¶ Animal Companions
"In the realm of Dungeons and Dragons, a faithful animal companion isn't just a pet, it's the bridge between a wild heart and a warrior's spirit. Remember, it's not just about the strength of the claws, but the language of the soul they understand."
¶ How Does it Work?
To get an animal companion, you’ll need to find one while you play. Using animal empathy lets you talk to a creature and try to bond with it. If you succeed, the creature will follow you around until you ask it to stay. Your companion will always be by your side, but you can tell it to wait somewhere, and it’ll stay there patiently for a bit. After 30–60 minutes, though, it might start to wander around the area, so make sure it doesn't get into any trouble!
When you log off, your animal companion logs off with you. If you’ve asked it to wait somewhere, it’ll either be there or with you when you log back in. Your animal companion is a persistent creatuer, Its health stays with it, even through resets, and there’s no way to summon it—it’ll follow you or stay where you told it to.
If your animal companion happens to die, you won’t be able to bond with another one for 7 real-life days.
An animal companion is not a magic beast that you call on whenever you want, it's a friend who is always with you, or waiting for you when you can't bring it into the keep.
¶ Restrictions
Your animal companion won’t level up with you, and you can’t bond with an already domesticated animal. You’re also limited to creatures with the Animal racial type. ‘Beast’ and ‘Magical Beast’ aren’t valid for bonding.
Vermin Heart: The one exception to this is if you have the feat Vermin Heart. This allows you to bond with vermin-type creatures as if they were animals.
Remember to treat your animal companion with respect. If it looks like you’re just using it as a meat shield, your companion might not appreciate that! Try to roleplay with it, making it feel like a real part of your family, as a bonded animal should be.
These rules may change at any time, and additional restrictions could be added if mechanics or animal companions are found to be exploited/abused.
¶ How to determine a valid Animal Companion
You will be able to bond with an animal based on the below calculations.
- Druid: You can bond with an animal that has an HD equal to your Druid Level.
- Ranger: You can bond with an animal that has an HD equal to your Ranger level / 2.
Nature's Companion: A ranger with this feat is able to have an animal companion that has an HD equal to their ranger level, just like a druid.
If you multiclass Druid and Ranger, you merge the calculations using your druid and ranger levels separately.
¶ Controlling animal companions
Since Haze features a modified animal companion and empathy system, the behavior of companions can be different from the base game.
Follow this concise guide to learn how to use animal companions effectively.
It is recommended to assign hotkeys for the Follow, Stand Your Ground commands as well as the Associate Control tool for quick access, as your animal companion might be prone to wander off or attack creatures on its own.
-
Control Wand Usage: Always target your animal companion with the Associate Control Wand whenever you bring them along if you want to ensure full control.
-
If your animal companion is set to follow you through the dialogue menu, it will not auto-attack! They will only engage in combat if commanded through the Associate Control tool, by using the Guard Me or Attack Nearest commands, or when using the method explained in 4.
-
Risk of Death: Animal companions die permanently when reaching 0 HP and do not have a bleed-out phase.
-
Proactive Companion: To make your companion more proactive, you can ask them to wait through the dialogue menu, then use Animal Empathy on them. This will cause the animal companion to actively follow and defend you - however it also means that your animal companion will path after distant enemies on its own.
-
Behavior Management: Use the hotkeyed commands to manage their aggressiveness, especially when they might run into danger.
-
If an animal companion has been told to wait through the dialogue menu, you must tell it to follow you again or use the animal empathy spell on it. Assosciate Control will not work on an animal companion that has been told to wait.
-
Additional Features: When selected with the Assosciate Control, companions can perform emotes using the command
!v *insert emote here*.
🐺 Remember, your companion is a wild animal with its own instincts and desires. Be attentive to their behavior, as it may change, especially during interactions led by DMs.