Kickstarter Kickstarter Launch: Manera’s Guide to Taming the Wild

[Fat Unicorn]

Kickstarter Launch: Manera’s Guide to Taming the Wild – True Scaling Companions for 5e

Hey EN World community,

I'm thrilled to announce that Manera’s Guide to Taming the Wild is now live on Kickstarter!

This 5e-compatible supplement (compatible with 5.5e as well) delivers a complete system for turning any Beast, Monstrosity, Dragon, or other eligible creature into a fully fledged, heroic companion that grows alongside your character — no more leaving your wolf pup, pseudodragon, or owlbear behind at low levels.

Key Features:​

• Companion Creation & Taming: Start with a young pup, fledgling, or juvenile (Tiny/Small size) and watch it progress through clear stages (Pup → Youth → Adult → Prime) with your handler.
• Scaling & Progression: Companions scale naturally with the party via milestones and level-based rules. They gain Ability Score Improvements (or Reverse ASIs for higher-CR starts), new traits, and deeper synergy options as the campaign advances. They stay on par with player characters across all tiers of play.
• Challenge Rating (CR) Handling: The system is built to work with creatures of any CR. You can tame a wide range of monsters while the rules convert and scale them appropriately — retaining their original abilities and flavorful identity without breaking encounters. No cookie-cutter templates; each companion feels unique yet balanced.
• Group Size & Party Balance: Designed specifically for real tables, especially small groups of 2–4 players (plus DM). D&D adventures often assume a standard 4–5 player party, but many groups run smaller or deal with missing players. Companions act as full party members you control, filling missing roles (tank, healer, scout, etc.) without requiring the GM to rewrite encounters, adjust monster stats, or do extra balancing math. They enhance the table without overshadowing the player characters — balance is achieved by design, not restriction.

Core Gameplay:​

• Synergy Mechanics: Share senses, combine attacks, split healing, fuse modifiers, and more. Your hawk scouts while you sneak; your bear tanks while you strike from its flank. True partnership over simple command.
• Legendary Unique Actions (LUAs) and Legendary Trait Feats (LTFs) for powerful, thematic abilities.
• Playtested companion sheets, barding system, and ten creature-type progression paths (Beast, Fiend, Celestial, Aberration, etc.).

Check out our full announcement post with gorgeous art, more details, and previews here:Fat Unicorn Games

Back the project and secure early tiers + secret rewards here:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fatunicorn/maneras-guide-to-taming-the-wild

Whether you're running a small intimate table or want more meaningful animal/monster companions in a larger group, this guide is built to make bonds matter and sessions run smoothly.

What’s your dream companion? A dire wolf that becomes a pack alpha? A clever pseudodragon sage? An owlbear guardian? Or something more exotic? Share your ideas below — I’d love to hear them!

Looking forward to your thoughts and feedback.


— Fat Unicorn Games

 

[Waller]

How does this compare to Pets & Sidekicks?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/companions-compendium

 

[Fat Unicorn]

Out rules allow you to use any creature with any CR and retain all of their abilities and powers from the stat blocks, as well as scale them from level 1-20 to be on par with a player Character.

Sidekicks, while useful, lock you into a premade limited "sidekick class" and removes their natural abilities.

 

[Waller]

Out rules allow you to use any creature with any CR and retain all of their abilities and powers from the stat blocks, as well as scale them from level 1-20 to be on par with a player Character.

Sidekicks, while useful, lock you into a premade limited "sidekick class" and removes their natural abilities.

No, not D&D's existing sidekicks, the book Pets & Sidekicks which looks like it's the exact same thing you are doing? I was just wondering how the two compare?

 

[Fat Unicorn]

The book appears to force the player to use a premade set of companions specific for the book, and grants the player character a new feat and background.

While I applaud the concept, it much more resembles Tasha's sidekicks than what we are doing.

As an example: one of our playtests involved a Player using a Terrasque as a Companion in a group at level 4, without the need for balancing the campaign's story or monsters, and without altering the abilities and attacks for the Terrasque.

Our system allows you to convert ANY creature, with any CR to a balanced Companion without altering any of the original flavor of the creature.

Imagine a DM and 2 other players. With our system, the DM does not need to alter a thing, and each player can create a Companion to fill the missing gaps to have a 4 member party, fully balanced, level 1-20.

 

[Fat Unicorn]

Greater Creature Freedom and Customization Manera’s Guide stands out by letting you convert virtually any monster, any CR (Beast, Monstrosity, Dragon, Aberration, Fiend, Celestial, etc.) into a companion using a flexible stat-block conversion system and ten dedicated progression paths. You get deep mechanical tweaks like size/ability adjustments, Reverse ASIs for high-CR starts, and fully custom Legendary Unique Actions (LUAs) that evolve with your bond. The Pets & Sidekicks book offers a large curated list (~170 heroic companions) but lacks this open “take any creature from the Monster Manual” approach.

Deeper Tactical Synergy and Partnership The core strength of Manera’s is its Synergy mechanics, which create true tandem play: sharing senses, fusing attacks, splitting healing, combining modifiers, and shared initiative. It treats the companion as an extension of your handler with meaningful teamwork options, not just a loyal pet. The Pets & Sidekicks book focuses more on individual heroic features, pet tricks, loyalty/motivation rules, and downtime training—solid for flavor and RP, but lighter on real-time combat synergy and fused actions.

Tighter Balance for a Single Deep Bond Manera’s is built around one primary companion that scales precisely with your level, staying relevant without unbalancing or overshadowing the party or requiring extra encounter adjustments. This makes it especially clean for small groups and avoids the complexity of managing multiple companions (pets + sidekicks + allies) that the Pets & Sidekicks book supports. It emphasizes wild taming and growing partnership over broad player options like new feats, subclasses, or dozens of magic items.