I'm running TOA for a group of teens. Three of the PCs have purchased pets: a flying monkey, a velociraptor, and a deinonychus. We all tend to frequently forget about the presence of these pets, which I want to work on. Part of the issue, though, is that I am unsure how much control to give the players over these pets, particularly--but not only--in combat. I don't really have the time or skill to run them myself, plus that's not fun for the players. On the other hand, I worry a bit about the players abusing things if they have total control (sacrificing their animal in combat, etc.)
Any suggestions on how to approach this? Both in terms of balancing control of the pets and in terms of encouraging them to be a more consistent part of the story.
One idea that occurred to me as I wrote this was to have the players roll initiative for the pets during combat, even if the pets really participate in combat; that way each round their players could narrate what they do.
I would use the Beastmaster subclass as a guideline.
After some time of training, the character can use the Action to command the beast to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help. Later on, with more training and experience, you may decide that those beast's actions require only the character's bonus action.
As training, I can think of several Animal Handling checks, or a passive Animal Handling, to determine the time and things the beast can do.
Lastly, a thing to consider is that the beast is a low intelligence creature, so it is up to you to decide how it reacts to particular situations.
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I'm running TOA for a group of teens. Three of the PCs have purchased pets: a flying monkey, a velociraptor, and a deinonychus. We all tend to frequently forget about the presence of these pets, which I want to work on. Part of the issue, though, is that I am unsure how much control to give the players over these pets, particularly--but not only--in combat. I don't really have the time or skill to run them myself, plus that's not fun for the players. On the other hand, I worry a bit about the players abusing things if they have total control (sacrificing their animal in combat, etc.)
Any suggestions on how to approach this? Both in terms of balancing control of the pets and in terms of encouraging them to be a more consistent part of the story.
One idea that occurred to me as I wrote this was to have the players roll initiative for the pets during combat, even if the pets really participate in combat; that way each round their players could narrate what they do.
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I would use the Beastmaster subclass as a guideline.
After some time of training, the character can use the Action to command the beast to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help. Later on, with more training and experience, you may decide that those beast's actions require only the character's bonus action.
As training, I can think of several Animal Handling checks, or a passive Animal Handling, to determine the time and things the beast can do.
Lastly, a thing to consider is that the beast is a low intelligence creature, so it is up to you to decide how it reacts to particular situations.