Does releasing my animal companions make me a bad Druid? (rantish)

[Methinkus]

My DM keeps giving me a hard time when i level up and want to release my animal companions and find stronger ones which I can now control. I think this is garbage. My ability to have a certain number of hit dice of animal companions is a big part of what keeps a druid balanced as a class, and if I am not allowed to even try to keep up then the whole party suffers because one of the characters is being held back. So as for the in game rational for wanting to swap animal companions, well what I do to the poor creatures I bring along is pretty horrible, dragging them into caves and forcing them to attack random abominations as we crawl along is not something animals are used to. I actually cast a spell to bend the animal’s will to make it effectively my slave, and I think it would be wrong for any druid to keep an animal companion doing this for very long, not for releasing the animal back into its natural habitat once I’m done with it.

The most frustrating part is that the animals aren’t even very useful. It takes two months to train an animal to do ONE trick, until then all the thing will do is follow my character and maybe protect him once in a while if my DM feels like it.

How do you all deal with druids leveling up and the training of companions? All I can say is that right now I’m thinking of just forgetting about having an animal with me at all for all the frustration it has been causing me and the friction that the issue has generated between the DM and myself.

 

[Zappo]

I have no problems about a druid's releasing his animal companion and getting another. The huge training time required to get a new one is a bad enough penalty. In-game, there is no reason for a druid to stick to an animal companion for the rest of his life - unless there are other roleplaying reasons, of course. Switching a companion for the most powerful one available is just ordinary "powergaming" (mind the quotes) like swapping a sword for a +1 sword. Certainly nothing to get upset about.

 

[Crothian]

We take down time. The Druid trains animals, the wizard researches spells and makes magical items, the bard performs and makes some cash etc.

 

[Rashak Mani]

Master of the Wild has a "Ceremony" of some sort that gives HD to your companions... that could make em more survivable. Read monster manual to see the changes this brings to the animal.

Overall I would say changing ALL the time isnt good... but eventually it has to happen. You should only be able to pump um simple wolves so much. 8HD wolves arent very beleivable or normal.

Ever other level or 3 levels I think dropping a companion to get a stronger version seems not only normal, humane but very very correct. Game and Druidicly wise.

Many companions arent for combat too... always take some monkeys and birds to use a early warning... can save as many lives as combat companions. Take around 3 small animals and most ambushes will fail.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Your right Methinkus - that is garbage. I can't imagine a DM who would actually give anyone a hard time for releasing animal companions in favour of different ones - even more powerful ones. Use Zappo's example on him and see if that helps - would a Fighter not give up his normal sword for a +1 sword? Or a Cleric start using 2nd level spells when they have the power? Silly, silly DM!

 

[Zappo]

Maybe the DM thinks that druids consider their animal companions as their pets and would keep them as long as possible for love. Not so. Druids worship nature, and there's nothing in nature about pets.

 

[Vadania]

I disagree with your DM, very much. The natural creatures of the wild are meant to be free, it is there very nature. It is the the way of the wild, Blessed Ehlonna grants us their help in protecting that nature which in turn protects them. The animals understand and welcome this relationship. But it should never be forgotten the purpose of he relationship, and the very nature of the animal itself.

By returning them wild to a habitat that can support them you are continuing the natural cycle, there is no other way, and no other way would be right.

 

[Carnifex]

Does it make you a bad druid? No, it makes you a druid who actually gives a damn about his animal companions and doesn't want to take the step of effectively dooming the poor sosd by making them follow you into dungeon after dungeon until they get killed, and alos makes you a player with more than a coupla brain cells because you are taking into account what's good for the PC and party.

 

[Dingleberry]

If your DM is a by-the-book type, it may also help to direct him to page 37 of Masters of the Wild, which states "Characters want to replace their animal companions from time to time, and there is no penalty for doing so." (emphasis mine)

Also, I would have serious issues with any DM who insists that it takes a druid a full two months to teach his/her animal companion a trick. In addition to the loyalty and attention factors from the animal friendship spell itself, the druid can simply EXPLAIN a trick to the animal via speak with animals, and a higher level druid can also demonstrate a trick while wildshaped.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Even an untrained companion will protect the druid....attack what they attack, stand in between a rampaging monster and them, alert them to danger, etc.

It only takes training to do something like make the owl grab an item you point at or something. Generally, even if the druid can speak or demonstrate the trick, it still would (realistically) take a while to teach the animal that command....the time limit for most tricks is probably because of realism, not to limit the trainer at all.

Anyhoo, you may also consider "advancing" the creatures in HD. This gives 'em a bit more punch and staying power, without having to replace the companion. Druids IMC sometimes do this when they plan on moving away quickly or doing something the animal maybe wouldn't support or just be a hindrance in.

What's wrong with setting the animals free?