Animal Companions
The knight and his trusted steed, the mercenary and his loyal fighting dog, the thief and her pick-pocketing monkey, the ranger and her fierce hunting falcon, or the young lion that was raised by the tribesman — humanoids have been using trained animals since the dawn of civilization.
Version 3.6
Created by DracoDruid [@GMBinder | @Reddit]
Handling Animals
Whether or not you can effectively control one or multiple animals highly depends on your skills as an animal handler. Depending on your proficiency with the Animal Handling skill, you can control one or multiple animals at the same time. Your proficiency and experience also determines how strong and powerful an animal can be in order for you to tame and control it.
See the Handling Animals by Proficiency table for a quick overview.
Controlling Animals in Combat
An animal freely follows and executes commands it is trained to do. A beast of burden is trained to pull or move on command, a horse is trained to jump when the rider wants to, and a fighting dog is trained to attack. Commanding an animal to do what it is trained for requires no ability check by the handler, but an untrained handler must spend more of her focus on an animal than a proficient one.
Your animals take their turns on your initiative. On your turn, you can verbally issue one command to one animal. If you are proficient in the Animal Handling skill, you can also use a bonus action to issue the same simple command (e.g. heel) — or use your action to issue the same complex command (e.g. attack the same target) — to multiple of your animal companions.
Depending on the animals training, a command always includes ordering an animal to move to a certain (easy to reach) location and take one of certain actions, detailed in the Trainings Types and Commands table below.
Trying to command an animal to do something it isn't trained for — e.g. forcing an animal untrained for combat towards danger — or any other unusual but reasonable action always counts as a complex command and additionally requires a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check.
An animal never requires your command to use its reaction, but only hunting, guard, and war animals can use their reactions to make opportunity attacks.
An animal that is given a command it is trained to follow, will continue to perform that command until ordered otherwise. If it doesn't have a command to follow, the beast will either flee or hide (taking the Dash or Hide action) or stand its ground (taking the Dodge action).
If you are incapacitated, or absent, an animal acts on its own, following its training and nature to the best of its abilities.
Training Types and Commands
| Training | Simple Command | Complex Command |
|---|---|---|
| Pet, Draft, Riding | Dash | Hide |
| Hunting, Guard, War | Dash, Hide, Search | Attack, Disengage, Help, Ready |
Training Types
The following types of training exist:
Draft. A draft animal is trained to pull or push vehicles or carry heavy loads. Draft animals are usually bred for strength and a stoic personality, and are less difficult to keep under control than pets. A draft animal tries to flee or hide when it has lost a quarter of its hit points.
Guard. A guard animal is trained to stay on post or patrol an area on its own for an extended period of time, as well as alert its owner to any unknown person or threat it detects. Guard animals are often hostile towards other humanoids besides its owner. A guard animal tries to flee or hide when it has lost half of its hit points.
Hunting. A hunting animal is trained to assist during a hunt, by coursing, startling, or actively catching the prey. A hunting animal willingly attacks only creatures that are similar to its usual prey. A hunting animal tries to flee or hide when it has lost half of its hit points.
Pet. A pet is only trained to be housebroken and follow the owner around. A pet tries to flee or hide in the face of danger.
Riding. A riding animal is trained to carry a rider and quickly follow command from the saddle. A riding animal tries to flee or hide when it has lost a quarter of its hit points.
War. An animal trained for war is trained to attack creatures much larger than itself and has advantage on saving throws against being frightened. A war animal fights to the death.
Wild. If you find yourself accompanied by a wild animal that follows your commands, a predator is considered trained for hunting, while a flight animal is either a pet, draft, or riding animal.
Handling Animals by Proficiency
| Animal Handling | Max. Number of Companions |
Max. Total CR of Companions |
Issue Simple Command |
Issue Complex Command |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not Proficient | 1 | character level / 8 | Bonus Action | Action |
| Proficient | 2 | character level / 8 | Free* | Bonus Action |
| Expertise | 4 | character level / 4 | Free* | Bonus Action |
| *once per turn |
Downtime Activity: Train Animals
Taming or training an animal takes time, empathy, and patience.
Resources. Taming or training an animal typically takes at least several workweeks, in which you constantly train with the animal. You need at least 2 hours of concentrated training each day in order to make any progress. Any additional training might risk overexerting the animal and losing training progress or its Trust (see below). However, you can train different animals on the same day.
An untrained, but otherwise tame animal must always be trained as a pet before it can receive any further training.
Likewise, any wild animal must first be tamed — becoming used to the presence of the trainer and accepting food and physical contact — before it can receive training as a pet.
If you bought an already trained animal, you still need to gain its Trust first. Until then, you suffer certain penalties when commanding it (see Trust below).
Resolution. After each week of training, make a DC 10 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. This check is modified by the type of training you wish to impart.
Once you have accumulated a certain number of training successes, the training is considered successfully finished.
| Training | Modifier | Required Successes |
|---|---|---|
| Tame Wild Animal | -5 or lower | 20 |
| Pet | 0 | 2 |
| Draft | 0 | 4 |
| Riding | -5 | 8 |
| Hunting / Guard | -5 | 12 |
| War | -10 | 20 |
| Gain Trust | 0 | 2 |
Complications. If you rolled a total of 5 or lower on your Wisdom (Animal Handling) check, you overexerted the animal or made a grave mistake. You lose a number of training successes equal to 6 minus your result. Rolling a 1 on the d20 always counts as a failure, though any setback is determined by the final result.
If you fail twice in a row, you lost the animal's Trust (see below).
If you fail twice in a row while trying to regain an animal's Trust, you lost the last chance of cooperation. It will no longer follow any of your commands unless it has no other choice and it will try to run away from you whenever the opportunity arises.
Trust
Whether you have recently bought a new animal companion or made several mistakes in training your own, you need to gain its trust in order for it to follow your orders without hesitation.
Until you (re-)gain an animal's Trust, you suffer the following disadvantages:
- All your Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks regarding this animal are made with disadvantage.
- You must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check to issue a command the animal is already trained to follow.
Option: Beast-like Creatures
With your DMs permission, you can also try to tame and train certain beast-like creatures (e.g. griffons, worgs, or wyverns). As a guideline, any beast-like creature with an Intelligence score of 6 or less, could be eligible, but the DM has the final say.
Taming and training such a beast-like monster follows the same rules as training an animal, however, your Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks to tame or train the creature suffer an additional negative modifier equal to the monster's CR (minimum 0), and the number of required successes is doubled.
Option: Breaking the Beast
Building trust and a positive relationship takes time, empathy, and patience. If you have neither, you can instead try to break the animal to make it heed your call. Breaking an animal only takes half the required successes, however if you fail a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check, you not only suffer a potential setback, but are also attacked by the animal and must first subdue it before being able to continue.
A broken animal bears no love to — and might potentially turn on — its master, if the master ever shows any signs of weakness. More than one goblin worg master was mauled by their beasts in a moment of weakness or carelessness.
New Feat: Animal Wrangler
Prerequisite: Proficiency with the Animal Handling skill
You have a knack dealing with beasts and making them follow your commands. You gain the following benefits:
- You gain expertise in the Animal Handling skill, doubling your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make that uses that proficiency.
- On your turn, you can issue one additional free or bonus action command to one of your animal companions.
- In addition, you learn animal friendship and beast bond, each of which you can cast once without expending a spell slot. You regain the ability to cast those two spells in this way when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for both spells.
Buying Animals (examples)
| Animal | Price |
|---|---|
| Dog, pet | 5 gp |
| Dog, draft | 10 gp |
| Dog, riding | 25 gp |
| Dog, guard | 50 gp |
| Dog, hunting | 50 gp |
| Dog, war | 100 gp |
| Animal | Price |
|---|---|
| Horse, draft | 50 gp |
| Horse, riding | 75 gp |
| Horse, war | 300 gp |
| Bird, pet | 25 gp |
| Bird, hunting | 75 gp |
| Bird, war | 150 gp |
Revised Druid & Ranger spells
Animal Friendship (revised)
1st-level enchantment (ritual)
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 30 feet
- Components: V, S
- Duration: 24 hours
This spell lets you convince a beast that you mean it no harm. Choose a beast that you can see within range. It must see and hear you. The beast must have an Intelligence of 6 or lower or the spell fails. Otherwise, the beast must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for the spell's duration. If you or one of your companions harms the target, the spell ends.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can affect one additional beast for each slot level above 1st.
Beast Bond (revised)
1st-level enchantment (ritual)
- Casting Time: 1 hour
- Range: 5 feet
- Components: V, S, M (fine food and rare herbs worth 50 gp, which the spell consumes)
- Duration: 1 year
You can form a close bond with an animal that is friendly to you or charmed by you.
When you cast the spell, choose a friendly beast within range. The beast must remain friendly and in range during the entire casting.
Once bond, this beast becomes your loyal companion and will obey your commands to the best of its abilities, giving you advantage on your Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks.
You also establish a telepathic link with the beast. While within line of sight, the beast can understand your telepathic messages, and it can telepathically communicate simple emotions and concepts back to you. In addition, this link allows you and the beast to sense each others direction and distance within up to 5 miles, and whether the other is injured or unconscious.
If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own, focusing on finding and protecting you and itself.
When the spell ends or is suppressed (e.g. by an antimagic field), the beast remains loyal to you, but you lose any benefits given by the spell.
Calm Beasts
1st-level enchantment
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: 60 feet
- Components: V, S
- Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
You attempt to suppress strong emotions in a group of beasts. Each beast in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range must make a Wisdom saving throw; a beast can choose to fail this saving throw if it wishes.
If a beast fails its saving throw, choose one of the following two effects:
- You can suppress any effect causing a target to be charmed or frightened. When this spell ends, any suppressed effect resumes, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime.
- Alternatively, you can make a target indifferent about creatures of your choice that it is hostile toward. This indifference ends if the target is attacked or harmed by a spell or if it witnesses any of its friends being harmed. When the spell ends, the beast becomes hostile again, unless the DM rules otherwise.
Revivify Beast
1st-level necromancy
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Touch
- Components: V, S, M (rare herbs and incense worth 50 gp, which the spell consumes)
- Duration: Instantaneous
You touch a beast that has died within the last 10 minutes. That beast returns to life with 1 hit point. This spell can’t return to life a beast that has died of old age, nor can it restore any missing body parts.
At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the beast returns to live with 10 additional hit points for each slot level above 1st. It can't gain more hit points than its hit point maximum.