I took the Ape as my companion for my new build. I named him Monkey D Luffy. My first ranger had a wolf as that was the best possible option at the time. With the revised rule however I feel that it's a tie between the Ape and the Black Bear. I made a Black Bear as a back up companion in case I get board. I named him Tony Tony Chopper.
My character's first companions was a wolf. Our rogue proposed the name Fluffy. After he'd spent some time in captivity with the Drow, they had overfed him, leading him to become 'Chubby Fluffy'. He was squashed by some enormous horror that drove the ranger mad, forcing her to flee, leaving him undefended.
The second was a giant wolf spider, named Achtoë (Eighteyes), by whom our cleric was especially put off. She did save his ass once, though. I think he'd been grappled by a Roper and pulled into a gap in the ceiling. She climbed up there and distracted the monster long enough that he could kill it. She died in a particularly awful swarm of insects, set upon us by a quite powerful undead.
The third was a giant badger named Sunflash, who ended up in my custody when his original owner did not want him (he actually kicked him!). He, too, had a few shining moments, such as being ridden by a handful of gnome children and attacking the ranger's friends when they tried to unpetrify her in an... unorthodox manner. His eventual demise came at the hands of a pair of banshees. By now, the party knew what a dead companion meant for my ranger, so they proposed a funeral pyre for the poor beast and we made it a bit of a wake.
Then, I switched over my ranger to UA style, and she's had the same companion since. When we were having lots of downtime in an urban setting, my ranger felt ready for a new companion, but felt unsure as to what was available in terms of wildlife. As it happened, the city had a semi-wild herd of pigs, so I told our minders to find me the biggest boar they could get their hands on. His name is Tusker. He's a ton of fun and has definitely proven himself. His proudest moment was for sure when he tackled a crazed fire giant. Or maybe that time he gored a purple worm. Other than that, he's become a bit of a comic relief by trying to ram down a door when he and the ranger are on different sides and she's fighting and by constantly threatening to eat people's clothes and belongings. Whenever he dies, the ranger serves his corpse to her friends before resurrecting him, so the party has good reason to be grateful to him as well. Tusker feels particularly drawn to halforcs, does not like cats, but will do anything for a gulp of beer. He's awesome :)
Not my character, but one of my players she is playing a UA Ranger. She decided to be gnome and chose a boar, which she named Pistachio, as her animal companion. So far Pistachio has been used as a pack animal, horde line breaker and mount. I've told my player that she can invest in spiked barding, but because it's custom made it will cost her quite a lot. She seemed pretty excited about the prospect and the other players love the hijinks that ensue when they send her and the boar to do scouting, I mean just picture a tiny gnome and a boar being stealthy. :D
i made a melee ranger and took an Owl to get me free Advantage during my turn, he flew out of reach after my attacks. unfortunately i died to a gelatinous cube but the owl kept fighting and almost gained a level.
Whenever he dies, the ranger serves his corpse to her friends before resurrecting him, so the party has good reason to be grateful to him as well.
Part of me finds this very cruel.
Part of me is in awe.
If he'd need his body to be resurrected, she would never do it, but since he just makes a new body every time anyway, we might as well. I think Tusker would happily munch on his old self, if given the chance. He is a pig, after all, and who says no to a good 200 lbs of pork?
Note though: our party has been in the Underdark for a very long time. Having a bit of bacon to go with those endless mushrooms, grubs and cave frogs does a lot for group morale :)
Pteranodon: be a small race and now you have a flying mout. you can use dual wilder with two lances (1d12 each), or a lance and shield, or use ranged weapon. Pteranodon don't provoke AoO.
Constrictor Snake: nice hit dice, blindsight, and free restrained.
My UA Ranger went with a Mountain Lion (cougar w/panther stats). I named him "Mellencamp". His flaw is that he loves belly rubs, and seeks attention from strangers...which freaks the NPC's OUT!
QUESTION: My DM has my companion die at 0hp...no negative HP/death saves. He reasons that the companion is a monster, and MM rules state monsters die at 0hp. Does anyone else run into this in their games?
My UA Ranger went with a Mountain Lion (cougar w/panther stats). I named him "Mellencamp". His flaw is that he loves belly rubs, and seeks attention from strangers...which freaks the NPC's OUT!
QUESTION: My DM has my companion die at 0hp...no negative HP/death saves. He reasons that the companion is a monster, and MM rules state monsters die at 0hp. Does anyone else run into this in their games?
Technically, the DM can choose to apply the "death saves" rule to any monster of his/her choosing.
My UA Ranger went with a Mountain Lion (cougar w/panther stats). I named him "Mellencamp". His flaw is that he loves belly rubs, and seeks attention from strangers...which freaks the NPC's OUT!
QUESTION: My DM has my companion die at 0hp...no negative HP/death saves. He reasons that the companion is a monster, and MM rules state monsters die at 0hp. Does anyone else run into this in their games?
Technically, the DM can choose to apply the "death saves" rule to any monster of his/her choosing.
I know a few DMs allow them to have death saves. I personally prefer it, at least when using the vanilla ranger - I think it's much more fun to have a beast potentially journey with you for longer yet still carry that risk of death.
It's mostly a non-issue either way with Revised Ranger due to the forgiving beast companion resurrection mechanic.
Hello, hello!
I thought it would be fun to have a thread here where we can discuss our character's animal companions.
What beast do you have and why? Any funny stories?
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I took the Ape as my companion for my new build. I named him Monkey D Luffy. My first ranger had a wolf as that was the best possible option at the time. With the revised rule however I feel that it's a tie between the Ape and the Black Bear. I made a Black Bear as a back up companion in case I get board. I named him Tony Tony Chopper.
My character's first companions was a wolf. Our rogue proposed the name Fluffy. After he'd spent some time in captivity with the Drow, they had overfed him, leading him to become 'Chubby Fluffy'. He was squashed by some enormous horror that drove the ranger mad, forcing her to flee, leaving him undefended.
The second was a giant wolf spider, named Achtoë (Eighteyes), by whom our cleric was especially put off. She did save his ass once, though. I think he'd been grappled by a Roper and pulled into a gap in the ceiling. She climbed up there and distracted the monster long enough that he could kill it. She died in a particularly awful swarm of insects, set upon us by a quite powerful undead.
The third was a giant badger named Sunflash, who ended up in my custody when his original owner did not want him (he actually kicked him!). He, too, had a few shining moments, such as being ridden by a handful of gnome children and attacking the ranger's friends when they tried to unpetrify her in an... unorthodox manner. His eventual demise came at the hands of a pair of banshees. By now, the party knew what a dead companion meant for my ranger, so they proposed a funeral pyre for the poor beast and we made it a bit of a wake.
Then, I switched over my ranger to UA style, and she's had the same companion since. When we were having lots of downtime in an urban setting, my ranger felt ready for a new companion, but felt unsure as to what was available in terms of wildlife. As it happened, the city had a semi-wild herd of pigs, so I told our minders to find me the biggest boar they could get their hands on. His name is Tusker. He's a ton of fun and has definitely proven himself. His proudest moment was for sure when he tackled a crazed fire giant. Or maybe that time he gored a purple worm. Other than that, he's become a bit of a comic relief by trying to ram down a door when he and the ranger are on different sides and she's fighting and by constantly threatening to eat people's clothes and belongings. Whenever he dies, the ranger serves his corpse to her friends before resurrecting him, so the party has good reason to be grateful to him as well. Tusker feels particularly drawn to halforcs, does not like cats, but will do anything for a gulp of beer. He's awesome :)
For low level, i prefer one between blood hawk, owl or tressym. This is because I want my beastmater to be the master of survival and exploration.
Part of me is in awe.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Not my character, but one of my players she is playing a UA Ranger. She decided to be gnome and chose a boar, which she named Pistachio, as her animal companion. So far Pistachio has been used as a pack animal, horde line breaker and mount. I've told my player that she can invest in spiked barding, but because it's custom made it will cost her quite a lot. She seemed pretty excited about the prospect and the other players love the hijinks that ensue when they send her and the boar to do scouting, I mean just picture a tiny gnome and a boar being stealthy. :D
i made a melee ranger and took an Owl to get me free Advantage during my turn, he flew out of reach after my attacks. unfortunately i died to a gelatinous cube but the owl kept fighting and almost gained a level.
I'm playing an elf with a wolf right now, nicknamed Scooby and Shaggy
Artane
PCs: Stoutbeard, Velren Moonrunner
Paladins Game Castle, Bakersfield, CA
I feel bad for the weasel and mule. 22 votes, 0 picks each.
Has anyone ever used either?
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I asked my DM if I could have a deinonychus after making some modifications to the stats to make it balanced for an animal companion.
He told me to just use the one in Volo's Guide as listed.
I have no idea how this will go over O_o
A velociraptor is, but it's a very different animal than a deinonychus.
I got my DM to agree to let me use a modified Animated Sword. It's got insane defenses in addition to being really, really cool.
Ranger UA Expanding Companion Options could be:
Pteranodon: be a small race and now you have a flying mout. you can use dual wilder with two lances (1d12 each), or a lance and shield, or use ranged weapon. Pteranodon don't provoke AoO.
Constrictor Snake: nice hit dice, blindsight, and free restrained.
My UA Ranger went with a Mountain Lion (cougar w/panther stats). I named him "Mellencamp". His flaw is that he loves belly rubs, and seeks attention from strangers...which freaks the NPC's OUT!
QUESTION: My DM has my companion die at 0hp...no negative HP/death saves. He reasons that the companion is a monster, and MM rules state monsters die at 0hp. Does anyone else run into this in their games?
Yup, my companion gets no death saves either.
That's a shame!
I know a few DMs allow them to have death saves. I personally prefer it, at least when using the vanilla ranger - I think it's much more fun to have a beast potentially journey with you for longer yet still carry that risk of death.
It's mostly a non-issue either way with Revised Ranger due to the forgiving beast companion resurrection mechanic.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]