Animals on adventures

[Quasqueton]

What has been your experience with a party of adventurers taking animals down into a dungeon/underdark environment? I've never seen an animal survive long on adventures, but recently. . .

I'm the DM, and the current party is a group of six 5-7th level PCs exploring the underdark. They have with them: a raven familiar, a badger animal companion, a riding dog, and a pet wolf. The animals have so far survived about a week's worth of time underground.

The raven got batted by an animated tree.

The raven and the riding dog both got caught in a bat swarm.

The raven, dog, wolf, and badger got caught in an unholy blight.

But they've all survived. (Only barely a couple times.) Granted, the party hasn't been hit by a fireball, but still, adventures have always been very deadly to animals in my experiences.

As the DM of this group, I can say the animals have not been targeted specifically (except for when the raven flew too close to that tree). But nor have the animals been forgotten or left out of area effects by myself or the Players.

What are the odds of animals surviving in an adventure?

Quasqueton

 

[Steverooo]

By themselves, very little. They just don't have the HP or AC, and as levels go by, their saves will become weaker and weaker. There are things you can do, if you want to avoid this...

First of all, the MM and SS (Savage Species) give rules for advancing critters in size. Allow them to collect experience, too, and "level up". Treat them as minor NPCs, and allow them to use minor treasures without penalizing the PC for gear given to their animal companions.

For instance, if they find a bunch of Rings of Free Action, and no one else wants one, maybe the wolf could wear one on its toe? (Yeah, kinda silly, but it might work, especially if they tied it on, each morning!)

Better yet, the GM can have magical horse collars, enchanted pearls which can be inset in various things, chokers, leg bands, etc., as treasure items that the PCs can't use... but their animals can!

That way, +1 Collars of Protection, or Riding-Dog Saddles of Free Action, or Dogbands of Defense can show up (usually on an opponent, like the spiked collar on a Drow's Cooshee-analog).

By the time the PCs are seventh level, their critters may be ready to advance a size category. By eighth level, if the PCs have taken the Leadership Feat, they can have their animals Awakened. By the time the animals have maxed out their MM/SS animals classes, they can begin accumulating levels as a PC class (if Awakened), and by the time the PCs are Epic level, the animals can advance to Legendary Animals (ala Masters of the Wild).

With critter/class levels, they can have their own treasure, and have magical protections to help keep them alive...

...that still doesn't replace hit points, though!