D&D 5E Animal Companions in 5th Edition

[Brute]

I'm a long-time fan of both Druids and Rangers and have taken a look at the documents currently available (all of which I consider to be playtest material, with the final version still to come in the PHB). With that in mind, I have a few questions about Animal Companions as I have currently seen them.

1. It appears that the Druid has no animal companion. What's the best way for a long-time Druid player to keep a wolf at his side? The "animal friendship" spell? How about just a DM ruling that they can have a pet (of a limited CR)?

2. In either of the two above circumstances - exactly how does the animal in question participate in battle? It looks like a friendly animal will defend its master (I'll assume my druid's wolf would leap at an enemy's throat to protect me on his own initiative - or should it be my initiative?). How exactly do charmed friendlies battle?

3. With the above in mind, the Ranger obviously gets a more powerful companion that can improve over time - but it seems severely limited in that the creature can only take actions when the Ranger character commands the creature to do so. Does this make the Animal Companion feature of the Beastmaster worse than the 1st level "animal friendship" spell?

Feel I may be missing something here guys! Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[jadrax]

Well firstly note that the Charmed condition does not compel a creature to fight for you. Conjure Animals is perhaps a better spell, as it summons some magical animals that will fight for you if commanded to (presumably taking up your action to command them).

Secondly, right now, making a 'Pet-Class Druid' by going on the Alpha Leak a bit tricky tbh.

You could multi-class into Ranger (Beast Master), but that's kind of negating the point. Hopefully the DMG will have a guide of how to slightly adapt the Beast Master sub-class so A druid can take it as their sub-class, which would seem to be the simplest fix.

The nature domain also has the 'Master of Nature' ability at 17 that allows you to compel an animal to fight for you by using your own turns, so you could perhaps steal that sub-class as above. I would not recommend dipping into 17 levels of Cleric as a Druid to get this ability, because you won't really be a druid.

 

[jgsugden]

There will be expansion books offering different versions of all of these classes. The 'Beast Master' druid will likely be one of the first new druid options. That being said, if you're a DM and you have a player that wants a loyal wolf sidekick for his/her druid NOW, then just make it happen. It will essentially be like having an NPC henchman - something we know the DMG will cover and something we can all figure out without much work once we have wolf stats.

The best advantage of 5E over 4E in my mind is the move backwards towards a more fluid system that is easier to modify to meet the needs of the group. Don't feel bound tightly by the RAW when the RAYFWB (rules as you feel work best) present you the chance to experience the things you want to experience. 4E was like working with a scripting language - 5E is a return to working with prose. Enjoy.

 

[Xodis]

I don't have the alpha release but my first thought is, Druids are Primary spellcasters so how well will their spells work on their little friend. Can a Druid pet Wolf go from scary size, to down right frightening I wet my self and hope he doesn't use me as a toothpick? Can the wolf get magically charged attacks and naturally enhanced (steroids lol) armor to make it a fighting machine? Is the Druid able to turn their pet wolf into something more befitting the situation like a giant Eagle with magically sharpened talons? This is how I imagine a Druid would use their animal companion in a pinch.

 

[Brute]

Appreciate all the replies, guys, thanks!

I like the suggestion of simply including a wolf companion for the Druid as essentially a henchman with wolf stats. How would you guys handle that at the table?

My first thought is I'd run it as an NPC with its own initiative (or possibly on the Druid's turn for ease). It'll get one attack a turn. I guess I'm a little worried that the Ranger (although his animal companion will presumably be stronger) will feel nerfed as his companion can only attack if he trades one of his own. So for balance purposes, might the Ranger have his pet act as a henchman as well (just like my hypothetical druid's companion) and then in addition, utilize the Ranger attack options?

Seems like that would allow for the Ranger to still be the king of animal companions but the Druid (or other character with a pet) still get some help.

What do you guys think?

 

[Kobold Stew]

I understand your desire here, and the approach you take has to fit with your DM and the rest of the table. I think the "henchman" idea is likely unfair to the other players -- I think they are working hard not to give any one player that opportunity. But separate initiative, etc. is pretty powerful.

yo also need to think about what happens if your buddy dies. Is it magical and can be replaced? Or is it going to be sucking back healing potions etc along with the rest of the party.

(all this is assuming you have a dM and a four-or-five person party, and you care about others' feelings; some games are one-on-one, or with smaller groups, and the DM may actually welcome the presence of an additional target.)

Going from the play test materials, I'd suggest you have two approaches: official or unofficial.

Official.

There's going to be a way to get familiars, and there's going to be a way to cast the find familiar spell. Have a human druid that takes a feat to cast rituals or wizard spells, and then -- poof -- you have a special animal friend who may not be a wolf, but could be a wolf cub with cat statistics. Or a raven or whatever. The animal friend will have the same ability to interact with your spell casting as the familiar does for the wizard. That also covers the question of replacement.

Or, as has been suggested, take a three-level dip in Ranger, which could actually be pretty cool.

Unofficial.

If there's a beast master Ranger subclass, it may be possible just to cut and paste it into the druid -- instead of taking a druid specialty at level 2 or 3 you get the ranger one. I expect that at least will provide you a better starting point for achieving balance. than trying to squeeze out a distinctive Ranger feature. My sense, though, is that you need to decide what you are prepared to give up of the druid in order to have an animal buddy. All shapeshifting? A lot of spells? Whatever it is, it has to be the equivalent of an entire Ranger subclass -- and so I'd start by looking at a druid subclass.

If a player came to me looking to pursue either of these approaches, I'd be pretty sympathetic.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I'm looking at this exact issue in my own campaign. I figure I'll either find some way to let the druid have access to the paladin's find mount spell--with modifications--or else I'll go the "swap out the ranger subclass" option.

In thinking about how to do the latter, I imagine there'll need to be some mix-and-match. Won't know for sure until we have the PHB, of course, but I don't expect it'll be a perfect fit. Maybe the ranger subclass plus a couple of druid circle bonus spells, or something.