Animal Friend and Experience Points?

Tobold Hornblower · Dec 5, 2004

When a Druid or Ranger casts the Animal Friendship spell, and the target animal later joins the party in fighting, does that animal count as an ally that takes a full share of Experience Points?

Thanee · Dec 5, 2004

It does count as an ally (for spells like Bless, for example), but the animal companion neither receive nor takes away any experience points. It gets better when the character advances in level. Just see it as a part of the character, basically.

Bye
Thanee

Jdvn1 · Dec 5, 2004

Tobold Hornblower said:
When a Druid or Ranger casts the Animal Friendship spell, and the target animal later joins the party in fighting, does that animal count as an ally that takes a full share of Experience Points?

I think no.

But I don't have anything to rule with or against me. It just seems silly.

redkobold · Dec 5, 2004

I asked a similar one a few days ago.

Here is what someone responded:
The animal companion counts as part of the druid's suite of special abilities, so it gets no XP.

Also, the rules would seem to indicate this way also because it mentions in an example that if you defeated a drow wizard that summoned a beast to help him fight, you would only get XP for defeating the drow since his spell ability to summon is included in his CR. Although it is sort of the opposite, this would seem to be the way to think of the druid and his companion wolf.

Plane Sailing · Dec 5, 2004

Tobold Hornblower said:
When a Druid or Ranger casts the Animal Friendship spell, and the target animal later joins the party in fighting, does that animal count as an ally that takes a full share of Experience Points?

I think it depends on whether your playing 3e or 3.5e.

Your question makes it sound like 3e since "Animal Friendship" disappeared in 3.5e and was repalced by animal companions.

In 3.5e the animal companion doesn't take away from the party experience (nor do cohorts). In 3e cohorts do take away form the party experience but paladins mounts don't and animal friends (or just plain trained animals) are left vague.

Cheers

Tobold Hornblower · Dec 8, 2004

Plane Sailing said:
In 3e cohorts do take away form the party experience but paladins mounts don't and animal friends (or just plain trained animals) are left vague.

So it is vague. Thanks Plane Sailing. I wanted to be sure I hadn't missed any text.

The Paladin's Special Mount is a class feature, so I knew that it definitely wouldn't get an experience cut, but I couldn't find anything on a normal mount. And it seemed that the Animal Friendship spell doesn't equate with Summon Monster.

The creatures in question are just a halfling's riding dog and a Ranger's Animal Friend, so I can easily not consider them for experience.

I once played a Bard cowboy that would stampede a herd of cattle over the bad guys; the DM never considered giving the steers an experience cut, and my low-level Bard seemed to get way more experience than he deserved for that trick. But luckily my players aren't doing anything like that.

Thanks all.