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<blockquote data-quote="Steverooo" data-source="post: 2874131" data-attributes="member: 9410">Hey, here's a crazy idea!INSTEAD of an Animal Companion, let's add a spell to the Druid &amp; Ranger's spell lists (as well as the Animal Domain), and call it something like... oh, I don't know... Animal Friendship, perhaps?&nbsp; This spell works only upon Animals or Beasts (yes, I know they removed Beasts in 3.5e, but I'm adding it back!*)&nbsp; Then, a Druid, Ranger, or Cleric of the Animal Domain can cast Animal Friendship and acquire an Animal Companion of his hit dice or less, without needing a Feat or class ability!&nbsp; If the Player wants, they can have any one-hit-die Animal or Beast as an Animal Friend at the start of the game (and add a note stating such, for the benefit of GMs).&nbsp; Alternately, they can adventure until they gain levels and encounter something they want to &quot;keep&quot;, and then Animal Friendship that (like my 1E Druid, whose party was attacked by a Roc)!WOW!&nbsp; What an idea!&nbsp; What a concept!&nbsp; (Huh?&nbsp; Whaddaya mean, &quot;They did that in 1E!&quot;?) <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D"&nbsp; data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> *&quot;Beast&quot; was removed from 3.0e because it was ill-defined.&nbsp; It should be reintroduced and redefined.&nbsp; &quot;Animals&quot; have no magical abilities, and are currently (and in 3e) limited to INT 2 or less.&nbsp; We know that many real-world animals have IQs above 20.&nbsp; This restriction needs to be removed, and raised to INT 6, or so.&nbsp; &quot;Beast&quot; gets the same, and &quot;Magical Beast&quot; remains for the higher INT, talking, spellcasting, and/or magically empowered creatures.&nbsp; &quot;Beast&quot; is reserved for creatures with:* INT 6 or less.* Not a creature native to (our) Earth, neither now, nor in the past (thus excluding known&nbsp; &nbsp; dinosaurs, but allowing for &quot;made up&quot; ones).* Can be alien, mutated, and/or &quot;Combination&quot; creatures.Moorcock's &quot;Creatures of Ratik&quot; (vulture-headed lions) might qualify, here, although they might also be Magical Beasts.&nbsp; His Clakars (winged Orangutans) certainly fit, here.&nbsp; Likewise, winged kitty-cats are &quot;Beasts&quot;, while Runequest's Shadowcats are Magical Beasts, due to their Shimmer ability.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Steverooo, post: 2874131, member: 9410"] [b]Hey, here's a crazy idea![/b] INSTEAD of an Animal Companion, let's add a spell to the Druid & Ranger's spell lists (as well as the Animal Domain), and call it something like... oh, I don't know... [I]Animal Friendship[/I], perhaps? This spell works only upon Animals or Beasts (yes, I know they removed Beasts in 3.5e, but I'm adding it back!*) Then, a Druid, Ranger, or Cleric of the Animal Domain can cast [I]Animal Friendship[/I] and acquire an Animal Companion of his hit dice or less, without needing a Feat or class ability! If the Player wants, they can have any one-hit-die Animal or Beast as an Animal Friend at the start of the game (and add a note stating such, for the benefit of GMs). Alternately, they can adventure until they gain levels and encounter something they want to "keep", and then [I]Animal Friendship[/I] that (like my 1E Druid, whose party was attacked by a Roc)! WOW! What an idea! What a concept! (Huh? Whaddaya mean, "They did that in 1E!"?) :D *"Beast" was removed from 3.0e because it was ill-defined. It should be reintroduced and redefined. "Animals" have no magical abilities, and are currently (and in 3e) limited to INT 2 or less. We know that many real-world animals have IQs above 20. This restriction needs to be removed, and raised to INT 6, or so. "Beast" gets the same, and "Magical Beast" remains for the higher INT, talking, spellcasting, and/or magically empowered creatures. "Beast" is reserved for creatures with: * INT 6 or less. * Not a creature native to (our) Earth, neither now, nor in the past (thus excluding known dinosaurs, but allowing for "made up" ones). * Can be alien, mutated, and/or "Combination" creatures. Moorcock's "Creatures of Ratik" (vulture-headed lions) might qualify, here, although they might also be Magical Beasts. His Clakars (winged Orangutans) certainly fit, here. Likewise, winged kitty-cats are "Beasts", while Runequest's Shadowcats are Magical Beasts, due to their [I]Shimmer[/I] ability. [/QUOTE]

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