Natural Bond

[Ridley's Cohort]

No doubt. Note that the Handle Animal skill doesn't allow communications beyond an animals normal means. Thus the druid cannot say "Spaz, rip that mage a new orifice!". He has to gesture, in an unmistakable manner, at the intended target. Waving vaguely in the direction of the enemy and telling your companion to attack the dwarven barbarian does not cut it. Were I running the game and I player tried to pull that off, his companion would sit there and stare at him with its head cocked to one side as if to say "What in the bloody hell do you want? Give me some food."

The Handle Animal skill and the normal rules for animals do cover this adequately in my opinion.

BTW, for my Druid that little rule that animals preferentially attack enemies that very recently hit them does come up fairly regularly. My Druid does have to make a Handle Animal check to alter that behavior. Sometimes that results in sub-optimal tactics on the part of the animal, be it the Companion or summoned critter. I do have to use a little foresight before launching the Companion forward.

My DM lets me play the Companion. I do not overthink it, and I play the Wolf to its personality.

 

[Klaus]

Do you guys allow a Combat-trained or Combat-Riding-trained animal to wear barding with proficiency? Or do you require an additional trick for that?

 

[Jack Simth]

Do you guys allow a Combat-trained or Combat-Riding-trained animal to wear barding with proficiency? Or do you require an additional trick for that?

* Proficient with no armor unless trained for war.

(Emphasis added)

Trained for Combat riding? Kinda trained for war. It's not listed as a seperate trick.

Edit: Not that it matters much - most of my examples used leather (for reasons of Max Dex bonus), which has an ACP of 0, and hence no penalties other than the weight itself for a non-(arcane)spellcaster.

 

[mirivor]

The Handle Animal skill and the normal rules for animals do cover this adequately in my opinion.

My DM lets me play the Companion. I do not overthink it, and I play the Wolf to its personality.

The first: They do, but only as much as a rules text can. Many people could abuse the text as stated. "Point to the animal and command it to attack" is, in the end, a vague thing. That could get out of control very quickly, allowing for the abuse of the companion mechanically.

The second: That is cool. I also play my companions when I have them. It is fun to try an see the world from an animal's perspective.

Piece of advice: Have one of your fellow players play your companion sometime. I do this a lot and it is always hilarious!

In general, I am not attempting to bash anyone. My posts are intended to point out some of the truths that I have observed in my experiences. An animal companion can be outrageously powerful if the DM does not keep a sharp eye. This can lead to people yelling for the nerf of a rule when in all reality the rule is fine, but rather the gamers themselves need to be brought to attention, especially concerning things that are not or cannot be defined by numbers.

Later!

 

[geosapient]

I thought they did away with using awaken on an animal companion in 3.5. For whatever reason (I can't recall right now) that awaken no longer worked it made Animal Growth no longer an option for the companion.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I thought they did away with using awaken on an animal companion in 3.5. For whatever reason (I can't recall right now) that awaken no longer worked it made Animal Growth no longer an option for the companion.

Awaken changes Type to Magical Beast. So no longer a valid target for Animal Growth, and no longer a valid companion.

"Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An awakened animal can’t serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount."

-Hyp.

 

[geosapient]

Awaken changes Type to Magical Beast. So no longer a valid target for Animal Growth, and no longer a valid companion.

"Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An awakened animal can’t serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount."

-Hyp.

So it's just awakened nulls animal growth and not the companion part. I must have had my information crossed there. Thanks.