AbdulAlhazred
Legend
As others have said, there are no fleshed-out rules for this. Animal handling is mentioned as a function of the Nature skill and there is a note there about this "is usually part of a skill challenge that requires a number of successes". It does seem like the right approach.
Its going to be up to both the DM and the players as to how the beast fits into the party mechanically. There is no one best approach really. If the beast is going to be essentially a mount then it can be handled under the standard mount rules. Its just an animal you ride around on and fight from with a combined action pool. If you dismount then presumably a well-trained mount will pretty much just hold in position with the DM perhaps having it take some action when attacked or in some such situation, but its not going fight for the team in that role particularly.
If the concept is to really add a full companion to the party then it can act as a CC and have its own actions and be more-or-less under the control of the players. If you do mount it then your actions can still be combined but I'd advise DMs in that situation to be more flexible since it is a CC and contributing to XP budget it should be able to attack independently and make OAs. When not ridden it will just act like any other combatant. This kind of CC type beast is obviously going to gain XP and level up, and may even be granted some additional powers as the game evolves.
4e is really very much intended to be non-restrictive and free-form about this kind of thing. It is a really handy tool for RP and DM story development purposes. It does mean a bit of extra creativity with the rules now and then though.
Its going to be up to both the DM and the players as to how the beast fits into the party mechanically. There is no one best approach really. If the beast is going to be essentially a mount then it can be handled under the standard mount rules. Its just an animal you ride around on and fight from with a combined action pool. If you dismount then presumably a well-trained mount will pretty much just hold in position with the DM perhaps having it take some action when attacked or in some such situation, but its not going fight for the team in that role particularly.
If the concept is to really add a full companion to the party then it can act as a CC and have its own actions and be more-or-less under the control of the players. If you do mount it then your actions can still be combined but I'd advise DMs in that situation to be more flexible since it is a CC and contributing to XP budget it should be able to attack independently and make OAs. When not ridden it will just act like any other combatant. This kind of CC type beast is obviously going to gain XP and level up, and may even be granted some additional powers as the game evolves.
4e is really very much intended to be non-restrictive and free-form about this kind of thing. It is a really handy tool for RP and DM story development purposes. It does mean a bit of extra creativity with the rules now and then though.
