Rangers: the use of animal companions in-game?

[CCamfield]

I thought I'd specifically put this question in the context of rangers since druid animal companions are a lot more powerful.

"In most cases, the animal companion functions as a mount, sentry, scout, or hunting animal, rather than as a protector."

When playing a ranger with an animal companion, do you find that this is indeed the case? Or do you take an animal companion which is tougher and more likely to survive and have an effect in combat? (A wolf, for instance, rather than a hawk.)

And, how useful have you found your animal companion to be? Any advice, or neat ways in which your animal companion has been useful?

 

[diaglo]

i played a halfling ranger....movement 20 in light armor.

my companion was great for keeping up with the other party members. riding dog...movement 40.

 

[Plane Sailing]

My ranger has a small dog (jack russell terrier) as his animal companion. the DM was happy to move around a standard array of attributes for him to make him tougher (con) but weaker (str) than the standard dog, although he's gained ranks in jump.

The main use for him at the moment is for guard duty, to help with tracking and once (in extremis) to provide me with flanking opportunities.

His bark is worse than his bite, but "trigger" is fun to have around. He was inspired unashamedly by the jack russell that appears in the film version of "the Mask"

(if he dies, the replacement will probably be an eagle or falcon, but might be a horse)

Cheers

 

[silburnl]

Currently I'm playing a Ranger-Fighter but I haven't got enough levels in Rgr to get an animal companion yet. When it happens Sandro'll probably go with a dog and make it some kind of heavy mastiff (like 'Hell' in the opening scenes of Gladiator) - but then he is a Fist of Hextor as well so this is practically required.

I've run a game with a Druid/Ranger character and he took a couple of hunting dogs as his companion. I let him nominate one as his Druid companion and take the other as a young dog he was working up. It was there as a spare if his first companion died and if he'd made it to Rgr/4 I'd have let him run the two dogs together as a hunting pair (one from the Druid levels, one from the Ranger).

Whilst some of the more wierd and wonderful choices in the list might be suitable for a higher fantasy game, I play fairly gritty so I prefer hunting assistants or guard/attack animals.

Regards
Luke

 

[Tonguez]

Yep Gnome rangers generally take riding dog as mounts, occasionally I'll do badger (aka giant caniverous hamster) for flavour. I've also used Shark and Porpoise in the past for their better 'combat readiness'

 

[CombatWombat51]

My players and I prefer a more mundane campaign, and often pick things like hounds, (for tracking) eagles, or hawks (for scouting). We also tend to prefer lower-level games, generally stopping before 10th level, so the problem with scaling isn't much of an issue for us.

 

[CCamfield]

So, what can an eagle or hawk scout actually do? My ranger just trained a hawk - not a companion, as he hasn't reached level 4 yet.

But rangers don't actually get the ability to see out of their pets' eyes, and animals aren't that smart. You could train one to cry when it spots a large creature (human sized or bigger), but how can it indicate which direction it was, or how far?

Or perhaps those would be separate tricks - which would be interesting...

 

[Steverooo]

Speak With Animals

 

[diaglo]

Yep Gnome rangers generally take riding dog as mounts, occasionally I'll do badger (aka giant caniverous hamster) for flavour. I've also used Shark and Porpoise in the past for their better 'combat readiness'

guinea pig tastes better than hamster.

animal companions or at least some of them, also are good eats in emergencies.

nothing like bringing your own meal with you. and it can walk or carry itself to the place of slaughter.

 

[CCamfield]

Hm, yes, that'd usually work. What if you're playing a spell-less ranger?