, we had the pleasure of creating a Boston terrier NPC and companion for one of our patrons and, while sharing these optional alternate rules with them, thought information technology might exist fun to share them more than widely also!

When to Apply

You might consider incorporating these special animal companion rules if you or your duet partner are an brute lover who wants the fun of having an animal companion without:

• a) running them as a full PC or sidekick or
• b) unnecessarily bringing the loss of a pet or treasured brute to your very fun D&D table

We besides think these rules piece of work well if you already have a sidekick or DMPC in your primal party merely are withal looking to give your PC a heave. Plus, they add fun and flavor!

The Rules

Caveat: The type of companion fauna y'all cull for your PC will shape the post-obit guidelines to some extent. A tiny or small bird will have very different game statistics to a dire wolf or chocolate-brown carry. Experience costless to pick and choose from the following suggestions to effigy out what's the best fit for your gaming table.

The rules below presume a creature that starts at CR 1 or lower.

We're also assuming, with the following guidelines, that your animal companion is weaker than a DMPC or sidekick character would be and that y'all don't really want annihilation to happen to them. Can they be nether threat or in danger? Admittedly. Is it fun for them to die or almost dice? Probably non.

Animal Immunity

Rule 1: Brute companions do not have to roll saving throws on damage-dealing area furnishings.

Boosted/alternating mechanics:

• The PC rolls with disadvantage to spare the animal companion from needing to roll. RP-wise, the PC is moving to relieve their beast from, say, a fireball, so they're taking the brunt of the harm
• You do have the animal companion coil their save, simply they merely take half damage on a fail and no harm on a success. Similar flavor explanation equally to a higher place

Get Familiar

Rule 2: Aggrandize the form and brute options for find familiar

This can be a really fun mechanic to add to your game where the PC tin can cast observe familiar on their fauna companion once per day. Possibly your dire wolf might run ahead and spotter, or maybe your ranger's raven provides the party with a bird's eye view?

If you lot want to add a magical particular that contains this mechanic so you're non simply giving them the spell, that tin work too!

Casting Through the Companion

You'll also desire to decide if the PC tin cast spells with the range of touch through the companion, as a pulley can with the notice familiar spell.

Wild Companion Druid Feature (Unearthed Arcana)

We talk about the new class characteristic variants in more detail beneath, but ane of them does lay out the option for a wild companion for druids, where a druid can cast observe familiar past expending one use of wild shape. The animal companions we're suggesting would stay with their PC, but I'm sure in that location's an interesting mode of incorporating this optional play-test mechanic besides!

And, if you'd similar to try out a special fey familiar or two, check out the Circle of Residuum,* where you lot'll find a jewel fox wild companion option and a fey pug companion or sidekick!

Render to Life

Rule 3: The PC may expend a 1st-level spell slot or higher to return their animal companion to life as long as the animate being has been dead no longer than one hour.

This is a new mechanic, chosen Primal Rebirth, introduced in the Unearthed Arcana class feature variants, and we dearest information technology! My PC in our Steymhorod game is a Animal Master ranger, and she likewise has a raven brute companion who we allow her to bandage find familiar with (encounter rule 2 above).

This rule offers a great safety internet for something happening to the brute companion while also requiring that the PC plans ahead and makes difficult choices—will they expend that last spell slot or go along it free in instance something happens to their companion?

Other Scaling Options

Leveling Up

Perhaps every other level, the animate being companion gains a new spell, spell slot, or special ability. My PC's dire wolf, Daphne, has worked her fashion up to knowing detect magic and cure wounds, and each of those abilities she's gained through her experiences in our narrative.

We gave her a small radius for detect magic, which she reacts to with a bark or growl, and she casts cure wounds by poking people gently with her olfactory organ.

We prefer this organic and slower approach for animal companions every bit opposed to using the sidekick guidelines for them. Again, this keeps the animal more in line with how they might appear apart from an adventuring party and allows for their special abilities to shine without the role player having a most-PC-forcefulness fauna companion.

Determining Air conditioning

Rule 4: Equip them with armor!

How much cuter is your black bear going to be in specially fitted barding?

This doesn't accept to be elaborate, but even adding leather armor to the creature's regular AC is going to get in 5% less likely that they'll exist striking past an enemy'south attack! This addition also gives you some more flexibility for PC loot!

And consider letting them share spells or magical coverings.

Does your PC accept a spell or magical item that lets them plow invisible? Could they also turn the animal invisible if they agreed to occupy the same square? Would this give them disadvantage on stealth checks or cut their movement speed in half? Both?

Determining HP

This is another flexible area. You can utilize the guidelines for the Beast of the Air or Beast of the World from Unearthed Arcana or consult your Role player's Handbook for the Beast Master ranger archetype'due south beast companion.

Or, possibly you add 4 or v to their hp each time the PC levels up. And your baseline number would be whatsoever starting hp the brute has in their regular stat block.

Season for the Role player

The mechanics listed higher up are really just the tip of the iceberg for how much fun and enjoyment you can gain from incorporating animal companions into your one-on-one games.

More RP Fun!

Beast companions add additional RP opportunities for you and your DM—what does your parrot have to say almost this detail situation, for example? What new phrases has your parrot picked upwards on her recent travels?

Don't Speak With Animals

Alternate/optional mechanic:

Nosotros really don't permit the speak with animals spell between the PC and their companion, but yous are, of course, more than welcome to! For u.s.a., nosotros wanted to maintain the bond that's beyond language between a person and their fauna companion, just we brand certain to narrate the nonverbal interactions between the 2 characters.

This can too prepare upwardly a really cool RP moment for when your character meets someone else with the speak with animals spell! What would their companion animal say in this 1 rare opportunity when they can speak together?

One of my favorite in-game moments was my PC speaking to some other ranger's wolf for them. Information technology was such a beautiful and moving moment! And nosotros also made an exception to this dominion when my PC turned into a werewolf.

PC Reactions

Nosotros've mentioned a couple times already that these rules are meant to help protect an animal companion in combat.

Just how angry is your PC going to be if someone does assault their companion?

This tin can be a really powerful character trait for your PC'due south motivations. Maybe they tend toward mercy and understanding unless someone attacks their fauna companion, and then all bets are off.

Desired Furnishings

Every bit we've said a couple times in this post, the primary aim for these rules is that they add fun to the gaming tabular array. These guidelines have helped us be on the aforementioned page for our dwelling house game while too creating a rubber net effectually existent-life concerns like something happening to our dogs.

The 2d goal of these rules is to make the DM's life easier. While the player will demand to keep up with an additional stat block or decide on some other pick for their bonus action, the DM doesn't have to worry most destroying the PC'south all-time friend when they're facing a particularly powerful adversary.

Closing Thoughts

What about your duet games? Practice you take any homebrew rules for animal companions? A favorite case of an creature who was part of your adventuring party? Allow u.s.a. know in the comments below!

Encompass Photograph by Philippe Montes on Unsplash

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Source: https://dndduet.com/animal-companions/

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