Anyone have a character with animals who ISN'T a Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, or Wizard?

[Dagger75]

I have a cleric with a Riding War Dog he bought from some halflings. The characters an elf so he doesn't ride it. At first it was just a novel idea then he got into combat, he is trained to trip so he kicks booty. He did charge an ogre weilding a murcurial greatsword and almost bought the farm. I never said he was smart.

Handle Animal is the way to go. Nothing wrong with Timmy deciding to pick up a sword and have Lassie follow him around.

 

[Bugaboo]

The gnome Busterius (named for my own dog, Buster) didn't intend to be an adventurer/hero kind of guy. He simply had a way with animals, dogs in particular, and kept busy in his community as a vet and trainer. When the other heroes passed through town with the duke's men in close pursuit only a day behind, Busterius agreed to join them mainly to keep the horses fit for a long, difficult journey. Since then, he's become an invaluable member of the party -- even though he doubts his abilities in combat or other "heroic" deeds, his friends count on him to keep their animals healthy and help them deal with certain encounters in the wilds. Busterius's own trained pets and riding dogs have been handy on the trip as well.

He's got 5 cleric levels with the Animal domain allowing companions, and another 7 level of ranger. The Animal Handling skill is a big focus for the character, and he tends to prefer mundane pets to more powerful or exotic critters.

In this case, the character is all about taking care of his animals first -- animals we have an easy time imagining, like sturdy mastiffs or nimble terrier mutts -- instead of using them as magical window-dressing or a supplement to his other abilities. So I hope this note kinda fits your question a little.

 

[Crothian]

We had a rogue with a pet ferret, a fighter with falcons, and an alt ranger (no spellcasting so no animal frienship) with a dog.

 

[Tonguez]

I have a rogue (a juggler) with a pet war dog whom he has had from a puppy

I have another gnome character who is Master of a Circus and rides around in a Wagon pulled by four giant carnivorous hamsters, he also has a rat familiar (Scorcerer), a trained seagull, a couple of dogs and a dancing pony.

 

[John Crichton]

I played a Paladin for a number of years who had a trained falcon. It was used primarily for scouting. This was the main companion of the paladin for many years (no warhorse, yet). Even when the warhorse was found the falcon was still quite useful as traveling companion. I liked having the falcon there because it was a hobby for the character. If the character wasn't adventuring or when retired, bird trainer could have been a viable profession.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

In my current campaign my friend has a rogue/fighter who carries a pair of mice around in a pouch.
For no reason.
He just does.
The character is something of a bookworm though, so maybe they're part of a future experiment. Then again, they may be trap fodder. He doesn't seem to keep them for sentimental purposes.

During the first session there was a table surrounded by skeletons that none of the players would go near. They found a secret passage to a hallway nearby and this normally timid player picked up one of the skulls and rolled it down the hallway to check for traps...

Maybe the mice are next.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I had a 1e wizard who reached 5th level because he had animal handling and four trained wardogs. Our 3e games have been "all new" so I never converted him - but believe me, the wardogs were an *enormous* help to a low level wizard!

 

[Ashtal@School]

I had a bard with animal handling and a pet ferret. The ferret was trained to steal small objects that I pointed out and bring them to me. He could also plant items. Unfortunately the campaign fizzled out very prematurely so I didn't get to see how it worked out.

I was never in a situation to need it, but he also would have come in very handy in the ol' stuck-in-a-jail-cell-with-sleeping-guard-with-key-ring-hanging-from-belt-just-out-of-reach scenario.

I had the same sort of concept, kenjib, but my character was a thief, and had two, Tristram and Isold (hey, I thought it was cute). It never really came up in play either, but it was part of her concept. And I was on a big ferret trip at the time.

I don't think that characters should be limited to only having pets when the class dictates. Those classes have special relationships that are apart from regular pet-dom. And pet-dom can add a nice layer ot the character, too.

 

[Darklone]

Barbarian with wolf companion.

Was inspired by some books. The wolf didn't really join the party, though he was always around.

 

[Davelozzi]

In my old campaign, a couple of the PCs (one cleric, one swashbuckler fighter) had war dogs that were pretty useful members of the party. In my 3e campaign, nope - the only animal is the druid's wolf.