Pretty new to D&D and am running a game with 2PCs (lost mines of phandelver ).
I really think my party needs a sidekick. I was going work in them getting a dog or wild animal sidekick - but need help figuring out it’s starting stats.
I wanted the sidekick to substitute for a third player as much as practicable from a CR basis.
I have found a whole bunch of resources on sidekicks but was still struggling to see how it would really substitute for a player.
I started with a mastiff - but didn’t know how to scale it and add the warrior sidekick level in a way that would make it tough enough.
Also considered a CR 1 creature (dire wolf). Thought I would just add the warrior sidekick class, but then saw it had so many more HP than the players (but such a lower AC). It’s lower AC concerned me, as I see this as being a sidekick that I wanted to stick around for awhile (ties to character’s background) - how does one increase the AC of animal sidekicks to keep up with PCs as they level up? If it was a humanoid I suppose I could have given it armour.
any advice and examples you could help with on designing an animal sidekick that will last would be most appreciated. Thanks!
A CR 1 or 1/2 creature with warrior sidekick levels is probably a great place to start. You can always fudge the numbers for AC and HP if you need to, but high HP might actually make up for a low AC. It means that it gets hit a lot, but that it can take a hit. I'm not sure how AC would increase, besides increasing dex as they level up. Maybe you could encourage the PCs to get the creature armor. There are rules for barding in the phb or dmg (I forget which).
So are you suggesting taking a CR1 characters stat block e.g. dire wolf and then adding in the benefits of an animal sidekick warrrior class one (+1 proficiency bonus etc.)? Thanks in advance
Just following the statblock rules for a Beast Master's animal companion, but not placing any restriction on the ability of the companion to have its own initiative and take its own turns... that's probably the most straightforward solution I can think of. You can lift the "a beast that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower," if you want them to have a Dire Wolf or Brown Bear or something.
Keen Hearing and Smell. The wolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. The wolf has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the wolf's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit + [Party's proficiency bonus], reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) + [Party's proficiency bonus] piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 + [Party's proficiency bonus] Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
(okay boo, that is a formatting nightmare that I'm not even going to try to fix, despite creature entries copy pasting into the comment section and looking just fine. Ah well.
Chicken Champ. thank you so much for the post. That was incredibly helpful. Tha party is all level 1 at this stage. Would you then suggest progressing the sidekick using the sidekick rules, when the time comes to level up?
Looking at your example. I think a cr 1 character would end up taking the spotlight too much. Since the goal is to substitute for a character, may be a 1/2 or even a 1/4? What are you views on good creatures to use?
I am running Lost Mines of Phandelver, and so had initially though to have them come across Sildar's mastiff or wolf (tied up in the kennel) who could join them.
If they're starting at level 1 and want a pupper, I would start them with a Wolf, + Animal Companion enhancements based on party level like I described above.
At level 5, I would bump the wolf up to have grown into a Dire Wolf, still with + Animal Companion enhancements.
At level 10, I would consider bumping the wolf up to Winter Wolf or Hell Hound or something, still with + Animal Companion enhancements, or maybe just homebrew my own "Legendary Wolf" or "Primal Wolf" or something. Or, just leave it as a Dire Wolf... it'll be starting to be very noticeably dropping off in usefullness by the time you reach 10, but really the intent was to give them a mascot, not a powerful ally, so that may be ok. The only thing about Animal Companion that doesn't scale well is that HP enhancement, if not for that you really could just stick with Wolf tbh.
Seems like you already have an idea in place, but I'll throw this out there, anyway. What if you use the sidekick rules for a warrior as usual, just re-skin it as a wolf. Instead of a human or elf or whatever, its a wolf.
One note about animal sidekicks - they are VERY EASY to forget! I mean, really very easy to forget. You only have two players, so it should be possible, but I can't count all the times we (me and the players) have forgotten about animals. How did the wolf climb that cliff, where does he stay when you are in town? Why didn't the lord or horses or whoever react to that big bad wolf walking by the PC's side. Just saying, it can be difficult to remember...
I would seriously have considered to rather give them a ring of summoning or something. Just because I know I then didn't have to mind all those issues. Same stats and all, but give the players a bottle to put the beast back into... Or, just scale down the enemies, or give the characters some more potions. Adding another creature to combat only makes it longer and less efficient. I understand it since it's a prewritten campaign, and it might be difficult to simply scale it down, but I would have considered that as well.
Really interesting point Godrick. The reason I was leaning towards animal though is I am running LMOP and I don’t know how to scale down the dragon, but I don’t want the sidekick to be too involved in role playing or turn into a a DMPC.
Your point about ladders etc is a good one though.
Really interesting idea. Silly question - the artist class in the sidekick rules I am seeing just add bonuses - they assume you are working from a stat block. Are there others?
Might I suggest an awakened companion. Just without the talk common thing. That way it makes a little more sense if it is a bit smarter than the normal for the creature. As well as could have stats rolled/more than likely fighter,barbarian,ranger class levels if you went that option. Since the intent to fill a party member slot was stated.
It also gives an easier avenue in case of player character death to play as the animal companion until a more suitable time to join in (and helps them not just sit around not able to do much) A smart wolf could make use of dust and make lines for enemies, or know not to bark in a cave. Then you can just update the stat block and roll another dice of health as the party levels, as well as proficiency bonus as needed. Keeps the low cr creatures viable longer, and not quite replace with another creature.
Would it not be nice to have "create sidekick" in the homebrew options? If it is already there a polite, here it is would be appreciated. Otherwise making a version of a critter and adding the sidekick pers per level is one approach. Juniper, a certain critter from a certain campaign I am running is now a sidekick of my players party.
But a one to three click interface that is as easy to use as the character creator would be cool or as an option to apply a given sidekick level to a existing creature template would be welcomed.
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Hi There
Pretty new to D&D and am running a game with 2PCs (lost mines of phandelver ).
I really think my party needs a sidekick. I was going work in them getting a dog or wild animal sidekick - but need help figuring out it’s starting stats.
I wanted the sidekick to substitute for a third player as much as practicable from a CR basis.
I have found a whole bunch of resources on sidekicks but was still struggling to see how it would really substitute for a player.
I started with a mastiff - but didn’t know how to scale it and add the warrior sidekick level in a way that would make it tough enough.
Also considered a CR 1 creature (dire wolf). Thought I would just add the warrior sidekick class, but then saw it had so many more HP than the players (but such a lower AC). It’s lower AC concerned me, as I see this as being a sidekick that I wanted to stick around for awhile (ties to character’s background) - how does one increase the AC of animal sidekicks to keep up with PCs as they level up? If it was a humanoid I suppose I could have given it armour.
any advice and examples you could help with on designing an animal sidekick that will last would be most appreciated. Thanks!
A CR 1 or 1/2 creature with warrior sidekick levels is probably a great place to start. You can always fudge the numbers for AC and HP if you need to, but high HP might actually make up for a low AC. It means that it gets hit a lot, but that it can take a hit. I'm not sure how AC would increase, besides increasing dex as they level up. Maybe you could encourage the PCs to get the creature armor. There are rules for barding in the phb or dmg (I forget which).
Thanks Snapdragon
So are you suggesting taking a CR1 characters stat block e.g. dire wolf and then adding in the benefits of an animal sidekick warrrior class one (+1 proficiency bonus etc.)? Thanks in advance
Just following the statblock rules for a Beast Master's animal companion, but not placing any restriction on the ability of the companion to have its own initiative and take its own turns... that's probably the most straightforward solution I can think of. You can lift the "a beast that is no larger than Medium and that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower," if you want them to have a Dire Wolf or Brown Bear or something.
Using your Dire Wolf example, we'd have:
Keen Hearing and Smell. The wolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. The wolf has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the wolf's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit + [Party's proficiency bonus], reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) + [Party's proficiency bonus] piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 + [Party's proficiency bonus] Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
(okay boo, that is a formatting nightmare that I'm not even going to try to fix, despite creature entries copy pasting into the comment section and looking just fine. Ah well.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Chicken Champ. thank you so much for the post. That was incredibly helpful. Tha party is all level 1 at this stage. Would you then suggest progressing the sidekick using the sidekick rules, when the time comes to level up?
Looking at your example. I think a cr 1 character would end up taking the spotlight too much. Since the goal is to substitute for a character, may be a 1/2 or even a 1/4? What are you views on good creatures to use?
I am running Lost Mines of Phandelver, and so had initially though to have them come across Sildar's mastiff or wolf (tied up in the kennel) who could join them.
If they're starting at level 1 and want a pupper, I would start them with a Wolf, + Animal Companion enhancements based on party level like I described above.
At level 5, I would bump the wolf up to have grown into a Dire Wolf, still with + Animal Companion enhancements.
At level 10, I would consider bumping the wolf up to Winter Wolf or Hell Hound or something, still with + Animal Companion enhancements, or maybe just homebrew my own "Legendary Wolf" or "Primal Wolf" or something. Or, just leave it as a Dire Wolf... it'll be starting to be very noticeably dropping off in usefullness by the time you reach 10, but really the intent was to give them a mascot, not a powerful ally, so that may be ok. The only thing about Animal Companion that doesn't scale well is that HP enhancement, if not for that you really could just stick with Wolf tbh.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Great guidance. Thanks Chicken Champ. Most appreciated.
Seems like you already have an idea in place, but I'll throw this out there, anyway. What if you use the sidekick rules for a warrior as usual, just re-skin it as a wolf. Instead of a human or elf or whatever, its a wolf.
That works too!
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I’m all about taking the laziest option possible.
One note about animal sidekicks - they are VERY EASY to forget! I mean, really very easy to forget. You only have two players, so it should be possible, but I can't count all the times we (me and the players) have forgotten about animals. How did the wolf climb that cliff, where does he stay when you are in town? Why didn't the lord or horses or whoever react to that big bad wolf walking by the PC's side. Just saying, it can be difficult to remember...
I would seriously have considered to rather give them a ring of summoning or something. Just because I know I then didn't have to mind all those issues. Same stats and all, but give the players a bottle to put the beast back into... Or, just scale down the enemies, or give the characters some more potions. Adding another creature to combat only makes it longer and less efficient. I understand it since it's a prewritten campaign, and it might be difficult to simply scale it down, but I would have considered that as well.
Ludo ergo sum!
Really interesting point Godrick. The reason I was leaning towards animal though is I am running LMOP and I don’t know how to scale down the dragon, but I don’t want the sidekick to be too involved in role playing or turn into a a DMPC.
Your point about ladders etc is a good one though.
Really interesting idea. Silly question - the artist class in the sidekick rules I am seeing just add bonuses - they assume you are working from a stat block. Are there others?
I was hoping they can include the guinea pig as an animal sidekick. It's for my wife playing elf wizard who loves guinea pigs 🥰
Might I suggest an awakened companion. Just without the talk common thing. That way it makes a little more sense if it is a bit smarter than the normal for the creature. As well as could have stats rolled/more than likely fighter,barbarian,ranger class levels if you went that option. Since the intent to fill a party member slot was stated.
It also gives an easier avenue in case of player character death to play as the animal companion until a more suitable time to join in (and helps them not just sit around not able to do much) A smart wolf could make use of dust and make lines for enemies, or know not to bark in a cave. Then you can just update the stat block and roll another dice of health as the party levels, as well as proficiency bonus as needed. Keeps the low cr creatures viable longer, and not quite replace with another creature.
Could a wolf hold a sword in its mouth? I find the concept of a wolf with a vorpal sword very funny.
Would it not be nice to have "create sidekick" in the homebrew options? If it is already there a polite, here it is would be appreciated. Otherwise making a version of a critter and adding the sidekick pers per level is one approach. Juniper, a certain critter from a certain campaign I am running is now a sidekick of my players party.
But a one to three click interface that is as easy to use as the character creator would be cool or as an option to apply a given sidekick level to a existing creature template would be welcomed.