Druids and their Animals

[Schayde]

I just wanted to verify that I'm reading the rules correctly. A Druid can command his Animal Companion as a Free Action, and lets assume that it's a higher level Druid, so his Handle Animal is so high, that unless he's trying to "push" the Animal, he doesn't even have to roll to make him attack a foe.

So does that mean, that the Druid can tell his Dire Bear to attack the target, and the Druid can still cast a spell or run around and flank the target (all the while, the Druid is also in Dire Bear form). In essence, the Druid is getting double attacks?

Has there ever been an errata anywhere on this. If I'm not mistaken, in 3.0 rules, I thought it was a Standard Action to give specific commands. The command of "Attack" was free, but the Animal would attack the nearest target. "Attack the Orc in the Metal Armor" was a little more intense, so was a Standard Action.

It looks, however, that 3.5 says that bond between the two is so strong, that even "Attack the Orc in Metal Armor, but not the one with the Red Cloak, the one with the Wooden Shield" is still a Free Action.

Any other DMs run into this problem?
Yes I'll admit it, I Played a 3.0 Druid, and am now DMing a 3.5 Druid.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

It's not really a problem, as near as I can tell.

 

[fett527]

I played a 3.5 8th level Druid recently and this wasn't a problem. From SRD:

Link (Ex): A druid can handle her animal companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she doesn’t have any ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The druid gains a +4 circumstance bonus on all wild empathy checks and Handle Animal checks made regarding an animal companion.

Handle Animal skill description example of a trick:

Attack (DC 20): The animal attacks apparent enemies. You may point to a particular creature that you wish the animal to attack, and it will comply if able. Normally, an animal will attack only humanoids, monstrous humanoids, giants, or other animals. Teaching an animal to attack all creatures (including such unnatural creatures as undead and aberrations) counts as two tricks


Clearly stated in the rules that this is possible as long as the Companion knows the trick either through teaching or a bonus.

 

[Annayla Thorntip]

Dc 10

to handle an Animal that already knows a trick - a '1' is always a failure, though, of course.

DC20 or whatever is in parenthesis is the DC to train an animal to accept DC 10 commands.

Otherwise I always make Animal intelligence creatures, barring pack animals go after the closest foe.

Does that help a bit? Otherwsie, Free is right.

 

[Christian]

to handle an Animal that already knows a trick - a '1' is always a failure, though, of course.

A 1 is not an automatic failure on skill checks.

 

[kjenks]

According to the PH, a natural 1 is not always a failure on skill checks. A natural 1 is always a failure on attack rolls and saving throws, but not on skill checks, ability checks, caster level checks, dispel checks, wild empathy checks, turning checks (undead, etc.), sphere of annihilation control checks, "ghost returns" checks, psionic manifester level checks, psionic Suppression power checks, or any other d20 check.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

So does that mean, that the Druid can tell his Dire Bear to attack the target, and the Druid can still cast a spell or run around and flank the target (all the while, the Druid is also in Dire Bear form). In essence, the Druid is getting double attacks?

The Druid is merely doing what a Paladin with a Special Mount or a Wizard with a Familiar (hope that familiar is Improved!) or any character with a Cohort can normally do with a word or gesture as a Free Action. The key difference is that the Druid is somewhat limited by the tricks the animal knows and the tactical savvy of an Int 2 creature.

Yes, he has a good chance of successfully Pushing the AC with the Handle Animal skill, but that does cost a Move Action.

I do not see the problem.