Animal/creature companions

JariahxSynn

Can fighters mages and rangers have creature or animal companions? Like bears, panthers, wolves, giant spiders and such?

Wolfheart

mages have a familiar, but it's dangerous to use due to permanent constitution damage if it dies.
ps. The mobile v of the forum doesn't seem to have like/agree. I agree with your post.

Tanthalas

The Beastmaster kit can also have a familiar. But like Wolfheart mentioned, they are far too weak to keep out of your pack.

Cheesebelly

If they leveled up as you did, it would fix the problem certainly. Similar to the Neverwinter Nights way.

Wolfheart

@Cheesebelly Problem is that even if they leveled up, they still A: Cant be equipped and B: Cost a con point for each time they die... If they didn't cost a point of con (and instead required a ress spell or something) it wouldn't be so horrible to use them.

Cheesebelly

@Wolfheart : what about if you lose the constitution point, get their bodies, get to revive them and after that your constitution is back? I mean, it WOULD be a chore most of the times, but still is an option.

Or you simply Spell trigger Stoneskin, Tenser Transformation and improved haste on them :P

Wolfheart

@Cheesebelly Assuming that you get to properly cast spells with them instead of just their innate spells I usually run around with a cat (While I like dragons, I prefer cat's), so no spells for me

Cheesebelly

@Wolfheart : Is cat the one with the find traps ability? Or did I dream about that? XD

I mean, if some familiars could also get bonus spells, protective spells or disabling spells as you level up, or become true scoundrels that can disable traps and locks, they would be much more worth the time. Then again I think of Pooky which is one helluva powerful familiar... too bad you get to kill her (?)

Wolfheart

@Cheesebelly Cat had pickpocket, stealth and probably find traps *shrug*
But according to the ADnD ruleset, the familiar is supposed to be able to cast any spell that its master has memorized (or so i've been told).

LadyRhian

@Wolfheart Not in P&P. At best, familiars were another way to scout places out (although you couldn't actually see through their eyes without using a spell) and specific ones gave you specific bonuses. Cats- Excellent Night Vision and hearing, Crow- Long Distance Vision, Hawk- Even better distance vision, Owl- Vision at night becomes like daytime, and Superior Hearing, Toad- Wide Angle Vision, weasel- good vision plus superior olfactory sense (better smelling).

Wolfheart

@LadyRhian http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/sorcererWizard.htm Might be 3.5'th edition *shrug* Either way, allowing the familiar to cast touch and self spells would be a step in the right direction to make sure that it stays somewhat useful. Getting more HP would also be needed.

FrozenDervish

An option for a pet would simply be an infinite duration summon that leveled up as an ability as you leveled up thus strengthening the summon, but you may only have one of these summons out at a time similar to the hla deva/planetar.

Another interesting option would have a pet count as a party member so it can level normally, have an inventory, and be interactable. You wouldn't be able to equip items on it due to the game crashing since some slots are unused similar to how drizzt cannot use his offhand so his scimitar is in his head slot because anywhere else crashes the game. This option would of course allow you to only have 5 party members.

LadyRhian

@Wolfheart- AFAIK, the game is still being based on 2e AD&D, not on 3.5e. And if we are going to go with weird stuff, why not Tressym? They are winged cats you can sometimes find in the Realms, and there are a bunch around Eveningstar (They first appeared in the Module "The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar", but they are other places in the Realms, just more rare.) I don't think mages should have familiars in the game. For one thing, they are entirely too easy to kill with area effect spells, like Fireball, and the minute you kill them, the wizard loses a level, half of his CON (temporarily, but that's a nasty, nasty effect) and a bunch of hit points. Yes, they are useful. But, and this is a BIG BUT, losing them is devastating to the mage, and wiping out the mage can wipe out the party- and if you lose your familiar, you can't cast the spell again for a year.

The only way I could see that working is if they bring back the 1e version of the spell, and let the PC, since they are Bhaalspawn, start with one of the magical familiars- Brownie, Pseudodragon, Imp, or Quasit, which have a chance to survive such spell effects. Your familiar would be chosen based on your starting alignment.

Wolfheart

@LadyRhian Lets hope they arn't forced to slavishly follow the textbook then. What works fine in PnP doesn't always work in a game like this. As for the cost of a familiar death, atm its 1 point of con permanently, no levels, no emotional impact and thats to high for a game, reducing it to the NWN cost would also be bleh... Loosing one point of con for the wizard until the familiar is raised with the raise dead spell should work no?

Either way, not sure how much they can do about the familiars, they sure can't delete it (cant modify existing characters/dialog). Might be able to make them combat worthy, perhaps even with its own portrait...

LadyRhian

@Wolfheart I didn't think that spell was even in the game. It's not in BG1- only BG2.

Wolfheart

@LadyRhian Yes, thats very true that the find familiar spell was only in BG2. But one must think of the future to, no?

IchigoRXC

Also, if it was in BG2 it will more thand likely be in BGEE, being based off of the BG2 engine n all.

LadyRhian

True. I'd still go for the more magical familiars anyhow, simply because the protagonist is a Bhaalspawn.

nptitim

I would like to see animal companions as NPC's or pets vs familiars, in my pnp game my fighter had a hell hound pet and I would love to recreate that in a computer version