Animal Companions and you

Kamigoroshi

It always baffled me that almost all ropleplaying games feature explicitly <<mammals>> as animals companions: bears, wolves, big cats, boars, deers, or the occasional hamster usually.
I don't know about others, but that's gotten so repetive I can't help but to let out big sighs! Even more so because I usually play druids, shamans or other animal related classes if given the chance... *sigh*

So here I thought it could be fun to have a thread about our favourite animals companions in general. This also includes animal choices for clades and phylums which rarely (read "never") make an appearance in games. Any extant and extinct animal is fair game! Which means of course no fantasy animals. No one likes unicorns anyway.

Me, I'd love to have a jellyfish or a sea anemone as an animal companion for a change!

Teflon

Psedudo dragon
Jellyfish would be nice but I do not want to watch my familiar jellyfish dehydrated and dried.

Nimran

Ferrets, duh!

LadyRhian

Brownies.

Seriously, I can't see a mage (or anyone else) hauling around a fishbowl so their fish doesn't die (or jellyfish/other aquatic animal). Some things are limited by usefulness, too. Unless your game takes place underwater, anything aquatic isn't going to help the player much. I mean, you can buy fish in one of the Mass Effect games, but all they do is sit in your cabin and look pretty. They don't help you fight, and that is what animal companions usually do in games.

So if you want a fighting companion, mammal is usually the way to go.

Kamigoroshi

@LadyRhian You're right that aquatic animals won't help much in games that are mostly taking place on land. Needless to say the same goes vice versa as well. At least not without science, magic or the help of animal lovin' techno-mages. This is also as to why I haven't dedicated the thread specificly to D&D for that matter. There are roleplaying games with underwater settings out there after all. Such as d20's The Deep: Underwater Adventure Sourcebook to name one possibility.

And of course, one of this thread's main point is also for people to point out games or game ideas where their favourite animal companions get the *limelight*. Making every animal in existance a valuable choice.

Last but not least: Just to remind everyone that this thread isn't about wizard familiars, but fully fledged animal companions. I already did a hypothetical familiar thread for arcane spellcasters a couple of years ago and wanted to throw naturalists a bone as well.

LadyRhian

@kamigoroshi I was thinking this applied to BG/Games like this. Personally, I liked the Gold Box Games- the last Dragonlance one (Dark Queen of Krynn, I think) had a section underwater in the sea elf city of Naulidis. I wish there could have been a whole game like that... And have aquatic companions/familiars.

BillyYank

I want a hawk or eagle to do my scouting for me.

Nonnahswriter

I'm a sucker for warm-blooded fur-balls, but birds come a very close second.

deltago

LadyRhian said:

Brownies.

Seriously, I can't see a mage (or anyone else) hauling around a fishbowl so their fish doesn't die (or jellyfish/other aquatic animal). Some things are limited by usefulness, too. Unless your git me takes place underwater, anything aquatic isn't going to help the player much. I mean, you can buy fish in one of the Mass Effect games, but all they do is sit in your cabin and look pretty. They don't help you fight, and that is what animal companions usually do in games.

So if you want a fighting companion, mammal is usually the way to go.

How about a wizard sea captain with a shark/dolphin/octopus as an animal companion instead of a parrot.

In a RPG MMO, I played a gnome barbarian who wasn't too bright who had a fish "familiar"/pet. He had a bowl for it, but would also let it out and drop it in different bodies of water to "play." The gnome also carried around a rez stick to "wake up" the fish when it was sleeping on its side. Good times!

So it is plausible under situations.

semiticgoddess

Spiders.

What else? This is coming from the guy who calls Kitthix "Kitty."

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

LadyRhian

deltago said:

LadyRhian said:

Brownies.

Seriously, I can't see a mage (or anyone else) hauling around a fishbowl so their fish doesn't die (or jellyfish/other aquatic animal). Some things are limited by usefulness, too. Unless your git me takes place underwater, anything aquatic isn't going to help the player much. I mean, you can buy fish in one of the Mass Effect games, but all they do is sit in your cabin and look pretty. They don't help you fight, and that is what animal companions usually do in games.

So if you want a fighting companion, mammal is usually the way to go.

How about a wizard sea captain with a shark/dolphin/octopus as an animal companion instead of a parrot.

In a RPG MMO, I played a gnome barbarian who wasn't too bright who had a fish "familiar"/pet. He had a bowl for it, but would also let it out and drop it in different bodies of water to "play." The gnome also carried around a rez stick to "wake up" the fish when it was sleeping on its side. Good times!

So it is plausible under situations.

I hope he used it when dumping it in saltwater (for freshwater fish) or vice-versa.

Buttercheese

Considering gaming, I don't have any preferences. I just choose whichever I think fits my character the most. I Once played a sorceress who had a blue bird-of-paradise as a familiar, he was just as stuck-up and vein as her

But here is one from a game my brother had waaaaaaaaay back in the day:
One of the partymembers had a familiar, companion or something which was a whale.
Apparently he was just going about his own business when there was not enough water around to swim in, but his master liked to summon him above the heads of his enemies where gravity would do the rest of the work

Hello, ground!

Anyway, if we are talking real-life, I do prefer mammals because I like the fur. Especially dogs, hamsters, bears and the likes. I always wanted a Magical Girl sidekick, back as a child I wanted a blue cat with wings :'D I basically just want a living plushie ....

Reiborn

nwn2 got dinosaurs.
nwn and nwn 2 got also bugs like Beatles.

BillyYank

Googleness said:

nwn2 got dinosaurs.
nwn and nwn 2 got also bugs like Beatles.

So you could have Ringo or John as your companions? Cool.

scriver

Mammals, birds, or something magical.

Underwater the only acceptable choices are octopuses, orcas, or blue whales. Or a narwhal.

LadyRhian

Buttercheese said:

Considering gaming, I don't have any preferences. I just choose whichever I think fits my character the most. I Once played a sorceress who had a blue bird-of-paradise as a familiar, he was just as stuck-up and vein as her

But here is one from a game my brother had waaaaaaaaay back in the day:
One of the partymembers had a familiar, companion or something which was a whale.
Apparently he was just going about his own business when there was not enough water around to swim in, but his master liked to summon him above the heads of his enemies where gravity would do the rest of the work

Hello, ground!

Anyway, if we are talking real-life, I do prefer mammals because I like the fur. Especially dogs, hamsters, bears and the likes. I always wanted a Magical Girl sidekick, back as a child I wanted a blue cat with wings :'D I basically just want a living plushie ....

To quote Douglas Adams, "Oh no! Not again!"

JuliusBorisov

From a dwarven fan:

In Norse mythology, Huginn (from Old Norse "thought") and Muninn (Old Norse "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world, Midgard, and bring information to the god Odin.

So I would like to have ravens as familiars.

Also, a raven is such a beautiful and smart creature!

Having raven familiars would be especially cool for dwarven bards (another thing I like a lot).

scriver

Yes, ravens are known for their excellent subterranean navigation skills :v

Buttercheese

How about a canary then :V

Kamigoroshi

If I were a dwarf in need of an avian companion, I'd pick the trusty oilbird. It even comes with echolocation and the blindsight feat for making pleasant hikes through the Underdark! ^v^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Lm5YEsUreY

Reiborn

BillyYank said:

Googleness said:

nwn2 got dinosaurs.
nwn and nwn 2 got also bugs like Beatles.

So you could have Ringo or John as your companions? Cool.

hope you're happy now I must make a bard called John and have a companion named Ringo.

BillyYank

Googleness said:

BillyYank said:

Googleness said:

nwn2 got dinosaurs.
nwn and nwn 2 got also bugs like Beatles.

So you could have Ringo or John as your companions? Cool.

hope you're happy now I must make a bard called John and have a companion named Ringo.

You know you should be glad.

LadyRhian

Googleness said:

BillyYank said:

Googleness said:

nwn2 got dinosaurs.
nwn and nwn 2 got also bugs like Beatles.

So you could have Ringo or John as your companions? Cool.

hope you're happy now I must make a bard called John and have a companion named Ringo.

I am Apauled.

Sharguild

Those that are familiar with World of Warcraft (WoW) know that the field of "pets" that can be utilized is extremely diverse; everything from mammals to crabs, turtles, spiders, birds, even scorpions!
I personally in that game have my Hunter use a Black Widow Spider and a Hyena. Not by any means the most powerful pets in the game but I assure you, when I drop by "The Crossroads" with a four foot high Black Widow, I get noticed ( which is not always a good thing, heh).