Allowing Pets (non-combat)

[Aiden_Keller_]

How do I allow players to have pets...like they found a cat wandering around town and want to keep it....

 

[Swarmkeeper]

"Can we keep him?"

 

[iserith]

You say "Sure, you can have pets, so long as they don't negatively impact the goals of play, that is, everyone having a good time and creating an exciting, memorable story by playing."

 

[WhosDaDungeonMaster]

How do real people acquire pets? They just buy them/ take them/ feed them/ whatever and hope the pet responds. If you want a check, use Animal Handling and the higher the check result, the more favorable the outcome.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Check with your landlord. Sometimes they require a deposit, usually $100-300.

 

[Oofta]

There are a fair amount of things that I just let the players add to our story. Whether that's a pet, romantic relationship or other out-of-game activities.

If it's anything truly significant, I may ask that I review it but in many cases fleshing out their personal story is up to them; bringing their character to life is important for some people.

 

[Satyrn]

"Can we keep him?"

Dawww!

. . . Wait. Is that a DM's guide for killing off puppies?

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Dawww!

. . . Wait. Is that a DM's guide for killing off puppies?

LOL
Other way around: the puppy - and many other of these "pets" in these short encounters - want to kill the PCs!
Spoiler, the Puppy = polymorphed dragon (actually, in this scenario, it can turn from TPK into a social interaction if the party can appease the dragon with some treasure and help it track down the wizard who polymorphed it)

 

[Satyrn]

That makes more sense.

 

[Tonguez]

Approaches I'd use as a DM
1 A pet is just background fluff, describe its antics if you want to, but it affects nothing in the game
2 A pet is equipment, you can use it to amuse you, if you invest skills I might even let you train it but use it as a weapon and it will die!!!
3 Animal Companion