Challenge for a Druid?

[pikachunks]

One of my players is a druid, with a monkey for an animal companion. I'm trying to come up with an encounter where this seemingly useless waste of a perfectly good class ability will be of some benefit to the player. Does anybodu have any ideas?

 

[Darth Shoju]

hmm

Well, monkeys are awesome climbers and jumpers, have dextrous little hands/feet/tails and are pretty clever. Perhaps the little critter could do some infiltration and/or aquistion of some object? Monkeys can go a lot of places easily. I'd say infiltration is their best ability.

Heh failing that the monkey could always dance for change in the street.

 

[JChung2003]

Useless? Monkeys are excellent climbers with amazing balance. They can also hide very well. Didn't Tarzan have a monkey as his animal companion? Monkeys are no destructive forces of nature, but they can be subtle scouts.

What level of encounter are you talking about anyways?

 

[Kesh]

It really, really depends on the setting. Are monkeys common animals, or rare in the current location?

If common, it can be a really useful distraction and/or scout, especially if awakened. If they're not common, it can be an even better distraction. ("Hey! What's a monkey doing here? Grab it!")

 

[pikachunks]

She's level 3. I'm trying to get her to get a different animal, but she's so fixated on this monkey. She could also have a wolf, really. But she just wants to make her monkey better. What a wierdo.

 

[Nifft]

Monkeys are very cool, if she can train it with tricks.

Fetch: get some item that's in plain view, but hard for a PC-sized creature to reach (under a grate, high in a tree, beyond some bars, on the other side of a rope bridge over a chasm, etc.).

Go: scout to some location within plain view and look around. (Very useful if combined with Speak With Animals so the monkey can relay information -- again, the monkey can climb into places that a PC couldn't fit easily).

Fling Poop: not for use in actual combat, but to insult her adversaries in a humorous way. If the signal to this trick is subtle enough, she can feign ignorance -- "My dear monkey is usually so well behaved, Your Grace. Perhaps it was your pronouncement on the worthlessness of his native jungle that set him off? Regardless, rest assured that I will ensure he receives the treatment he deserves when we return home." (In this case, the "treatment" is a banana and a pat on the head.)

Harass: fing rocks, sticks and (if available) poop at someone, while running away from them -- perhaps leading them to the Druid's ambush. Useful against easily angered foes in a jungle.

Pick Pocket: go through some unattended container and take small objects from it. This is good for an urban Druid, who acts as the distraction.

-- Nifft

 

[Sejs]

When was the last time a wolf busted anyone out of jail?

 

[aurin777]

My question is why are you trying to push her character concept in a way that she does not want it to go? Why not encourage her and her monkeyloving druid to continue down that path?
~~Brandon

 

[Steverooo]

BJ and the Bear

While the Druid rots in the dungeon, the monkey brings her daily fruit, allowing her to survive without food or water... until the day comes that the monkey can steal the keys.

With Speak with Animals, the monkey can do anything a small child can be instructed to do.

With Awaken, they can do whatever their INT allows.

I face a similar problem... My almost-eighth-level Ranger has a light warhorse as his animal companion. Not too helpful in combat, but trained with several potentially-useful tricks. The GM keeps trying to get me to replace it with a "more useful" mount, while I keep trying to find that Druid with the Awaken spell to "upgrade" it... When I get to 18th level or so, I hope to have it become a Legendary Horse (Masters of the Wild).

 

[Delemental]

My druid's sole "permanent" animal companion is a mangy cat. He tends to spend more time in cities than the typical druid, so a cat is much less problematic than, say, a dire bear. In my case, I see my animal companion as a companion, not a servant.

Of course, having just hit 9th level, I do plan on Awakening the cat as soon as I have the chance. Once he has some decent hit points and the smarts to protect them, I may start using him as a scout.

As far as our monkey-loving druid (and I'll admit I considered a monkey myself, but couldn't justify it with a character originating in Silverymoon from FR), there's a ritual that druids can perform in MotW (if you use that splatbook, its on page 37) that lets you increase the HD of an animal companion by one for 200 xp. Since monkeys can advance up to 3 HD (growing to Medium size at that point), giving it more hit points and skill points (for an even better Hide or Climb), or even a few appropriate cross-class skills; Open Lock is probably beyond a 2 Int animal, but consider Perform (dancing in the street for coins), Pick Pocket, Tumble, and Move Silently are options. Let's not forget the use of other spells and magic items (there are a few animal-specific items in MotW, and given the monkey's vaguely humanoid form, you could be really nice and allow the use of PC items like rings).

And of course, if she makes it to fifth-level spells, then Awaken opens up a range of possibilities. Depending on your feelings about this as a GM, perhaps even allowing the monkey to earn XP like a follower and gain class levels (This is Bubbles, the Barbarian...)

But you originally asked for advice on an encounter that would allow the monkey to be useful. I'd start by finding out from your druid player what she wants out of her animals. If they are like my druid, then maybe they don't even want the monkey to be "useful" - they just want a slightly exotic pet. If, however, she has been complaining that she never gets to use her animal companion, then the previous suggestions are good. The monkey's advantage over most animals is the possession of humanlike hands (and possibly a prehensile tail, depending on the species) and a greater Int than most animals. The strict rules for using animal companions doesn't reflect this (the monkey could learn six tricks), so it might require a bit of stretching on your part. I wouldn't go nuts (suddenly the monkey can disarm a needle trap and open a multiple-tumbler combination lock).

Remember the Nazi Monkey (tm) from Raiders of the Lost Ark? There's an example of a useful animal (though I doubt the druid will consent to letting the monkey taste-test the party's food to check for poison) whose behaviors fall outside the "six-trick" limits of 3E. There may be other movie examples, but I'm failing to think of them at this early hour - the only one that comes to mind is "Outbreak", but I don't know if 'spread plague' would be an acceptable animal trick in your campaign...

Edited: realized that the player was identified as female, so took out the "he or she"s - also added one or two more bits of advice.