Scoundrel

The Scoundrel and their ever trusting animal companion find a way to survive through thick and thin. They possess a special bond, knowing all sorts of tricks and teamwork without saying a word.

Scoundrel's Sidekick

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain an animal sidekick. You and this sidekick are thieves and partners in crime, often literally. The sidekick could be a small bird, a chimpanzee, a rat, etc.

Animal Sidekick:  When you finish a long rest, you magically summon the animal sidekick that is bound to you. It appears in an unoccupied space of your choice within 30 feet of you.

The animal sidekick is friendly to you and your companions, and it obeys your commands. See its game statistics in the accompanying Animal Sidekick Companion stat block.  You can determine the cosmetic characteristics of the animal sidekick, such as its color, markings or patterns, etc; your choice has no effect on its game statistics.

The Sidekick in Combat: In combat, the animal sidekick shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the animal sidekick can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

The animal sidekick remains until it is reduced to 0 hit points, until you use this feature to summon the animal sidekick again, or until you die. Anything the animal sidekick was wearing or carrying is left behind when the animal sidekick vanishes. As an Action, you can summon your Animal Sidekick Companion back to your side. You can return your Sidekick this way a number of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence Modifier.

Sidekick Shenanigans

By 9th level, after so much time working as a team, you and your animal sidekick have established a laundry list of cons, tricks, and tactics to rob people blind. As a bonus action on your turn, you may command your animal sidekick to make a sleight of hand check, or take the Use an Object action.

If you also use your action to make the slight of hand check with your sidekick, you make the roll with advantage.

Improved Antics

Starting at 13th level, your little friend has become masterful at the art of harrying your foes and commanding people's attention, pulling their focus off you and your allies just long enough to deliver the killing blow.

While your Animal Sidekick is within 5 feet of a target or targets, creatures allied to you also gain advantage on their attack rolls against the target(s).

Master Companion

Beginning at 17th level, your animal sidekick has trained with you for so long that it has mastered it's use on and off the battlefield. Your sidekick gains an additional 15 feet of movement, it now may make two attacks with the Attack Action on its turn instead of only one, and it can apply Cunning Strikes to both of its attacks each turn instead of one.

When you command the sidekick to perform a skill check for you, it rolls 1d6 and adds that number to the resulting roll.