Questions tagged [animal-companions]
For questions about animal companions - obtaining them, controlling them, their abilities, and their interactions with other rules or mechanics.
236
questions
11
votes
1answer
792 views
Rules on “Pets on shoulder”
Are there specific rules that determine what happens if, let's say, my pet eagle lands on my shoulder in-combat?
Does it get an AC bonus?
Do I move slower?
Do we move together?
Or should I talk to ...
6
votes
1answer
89 views
Does the UA Beast Conclave revised ranger let you add your proficiency bonus to both the Boar companion's Tusk damage roll and its Charge damage roll?
I am just hoping to get some clarification on this one.
The UA Ranger Beast Conclave's Companion's Bond feature says:
In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an ...
4
votes
1answer
85 views
Can a Wild Shaped Druid Command an Animal Companion?
As a Druid, you can take both the Wild Order (gaining Wild Shape) and the Animal Order (gaining an Animal Companion) via Order Explorer (Druid Feat 2). To be most effective, you would likely wish to ...
4
votes
2answers
200 views
Does a Beast Master Ranger's animal companion gain more actions when its master becomes incapacitated?
This question comes from discussion in the comments to the question "Can my Beast Master ranger's baboon animal companion use her Wand of Magic Missiles?"
The description of the Beast Master ranger's ...
5
votes
2answers
321 views
Can my Beast Master ranger's baboon animal companion use her Wand of Magic Missiles?
I am playing a Beast Master ranger. My baboon animal companion* obeys commands as best as it can. Can it use a wand of magic missiles?
The baboon has hands, and the wand does not require attunement ...
13
votes
1answer
1k views
Is there a way to make a Beast Master ranger's animal companion able to read a language?
Let's say I am a Beast Master ranger and have a baboon animal companion. Is there a spell or magic item that would let it know how to read? Write?
19
votes
6answers
4k views
What to do as a player when ranger animal companion dies
I recently found myself in a situation where my PHB Beastmaster's animal companion was killed. There were no suitable beasts in the vicinity. As we were partway through a dungeon the party was ...
0
votes
1answer
146 views
Can an animal companion's support benefit be triggered by a cantrip?
Many of the support benefits contain the condition
"Until the start of your next turn, your Strikes that deal damage to a
creature that your companion threatens"
(pp. 215-216).
Strikes are ...
0
votes
2answers
248 views
Can a blood hawk animal companion be commanded to carry around their beast master? [duplicate]
Let's say a gnome Beast Master ranger chooses a Blood Hawk animal companion, is the companion able to follow the order to pick up and carry the PC?
I'm more looking at the possible issue of ...
22
votes
3answers
4k views
Can a Beast Master ranger choose a swarm as an animal companion?
The Beast Master ranger's Ranger's Companion feature says:
At 3rd level, you gain a beast companion that accompanies you on your adventures and is trained to fight alongside you. Choose a beast ...
35
votes
7answers
7k views
How can I help our ranger feel special about her beast companion?
I am not DM, just a player. In our party of newbies we have a (PHB) ranger who just recently got her beast companion (a panther if you're curious). The problem is our party also found a cat with ...
3
votes
1answer
204 views
Can an animal companion Stirge take an action while utilizing Drain Blood?
If a Stirge chosen as a Beast Master ranger's animal companion has had the dragon's Breath spell cast on it, can it use its action to spew magical energy (per dragon's breath) while blood draining?
6
votes
1answer
292 views
Can a Beast Master ranger have its beast chase down and attack enemies?
I have two related questions. I'm looking for RAW answers, as I play in Adventurers League.
Say you are outside:
Can a Beast Master Ranger command their pet to chase down enemies? Like having a ...
5
votes
1answer
338 views
Should my UA Ranger slaughter her Animal Companions when she is done with them?
I'm in the process of converting my PHB Ranger to a UA Ranger. In doing so I'm looking with particular interest at the differences this has on the Animal Companion.
The new features that have caught ...
3
votes
1answer
226 views
The Beast Master ranger adds their proficiency bonus to their animal companion's AC; is the result its new base AC?
As per the Ranger Companion feature, you can add your proficiency bonus to your companion's AC.
I would like to know how to interpret this in terms of AC calculation.
Could I interpret as though my ...
8
votes
1answer
195 views
Can my UA revised ranger's animal companion use Coordinated Attack if I am riding it?
If I'm riding my animal companion for my class (UA revised ranger), can my animal companion make an attack using the following ability?
Coordinated Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you and your ...
11
votes
1answer
488 views
What happens to a UA revised Beast Conclave ranger's Animal Companion's ASIs when it dies?
The Beast Conclave feature "Companion's Bond" from the UA revised ranger says this:
Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your ...
12
votes
1answer
598 views
Do I include animal companions when calculating difficulty of an encounter?
I have a player who is playing a beast master ranger and I was wondering: do I calculate the level of the animal companion when making encounters?
5
votes
1answer
274 views
Do the rules for carrying capacity apply to animal companions?
Imagine a Ranger Beast Master with a Hawk animal companion.
A player wants their helpful hawk to carry gear for the party.
The hawk wears a specially made harness with a pack dangling from it for ...
7
votes
1answer
312 views
Does a mounted attacking Beast Master ranger cancel Charge/Pounce-like abilities?
Certain creatures have attacks like charge or pounce, which allows them to do something special after travelling a certain distance. For example, see the panther:
If the panther moves at least 20 ...
1
vote
2answers
193 views
How does Share Spells work with animal companions for continuous effects?
Right okay so here's a question I'm hoping someone can provide clarity to under the D&D 3.5 rule set. I've used the PHB, DMG and the 3.0 Rules of the Game Animals Part 4 to research an answer ...
1
vote
1answer
384 views
What happens when you roll a nat 20 on an Animal Handling check? [closed]
My Dragonborn Barbarian has animal handling as part of his skillset, which he used to tame a wolf collected from a goblin camp. Now this wolf has proven to be the unsung MVP of our recent encounters ...
-4
votes
1answer
260 views
Can my backstory give me animal companions?
If I make a good backstory for my character is it possible to get an animal companion or two due to my backstory if the game master accepts it? The animals I want are an owlbear and a chimaera. I want ...
6
votes
1answer
294 views
Can the Haste spell grant both a Beast Master ranger and their animal companion extra attacks?
Backstory: I’m currently working on a level 20 character build for a one shot I’m doing, I want to play a level 15 Beast Master Ranger/ level 5 Divine Soul Sorcerer. By doing such I’m giving Myself ...
3
votes
2answers
581 views
Can a Beast Master ranger change beast companions?
Can a Beast Master ranger change beasts? Let's say I have a hawk, but I see a nice panther. Can I simply perform the 8 hour bonding with the panther and say goodbye to my hawk? The manual describes ...
2
votes
1answer
206 views
What could you give to a Hawk animal companion to improve their battle effectiveness? [closed]
An idea I had was poisoning their talons, but one would have to keep dapping their talons in poison each encounter. Anything else you can think of?
For a Ranger with a Hawk/Falcon animal companion.
4
votes
1answer
171 views
Does the Stirge blood drain allow it to flank as well?
I am playing a Beast Master ranger with a stirge animal companion.
I know that once a stirge is attached to an enemy, it doesn't need to use its action or anything; Blood Drain's damage is passive/...
6
votes
1answer
814 views
Is a pteranodon too powerful as a beast companion for a beast master?
I’ve just started to play D&D with a few of my friends and we're unsure if a beast master having a pteranodon as their beast companion would be unbalanced.
I’m playing as a flying character (an ...
4
votes
0answers
110 views
If an animal companion wears barding without armor proficiency, do they incur the penalties? [duplicate]
Suppose a ranger puts barding on their animal companion to boost its AC. Does wearing the armor cause this creature to have disadvantage on its attacks, ability checks, and saving throws? Or does the ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
How can I improve the survivability of the Beast Master's animal companion?
I am brand spanking new to D&D. I have picked a Beast Master Ranger as my first class and I'm having serious issues with the survivability of the animal companion.
I picked a Panther as my pet. I ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
Do any of the books contain (magic) items for animal companions?
Context
An 11th level PC in a game that I DM is a ranger6/rogue3/warlock2. He noticed that his animal companion, a black panther, could use a little boost to her defenses, as she goes down frequently....
5
votes
2answers
618 views
What is the minimum amount of skill points per HD?
I've been playing D&D 5e for about 1,5 year now (as DM and PC), and sometimes play D&D 3.5e as a half-orc ranger (level 3 currently). I don't own any 3.5 books, and only use the online SRD.
...
3
votes
1answer
134 views
What happens if a druid uses Share Spells to share a spell that blocks extraordinary abilities with their companion?
Yesterday my druid used Share Spell to cast Primal Form (Spell Compendium, p. 161) on her brown bear companion for the nice earth form damage reduction.
But after re-reading the spell, we started to ...
17
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the evidence, if any, that the Ranger Beast Master archetype is comparatively underpowered?
I have seen various claims that the Ranger's Beast Master Archetype is underpowered, compared to other ranger archetypes and/or classes.
I have searched for some factual analysis that would support ...
43
votes
7answers
13k views
I killed a PC's animal companion at the end of last session, but later realized it should have survived; what are my options?
Notes: I am the DM, my players are a group of 7, levels of 11 or 12.
So, our last weeks session ended with a black dragon releasing an acid breath attack on the only visible enemies in a courtyard. ...
1
vote
2answers
118 views
Can a Devoted Tracker’s companion/mount get share powers?
I have a character who has a special mount that also counts as an animal companion, per the Devoted Tracker feat from Complete Adventurer.
Is there any way of gaining the share powers ability (as ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
Does the DC for the effect of a Beast Master ranger's animal companion's attack ever increase?
A similar question has been asked for Pathfinder, but I could not find any specific rules for 5e.
As an example, we have a Beast Master ranger with a wolf companion. The wolf has an added effect on ...
2
votes
1answer
176 views
Can a druid trade an existing animal companion for a feat or something?
A player wants a druid or ranger alternative class feature or special ability that would allow his PC to dismiss his animal companion to get something else of similar value.
The player would really ...
7
votes
1answer
382 views
Is this “Gelatinous Noob” ranger's animal companion balanced?
A while back I was struck with the idea of making a Beast Master ranger who has for their "animal" companion a miniature Gelatinous Cube. I set out to create the stats for said cube. Ignoring anything ...
4
votes
1answer
138 views
Do enemy animal companions give XP?
So I'm creating an enemy level 9 druid NPC for my Pathfinder game I DM.
The enemy has a bear as an animal companion and I want to know if I should reward XP for killing the bear, in addition to the ...
2
votes
1answer
190 views
How is the ankylosaurus animal companion's stun DC calculated?
So in my last question, Dinosaur Damage Dilemma, I was talking about damage for an Ankylosaurus and I realised that while the dinosaur can stun, the DC would be different for an animal companion. It ...
2
votes
1answer
118 views
How do I increase the damage of an ankylosaurus companion’s tail without reducing its attack bonus?
The Dinosaur
As a druid thinking of using an ankylosaurus as an animal companion, I'm interested to see the damage one might get out of it. Unfortunately, it hits one per round at best and its ...
8
votes
5answers
2k views
Can a Ranger bond with a beast that’s secretly an Angel in disguise?
In my game there’s a Ranger who is a demigod and doesn’t know it (my homebrew, but shouldn’t affect the question I have). He has a pet “lizard” who is actually a polymorphed Deva in disguise that his ...
9
votes
1answer
2k views
How can a Beast Master ranger's animal companion overcome resistance to non-magical attacks?
The 5e Beast Master ranger's animal companion has a rather significant drawback in some mid- or high-level campaigns. Because animal companions never gain the magical attack feature and due to the ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
What counts as an attack for the Attack action of a Beast Master ranger's animal companion?
Monsters have attacks listed among their actions. From the Basic Rules:
The most common actions that a monster will take in combat are melee and ranged attacks. [...] Any damage dealt or other ...
23
votes
2answers
2k views
Can a Beast Master command their stirge companion to use Blood Drain and then Dodge on subsequent turns, dealing damage due to blood loss?
I'm trying to optimize the damage done by a ranged Beast Master ranger, and was thinking of choosing the Stirge as a companion.
Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing ...
5
votes
1answer
150 views
Does the Devoted Tracker feat allow you to take an unconventional animal companion?
The paladin mount allows the character to take unconventional creatures as their mounts, such as dragons, magical beasts and things like that.
The druid/ranger animal companion must be an animal.
...
2
votes
0answers
110 views
What Enchantment wizard spells would synergize well with a Beast Master ranger's animal companion? [closed]
I'm just getting into my first character, and planning on eventually multiclassing Beast Master ranger and Enchantment wizard.
What enchantment wizard spells would synergize well with a Beast Master'...
4
votes
0answers
226 views
How can I homebrew a unique demonic animal companion for my player's moon druid? [closed]
As a DM I get a question from one of my players in my group, there are five people. However, it is the third level tiefling moon druid who asked "if he can have an animal companion later on in the ...
8
votes
1answer
566 views
Can my AL halfling ranger have a pteranodon animal companion?
Is it Adventurers League legal for a halfling ranger to use the Pteranodon as an animal companion in Eberron where halflings routinely ride dinosaurs?
