Level Up (A5E) Future archetypes with pets

[VenerableBede]

I also love deluge of official content because it gives me a lot more to work with the rare times I do get to be a player, but then the DM refuses to allow homebrew or hacking…

 

[xiphumor]

Half of the reason I love A5e so much is the GPG. A steady stream of regular, official content that has allowed A5e to produce, at least in some aspects of the game, about as much official content in a year as O5e ever has. (E.g. at my last count, there were 102 official A5e archetypes vs O5e’s 116 subclasses.)

 

[Pedantic]

Yeah, particularly with the slim combinatorial potential of archetypes (you're talking pretty heavy multi-class dips to actually combine them), more is more when it comes to player options.

 

[Faolyn]

So I love pet classes, so this is something that I think about a lot So I have quite a few ideas. For me, I wouldn't want every class just to have animals; I'd like them to each feel unique.

• Adept- My idea for the Adept is only technically a pet class, but I call it the Beast Chucker. Your companion is a tiny beast (probably a monkey) with this archetype. Outside of combat, it could go around and do stuff on its own, but in combat, it functions as a thrown weapon. If it hits, it latches on and can apply a variety of debuffs.

That sounds both hilariously fun and like something that would make a druid or ranger hate the adept.

 

[VenerableBede]

Adept- My idea for the Adept is only technically a pet class, but I call it the Beast Chucker. Your companion is a tiny beast (probably a monkey) with this archetype. Outside of combat, it could go around and do stuff on its own, but in combat, it functions as a thrown weapon. If it hits, it latches on and can apply a variety of debuffs.

OH MY GOSH, this is the EXACT kind of idea that makes me go, “Dammit, why didn’t I think of that?”
PLEASE complete this and put it in the GPG, or just share it with me.

 

[xiphumor]

Alternatively, write some new maneuvers for the Beast Unity combat tradition and let anyone who qualifies do it!

 

[wickedbubba]

Wasn't there some DM minor-celebrity-figure who a year ago came up with a system for turning literally any monster (in O5e) into a pet? Didn't it include rage dice, something like that? I'm pretty sure in the same third-party sourcebook he published he included a class entirely focused on maximizing the use of such pets.
I love the idea, and if such a thing existed for A5e I would use it. I do think it's worth noting that there is a greater degree of convenience in an archetype that says, "Hey, here's a wolf that's your friend. It gets stronger in these ways as you level up. Now just go play the game."
Also, just my opinion, I think it's easier for an archetype or class feature to grant a minion that feels like an extension of the player or that naturally synergizes with the player character's abilities than a separate, universal system that anyone can use. But for people who like their pets to feel separate or do their own thing, that doesn't really matter much.

In other words, both ideas fill different "this is how I have fun" needs.

Do you mean MCDMs Beastheart?

Beastheart and Monstrous Companions

Leap into adventure alongside a ferocious friend! Beastheart and Monstrous Companions sets up 5e-friendly rules that empower ANY character to befriend a wild creature and bring them along as a companion in their adventures, and the new Beastheart class shares a supernatural bond with their...

shop.mcdmproductions.com

 

[VenerableBede]

Do you mean MCDMs Beastheart?

Beastheart and Monstrous Companions

Leap into adventure alongside a ferocious friend! Beastheart and Monstrous Companions sets up 5e-friendly rules that empower ANY character to befriend a wild creature and bring them along as a companion in their adventures, and the new Beastheart class shares a supernatural bond with their...

shop.mcdmproductions.com

This is exactly what I meant!

 

[VenerableBede]

Alternatively, write some new maneuvers for the Beast Unity combat tradition and let anyone who qualifies do it!

The Beast Unity combat tradition definitely does not cover every possible idea or theme for teaming up with your pet, so I could see space for more traditions if there end up being more official A5e pet content.

 

[Fareed]

OH MY GOSH, this is the EXACT kind of idea that makes me go, “Dammit, why didn’t I think of that?”
PLEASE complete this and put it in the GPG, or just share it with me.

Lol, thank you so much. Honestly, these were just a bunch of random ideas I've had floating around in my head. I'd never even thought of actually writing any of them up, but now I might give it a try once grad school quiets down. Thanks for the inspiration!