Hey guys i do play DnD 5e for the first time. I do play as Druid and im wondering about the Spells. Animal Friendship, Animal language and the skill Animal handling. How do they work together. If i charm a wild animal seeing in the forest like a simple Wolf. If it works it will follow me for atleast 24H or until it gets harmed. And if i use Animal handling on it and cast Animal language to tell it how to use his attack on my Target. Will it help me in Combat? Does this wolf can "learn" how to fight by my side in combat. And if i Wildshape does this wolf keep fighting with me or does it just folllow my "human" Form and is scared if i turn iinto a brown bear for example. I really looking for an answer cause it sounds pretty broken to charm multiple Animals in the wild training them, petting them and fighting with them by my side in combat. I mean a simple Wolf has 11 HP but if i slot Animal Friendship on a Level 4 Slot i should be able to get friendship with 4 Animals at the same time. So i have 44 HP and a lot of more possible attacks per turn in combat as bonus that sounds insane. Is this way to have 1 or more pets as Druid a "playable" and "logical" way in DnD 5e?
I've heard of players foregoing a circle from the druid subclasses and opting for the ranger's beast master subclass instead. I would think that most DM's would allow it, but talk to yours and find out.
From what I see in the spell, you can have your little wolf pack follow and help, but the fact is they are still wild animals that are merely charmed. To train a feral beast like you are implying would take a great deal of time and resources, and the charm from the spell will only compell it for so long before he tries to hightail it home. They may give you a couple rounds of combat, but their HP hardly matters when they'll run off after getting hit at all, so they'll provide a temporary buffer at most for the price of a lvl 4 spell slot. Maybe your DM would let you try to train a wolf using the spell and certain checks over a time, but I'd question why my player didn't just take a beast master ranger if they wanted that in the first place. Hash it out and see what your's will let you get away with.
I think the general subject here of non-beast master ranger pets is best handled on a case-by-case, common sense ruling. However, my opinion is as follows:
The charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially with the creature.
That's all it means. You're not magically brainwashing it to become your absolute minion, that would be the Dominate Beast spell . You can ask it to fight with you and follow you, but it doesn't mean that it will. In my games it would take a high roll to convince a wild, dangerous animal to leave its pack and follow you around. Even more to attack monsters and similar creatures that they should realistically flee from.
It also costs you spell slots to do this as well, and one accidental hit from a friendly area spell is going to break it. It's harder to avoid those with four extra creatures in the field.
As to how it responds to you, that's more down to the DM. I believe a wolf would be very confused seeing you transform, and you may need to reroll your persuasion/animal handling attempt on it (unless you're perhaps a wolf, and that might make it easier).
You could certainly use it to make it easier to tame fully-grown animals over time, and learn for them to fight with you. Keep in mind that each creature should still be controlled by the DM, and respond as he chooses. Hopefully you have a fair DM. Each type of creature should have its own initiative roll. You can give it instructions the same way you'd instruct any player or non-player character, but as mentioned, it comes down to how your DM believes the creature would respond. I imagine your DM may decide that your more elaborate gestures to your animals may take your action or bonus action.
The Beast Bond spell may help you with it in combat, but can only be active on one target at a time, is concentration (so it can break), and only lasts for 10 minutes.
Something I'd compare it to is hiring bandits or thugs to help you. They're still under the DM's control, will respond, but still have their free will. They're also probably just as dangerous and/or unreliable as wild animals too.
You don't need magic to get an animal to like you. Like any other NPC, you can attempt to use your skills to get them on your side (I said you didn't need magic and I meant it, but speak with animals can help here). Give them food, make your Animal Handling checks, make a new friend.
One of the biggest "open to interpretation" rules in 5E is what the hell "charmed" actually means.
Rules as written: it won't hurt you (your party is still technically wide open) and you get advantage to make social skill (mostly the CHA based skills)checks against it.
From there, it's entirely up to you and your DM. I'd suggest doing this during session 0 or before you start building this character out to be the pet-master. Some DM's, myself included, would be a lot more willing to open things up from RaW (the spell is called "animal friendship" not "animal ignores you for the duration of this spell" so why not treat the spell like it helps you make friends?) while other DM's remember with fear the days of 3/3.5E when Druids were the ultimate lords of the game. Your DM could fall on either extreme (the charmed animal is yours to command for the rest of the spell duration or the creature will basically just ignore you and require a 30+ persuasion check to do anything it wouldn't normally do). Neither is right or wrong, they're all about how the guy DMing the game wants to run things. You think 4 wolves following you is OP. I think that you haven't run up against an enemy that can do AoE damage (my average Level 3 fireball, even if they make the save, is going to kill most of your swarm).
TL;dr- Talk with the DM, plead your case, see what he says.
A tall, gnoll-like figures steps out from the deep shade of an oak. "I am Tim, Demon Lord of Wolves!" he declares. "You took 4 of my pack from the forest and lead them to their death battling zombies, beholders, and the tax-men of Waterdupe. Big mistake!" From behind Tim, a hundred wolves and dire wolves form into a giant skirmish line* Hackles are raised, teeth are bared. One wolf tries to hump Tim's leg. "What do you do?" asks the strangely eager DM.
*Tim is well aware of how much damage an average level 3 fireball can do.
Taking any wild animal from its natural environment and putting it on the front lines of the fight vs Evil/taxation should be a major decision for a ranger or druid. Less so for a bard, but story-tellers really should understand that what goes around...... Giant goats, elk, squirrels etc are not trained to handle the stresses of combat, and PTSD is almost a given. There are some lovely insanity tables in OOTA.
So even if your DM lets you 'abuse' your friendship with animals, be assured that for adults there is no such thing as a free lunch. Unless its roadkill. Or you stole it. Or you found a voucher. OK, can we agree that there could be unforeseen consequences?
@CBMoate "TL;dr- Talk with the DM, plead your case, see what he says." Yeah, and when he agrees, that is the time to worry about what you have gotten yourself into....evil grin
The only thing scarier than a vampire red dragon is a poorly hidden stash of healing potions next to a door.....
Any DM that sees you abusing a feature of the game has 2 things he can do.
1- ruin the fun and just tell you flat out "you can't do that because rules"
2- turn this back against you in a monkey paw situation. You keep stealing wolves? How you gonna feed them? What happens when they establish their own pack order and infighting begins? What if you run up against a werewolf that they like more than you?
As a DM I always like it when you can twist a player's actions into story point.
Or 3 you kill off the pack after the whole party has bounded with them encourage the party to name them roleplay the wolves make the wolves interact with NPCs require the party to feed them give the wolves personality don't just slap it away from them make it a sudoe character death make the wolves party members dogs are one of the best emotional manipulating tool in media and in life I would also suggest making multiple encounters where the wolves look like they are going to die but don't just so it feels like it could happen at anytime but make sure they die at the best possible moment and maybe not all at the same time take one at time it sounds saddistic but it's gonna make a really satisfying boss kill cuase your not just killing the wolves your also changing the person who tamed them those wolves are part of there character identity
Hey guys i do play DnD 5e for the first time. I do play as Druid and im wondering about the Spells. Animal Friendship, Animal language and the skill Animal handling. How do they work together. If i charm a wild animal seeing in the forest like a simple Wolf. If it works it will follow me for atleast 24H or until it gets harmed. And if i use Animal handling on it and cast Animal language to tell it how to use his attack on my Target. Will it help me in Combat? Does this wolf can "learn" how to fight by my side in combat. And if i Wildshape does this wolf keep fighting with me or does it just folllow my "human" Form and is scared if i turn iinto a brown bear for example. I really looking for an answer cause it sounds pretty broken to charm multiple Animals in the wild training them, petting them and fighting with them by my side in combat. I mean a simple Wolf has 11 HP but if i slot Animal Friendship on a Level 4 Slot i should be able to get friendship with 4 Animals at the same time. So i have 44 HP and a lot of more possible attacks per turn in combat as bonus that sounds insane. Is this way to have 1 or more pets as Druid a "playable" and "logical" way in DnD 5e?
Thanksful for every answer.
I've heard of players foregoing a circle from the druid subclasses and opting for the ranger's beast master subclass instead. I would think that most DM's would allow it, but talk to yours and find out.
From what I see in the spell, you can have your little wolf pack follow and help, but the fact is they are still wild animals that are merely charmed. To train a feral beast like you are implying would take a great deal of time and resources, and the charm from the spell will only compell it for so long before he tries to hightail it home. They may give you a couple rounds of combat, but their HP hardly matters when they'll run off after getting hit at all, so they'll provide a temporary buffer at most for the price of a lvl 4 spell slot. Maybe your DM would let you try to train a wolf using the spell and certain checks over a time, but I'd question why my player didn't just take a beast master ranger if they wanted that in the first place. Hash it out and see what your's will let you get away with.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
I think the general subject here of non-beast master ranger pets is best handled on a case-by-case, common sense ruling. However, my opinion is as follows:
Animal Friendship causes the charmed condition: looking at that text we can see that it says:
That's all it means. You're not magically brainwashing it to become your absolute minion, that would be the Dominate Beast spell . You can ask it to fight with you and follow you, but it doesn't mean that it will. In my games it would take a high roll to convince a wild, dangerous animal to leave its pack and follow you around. Even more to attack monsters and similar creatures that they should realistically flee from.
It also costs you spell slots to do this as well, and one accidental hit from a friendly area spell is going to break it. It's harder to avoid those with four extra creatures in the field.
As to how it responds to you, that's more down to the DM. I believe a wolf would be very confused seeing you transform, and you may need to reroll your persuasion/animal handling attempt on it (unless you're perhaps a wolf, and that might make it easier).
You could certainly use it to make it easier to tame fully-grown animals over time, and learn for them to fight with you. Keep in mind that each creature should still be controlled by the DM, and respond as he chooses. Hopefully you have a fair DM. Each type of creature should have its own initiative roll. You can give it instructions the same way you'd instruct any player or non-player character, but as mentioned, it comes down to how your DM believes the creature would respond. I imagine your DM may decide that your more elaborate gestures to your animals may take your action or bonus action.
The Beast Bond spell may help you with it in combat, but can only be active on one target at a time, is concentration (so it can break), and only lasts for 10 minutes.
Something I'd compare it to is hiring bandits or thugs to help you. They're still under the DM's control, will respond, but still have their free will. They're also probably just as dangerous and/or unreliable as wild animals too.
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
You don't need magic to get an animal to like you. Like any other NPC, you can attempt to use your skills to get them on your side (I said you didn't need magic and I meant it, but speak with animals can help here). Give them food, make your Animal Handling checks, make a new friend.
One of the biggest "open to interpretation" rules in 5E is what the hell "charmed" actually means.
Rules as written: it won't hurt you (your party is still technically wide open) and you get advantage to make social skill (mostly the CHA based skills)checks against it.
From there, it's entirely up to you and your DM. I'd suggest doing this during session 0 or before you start building this character out to be the pet-master. Some DM's, myself included, would be a lot more willing to open things up from RaW (the spell is called "animal friendship" not "animal ignores you for the duration of this spell" so why not treat the spell like it helps you make friends?) while other DM's remember with fear the days of 3/3.5E when Druids were the ultimate lords of the game. Your DM could fall on either extreme (the charmed animal is yours to command for the rest of the spell duration or the creature will basically just ignore you and require a 30+ persuasion check to do anything it wouldn't normally do). Neither is right or wrong, they're all about how the guy DMing the game wants to run things. You think 4 wolves following you is OP. I think that you haven't run up against an enemy that can do AoE damage (my average Level 3 fireball, even if they make the save, is going to kill most of your swarm).
TL;dr- Talk with the DM, plead your case, see what he says.
A tall, gnoll-like figures steps out from the deep shade of an oak.
"I am Tim, Demon Lord of Wolves!" he declares. "You took 4 of my pack from the forest and lead them to their death battling zombies, beholders, and the tax-men of Waterdupe. Big mistake!"
From behind Tim, a hundred wolves and dire wolves form into a giant skirmish line* Hackles are raised, teeth are bared. One wolf tries to hump Tim's leg.
"What do you do?" asks the strangely eager DM.
*Tim is well aware of how much damage an average level 3 fireball can do.
Taking any wild animal from its natural environment and putting it on the front lines of the fight vs Evil/taxation should be a major decision for a ranger or druid. Less so for a bard, but story-tellers really should understand that what goes around......
Giant goats, elk, squirrels etc are not trained to handle the stresses of combat, and PTSD is almost a given. There are some lovely insanity tables in OOTA.
So even if your DM lets you 'abuse' your friendship with animals, be assured that for adults there is no such thing as a free lunch. Unless its roadkill. Or you stole it. Or you found a voucher. OK, can we agree that there could be unforeseen consequences?
@CBMoate "TL;dr- Talk with the DM, plead your case, see what he says."
Yeah, and when he agrees, that is the time to worry about what you have gotten yourself into....evil grin
The only thing scarier than a vampire red dragon is a poorly hidden stash of healing potions next to a door.....
Roleplaying since Runequest.
I just use the companion rules in the DMG for that kind of thing.
This guy gets it!
Any DM that sees you abusing a feature of the game has 2 things he can do.
1- ruin the fun and just tell you flat out "you can't do that because rules"
2- turn this back against you in a monkey paw situation. You keep stealing wolves? How you gonna feed them? What happens when they establish their own pack order and infighting begins? What if you run up against a werewolf that they like more than you?
As a DM I always like it when you can twist a player's actions into story point.
Or 3 you kill off the pack after the whole party has bounded with them encourage the party to name them roleplay the wolves make the wolves interact with NPCs require the party to feed them give the wolves personality don't just slap it away from them make it a sudoe character death make the wolves party members dogs are one of the best emotional manipulating tool in media and in life I would also suggest making multiple encounters where the wolves look like they are going to die but don't just so it feels like it could happen at anytime but make sure they die at the best possible moment and maybe not all at the same time take one at time it sounds saddistic but it's gonna make a really satisfying boss kill cuase your not just killing the wolves your also changing the person who tamed them those wolves are part of there character identity