Talking Animals?

[Fallen Seraph]

I sometimes use them, but they are never just, "talking animals". They are spirit animals that speak mentally to those that can see them, aberration creatures with a humanoid mind, Frankenstein animals with a literal human brain, etc.

I have noticed almost always the talking animal is either a raven or a really twisted looking dog in my campaigns.

 

[Shroomy]

Back in the day, I remember that giant owls used to be able to talk, at least some of the time. That has to be my last experience with actual talking animals in D&D.

 

[Celebrim]

There was an adventure in Dungeon long, long ago that featured a talking fish.

Coincidentally, the paladin in the group I was DMing for had decided to specialize in the harpoon.

And that was the last time I ever put a talking animal into my game.

Its good to now that I'm not the only one to experience these sorts of problems.

 

[ProfessorPain]

Willow killed talking animals for me.

 

[Ariosto]

I voted "sometimes" -- but 25 years ago I might have been looking for the "routinely" button.

Hey, I cut my teeth on Hugh Lofting and C.S. Lewis (and Oz and Wonderland and etc.). Wasn't there a sentient (if not vocally verbal) Fox in an early chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring?

Plus, it's somehow not quite a complete Andre Norton story if the hero(ine) doesn't have a telepathic animal companion.

Speaking of panthers, one of my players had a bat-winged panther as character. Flight is an advantage, sure; needing someone else's help to open a can of tuna is a pretty big disadvantage, though. Mmm ... opposable thumbs!

 

[Shemeska]

Says the person with the arcanaloth avatar

Why do folks find this idea odd? You've got the archetypal talking animal right there in the PHB - wizard familiars. I don't have a game that goes by without some in-character discussion -or more commonly random banter- by one of the PCs familiars. A talking cat, a talking raven, a talking fox, and if you count them as animals, a talking pseudo-dragon.

(The Xaositect's chaos imp doesn't count as a talking animal, and besides, it usually walks around as a fairy dragon anyway. )

Outside of familiars though, it's pretty rare for me to use talking animals with the exception of planar animals in the Beastlands.

And say what you want about them, but I don't include animal-like creatures like Guardinals, gnolls, jackal-lords, flinds, etc as "talking animals" because they're all humanoid rather than just normal looking animals that can talk.

 

[The Green Adam]

I could have sworn I remembered this recently...

And I did!

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/27802-talking-animals.html

Well, it wasn't made that recently but at least my memory is intact.

Check it out,
AD

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I think most people are excluding familiars and humanoids for this discussion.

 

[The Green Adam]

I suppose so but a resource is a resource I always say.

I tend to use talking animals but then again I don't tend to run D&D. In Ars Magica or a similarly folklore inspired game and/or setting it makes perfect 'sense'. The legends, fairy tales and folklore of practically every culture on the planet involves intelligent, talking animals at one point or another.

That thing is, in the Medieval Star Wars milieu that is modern fantasy, a talking badger is nothing special. Hundered of different monsters and supernatural creatures exist and many of them are capable of having a conversation with you.

When using a talking 'normal' animal you really have to ask yourself if its appearence in your game is going to have any kind of impact or if it just for the fun of it (nothing wrong with either).

AD

 

[Alzrius]

I use talking animals, particularly since I got The Noble Wild.