Has your character ever had a beloved pet, a steed, or an NPC companion that, as your character leveled up, became too weak to take along on adventures? Your funny goblin friend or pet owlbear might have once been useful battle companions, but you can’t really bring them into the great wyrm’s den and expect them to survive. With regrets, you must bid them adieu.
Or maybe one kobold survives your raid on its lair and vows revenge--over your adventuring career you meet them time and time again, growing in power as you do. Your personal Moriarty, a nemesis to rival you no matter how strong you become!
Pets and Sidekicks aims to fix that. In games like Dungeons & Dragons and Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, which are predicated on the heroes becoming more powerful over time and facing ever-more powerful villains, allies (and recurring foes!) should become more powerful too. In Pets and Sidekicks, you’ll find rules for NPCs that level up along with the characters.
- Level up your pets and animal companions!
- Befriend NPC sidekicks and allies who keep track with your characters!
- Encounter recurring monsters and NPC villains who have leveled up each time you meet them!
- Use evolving wildshapes and other shapechanging powers throughout your adventuring career. You wanted to change into a wolf in your early levels--now you can still do so at later levels!
- Various types of companion, with rules on how to use them, how to lose them, and how they gain heroic levels.
- New backgrounds like Beast Friend, feats like Bonded Companion, Expert Rider, and Ringleader, as well as a new combat tradition and character archetypes.
- A catalog of pet tricks allows you to customize your companion. Pets can scout, track, herd, guard, and more.
- Heroic features like blindsight, fast movement, innate spellcasting, and tough hide, which can be chosen as a companion levels up.
- From various bardings and saddles, to carts, sleighs and sleds, there’s a wide array of equipment.
- A slew of new magical items— the collar of disguise, saddle of recall, awakening gem, and much more!
- Animal companions like bears, dogs, beetles, lizards, raptors, sharks, and spiders.
- Monstrous companions (and foes) like flumphs, pseudodragons, spirits, and owlbears.
- Allies (and villains) including adepts, wizards, knights, goblin rogues, and kobold sorcerers!
- And so much more, including companion flaws and traits, downtime activities, and rules for loyalty and motivations.
