D&D 5E Followers and Animal friends in 5E

[Minigiant]

One podcast mentioned a noble theme/background having a servant/bodyguard while a blogpost mentioned an mystical theme/background with a familiar. I like this approach of have a character option that grants a companions to your PC. It got me thinking about which companions should be core and which one come as later options.

For core, I'd like to see:

A mystical/witch theme/background that grants a magical animal familiar.

A wilderness/hunter theme/background that grants a nonmagical animal companion.

A divine theme/background that grants a celestial mount.

A noble theme/background that grants a humaniod NPC.

Then for non-core (or villainous) themes/backgrounds:

Another mystical/witch theme/background that grants a golem or homunculus cohort.

A necromancer theme that grants a few undead minions.

A warlord/commander theme that grants a squad of warriors. (perfect for orcs and goblin villians)

A mad scientist/scholar theme/background that grants an assistant (hunchback not required) and a "monster".

Your thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Frostmarrow]

I wonder if these cohorts will be virtually immortal walking feats or a fully fledged characters with stats and abilities?

 

[TerraDave]

They can be something in between.

They need to be simple enough and maybe share actions with the PC so as not to hog time, but DDNxt lives up to the hype this may less of an issue in any case.

 

[WarlockLord]

Eh, drop the shared actions stuff, that never worked well.

 

[steeldragons]

I don't think I mind this. Might not be a bad thing...though, for myself, a celestial mount for a divine theme strikes me as a bit too "over the top." But the rest make some kind of sense. A noble gets a bodyguard or servant/valet? ...if they want one!...totally makes sense.

What I DO want, no matter how they go about incorporating (or not, not works too) "companion/cohort" types are:
1) As an optional class "feat" or whatever that can be chosen by the PC. I never liked, "Oh you're a druid? Here, have a wolf." "Oh, you're a ranger? Here, have a wolf." "Oh you're a wizard? Here have a special little something that gives you extra powers. You want a wolf cub? Sure, ok, why not." straight out of the gate.

Wizards, Sorcerers, Witches and/or Warlocks being allow familiars is the only one that made sense to me. A ranger having a falcon or a hunting hound...ok, that makes sense. And yes druids having animals that they travel with...in the wilds! (I believe this was formerly one by the "Animal Friendship" spell before it was a built in feature of the class.) The druid walking into town with a wolf or cougar or bear in tow should not just be ignored by the villagers..or lord of the castle!

I just think and hope they need to choose to have/get these "friends" not just built-in to the class.

2) They are handled as NPCs...like any other retainer/henchman. And, yes, that puts them under DM control (maybe that will minimize it?). They have their own minds (or at least instincts) and motivations. They can argue with their "master", disagree, even disobey! Yes, of course, a magically linked familiar or trained animal companion is going to do as they are asked...but when they're not being told "Go in there and soak up some attacks/HP away from me." they should be thinking/acting like individuals...not just disappear into the background until the next time you need them to fight for you.

--SD

 

[Blackwarder]

I also wouldn't like to see familiars and companions being common, I would rather they be uncommon (and not rare) and to not see them as core.

That being said I'm all in favor of having rules for handling companions, hencmen, retainers, familiars and what not for when we do use it.

Warder

 

[Astrosicebear]

Seems that having a Cohort at level 1 could be interesting. How would they work stat wise?

I am assuming that the theme based cohorts would be "aristocrats" or other npc flavored classes and not something you would take into combat.

 

[Minigiant]

Well with the simplistic manner they are presenting for core, it might not be so bad. ESPECIALLY it they take skills and feat (the biggest trouble makers) away from core.

Then cohorts could be bags of HP with a few add ons.

A noble's bodyguard could be a level x d8 character with a fighter's attack bonus that can take hits for the noble and is trained in one skill.

A familiar can just grant another skill and deliver touch spells.

 

[Dour-n-Taciturn]

The suggestion for Paladins to have a "celestial mount" scaling with level and thematic is a great idea. EarthDawn had something similar, where the character could summon a mount; this eliminates the problem of dragging one along in a dungeon and allowing for mounted combat to highlight a knight concept.

Something similar might apply to Rogues for a scout/courier concept, and to Rangers for an outrider concept.

 

[Sunseeker]

Above all else, I want most classes with an animal companion to give me the ability to "opt out" of it. Really though, I don't see why any class couldn't have an animal companion, though I'm sure some would emphasize it more than others. I like playing a diverse range of classes, but I don't really like running more than one character, which a well-developed animal companion essentially is.