The Beast-Tamer

A crack of the whip. A lion’s roar. The gasps of countless patrons. A calamitous bang! Then, the deafening wave of applause. The tent shakes from the vibrations as you duck under the flap, heading back to your room. The defeated beast, caged now, rolls in behind you. A limp paw hangs between the iron bars. As soon as the flap falls back to the dirt, the beast hops to its feet. The cage opens and the ferocious predator leaps onto you in a single bound! You wrestle with your long time companion, “What a great show! A little dramatic at the end though, we really sold it!”

Swords clash all around the young elf. Instead of fighting she waits, drawing in her foes, letting them believe they have the upper hand. They cackle at her, they don't hear it. The rustling leaves. She smiles and they pause. Now they hear it, but its too late. Branches crack, and a dark shadow falls over them. An Owlbear pounces, Leaping over its master and mauling her enemies.

Merchants call out to busy city-folk. Wagon wheels spin in the mud, splattering unfortunate bystanders. The carts sludge through the rain puddled road, unperturbed by the storm. A tavern door bursts open and the cacophony from within spills out onto the street. Inside, shouts of laughter and wonder surround a small gnome. He hunches over like he's been struck and the room falls silent. He curls further into himself. And just as a concerned patron approaches... He leaps up! Beneath him a python the size of a man uncoils. The bar erupts in fear. Then in applause as the gnome continues to rise, balancing himself on his companion's head.

Taming a Creature

In order to tame a creature you must approach it and make an Animal Handling check. Its starting trust level depends on the roll. Once per long rest, until the creature reaches Companion, you must make another animal handling roll to see what the creature does. Rolling below the wary level causes the creature to drop one level of trust. Refer to the Companion Chart above when rolling. A creature leaves if it falls below wary.

A creature has four levels of trust with a Beast-Tamer. When at Wary and Familiar levels a creature cannot follow you into combat and if injured by an enemy it will immediately fall one level.

Reach Expert

At 5th level you are now an expert with reach weapons. You add your Proficiency bonus when calculating damage.

Deep Connection

At 5th level you access a deeper understanding of your companions. As a bonus action you can choose to expend a spell slot and communicate a more complex direction to your companion. This allows it to use a second action/ more complex ability (i.e. multiattack) on its next turn.

Companion Comfort

At 6th level When using a hit die during a short or long rest add an additional 1d4, your creature also gains the benefits of the rest.

Expanded Bestiary

You have found deeper meaning in the texts and unlocked secrets to taming beasts few if any, many know. At 6th and 11th levels choose one type of monster from Bestiary list and it add it to your bestiary.

Bestiary List

Creature Type
Construct
Elemental
Ooze
Plant
Undead

Armored Companion

at 10th level you and your companion are seasoned in the art of battle. You can now create light armor for your companion. Once crafted they receive a +2 to their AC when outfitted in armor. The cost and time to make the armor depends on the monsters size:

• 100 Gp and 2 hours per creature size, with tiny being the base size, Medium at 200 Gp and 4 hours, and so on.

Reserve Companion

At 10th level you are able to tame a second creature. You can only attempt to tame a secondary creature when your primary creature is at the companion level. Regardless of your companion's trust level only one creature can enter battle at a time and must be declared when rolling initiative.

Bestiary Master

At 11th level you can now tame creatures with an Intelligence of 8 or lower. Additionally, You have advantage on all Animal Handling rolls and saving throws against monster types that are in your bestiary.

Companion Switch

At 14th level you can now tame a 3rd companion. Additionally, once per short rest, you can use your action or reaction to magically switch a companion in combat with a companion reserve.

Ferocious Alignment

At 17th level when you land and a hit without advantage, your companion has advantage on its next attack. If your companion lands a hit without advantage you have advantage on your next attack.

Reach Master

At 18th level when using a reach weapon your proficiency bonus is doubled when calculating damage.

Legend Tamer

At 20th level you have mastered the art of beast taming. You can now use True Connection without expending a spell slot. Having tamed everything in your bestiary you now have your eyes set on creatures thought to be un-tamable:

• If you chose the Classical Training specialization you can now tame the Chimera.
• If you chose the Infernal Carnival specialization you can now tame the Vrock.
• If you chose the Festival of Fey specialization you can now tame the Wyvern.

| The Beast-Tamer

Sideshow Specialization

All beast-tamers are fond of the wild creatures that inhabit their world. But not all want the same thing. Some see the beasts as nothing more than a companion, a trusted spiritual connection. Others see them as an extension of their power. A means to conquer or destroy. The desires of the tamer are often shaped by their youth, the place, or how they discovered their power and by what means they learned to hone their craft.

Classical Training

You take the path of the traditional beast-tamer. As your knowledge increases so does your prowess in combat and taming.

Perform

At 3rd level you gain the Perform command. When given the perform command, as its action, your companion will put on a performance of your choice in attempt to distract your enemies.

• All enemies within a 10 ft. radius must make a wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a success, the target has disadvantage on its next attack and is immune to a performance for the next 24 hours. On a fail, the target is stunned.

Classical Beastiary

At 3rd level Choose a monster type from the bestiary list and add it to your bestiary.

At 15th level you also add the Monstrosity creature type.

Arcane Reach

at 7th level, once per your Wisdom modifier, when you attack you can use your bonus action to double the reach of your weapon and deal an additional 1d6 of force damage.

Entrancing Performance

At 15th level the Perform command now has a range of 30 ft. In addition, on a failed save the target takes 5d8 of psychic damage. The damage is halved on a success.

Festival of Fey

You are learned in the arts of the fairies and fey. Perhaps a chance encounter introduced you to their teachings. Or perhaps you heard the legends of great mystical beasts and pursued them yourself.

Guard

At 3rd level you gain the Guard command. When the command is given your companion will aid an ally of your choice. It now targets an enemy within 10ft of the chosen ally or travels with the ally until in reach of an enemy.

Fey Bestiary

When you choose the Festival of Fey specialization add the Fey creature type to your bestiary. At 15th level add the Celestial creature type to your bestiary.

Companion Teleport

At 7th level, once per your Wisdom modifier, you can use your bonus action to teleport to your companion instantaneously as long as it is in sight.

Greater Guard

At 15th level, while your companion is guarding an ally the ally has an additional +1 AC bonus and advantage on ability checks and saving throws.

Infernal Carnival

The path of the dark arts, you seek knowledge on how to tame the beasts lurking in the shadows. To you they are just misunderstood creatures with great power.

Fiendish Bestiary

When you choose this specialization add the fiend creature type to your bestiary. At 15th level add the Aberrations creature type to your Bestiary.

Charge

At 3rd level you gain the Charge command. The command allows your companion target an enemy up to 60 feet away and increases its movement by 20 feet.

Flaming Flourish

At 7th level, once per your Wisdom modifier, when you attack with a weapon you are profcient in you can ignite it to deal an additional 2d8 of fire damage.

Wild Charge

At 15th level when your companion is given the charge command its movement increases by 30 feet and deals an additional 1d12 of force damage when it lands a hit.

| The Beast-Tamer

Beast-Tamer Spell List

Murder of Crows

1st level Conjuration

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 40 feet
Components: V,S
Duration: Concentration up to 1 minute

You summon forth 3 other-worldly crows that surround a target within range that scratch and peck at the target's eyes. The target must make a wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the crows deal 3d4 of piercing damage, and blind the target until the beginning of its next turn.

On a success, the target takes half of the rolled damage. As long as the spell is active the target must make a wisdom saving throw at the beginning of its turn.

At higher levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd or higher, the damage increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 1st.

Credits / Sources

• Owl Bear image- source DNDbeyond.com link: