Ok- we just finished the Sea Ghost portion of GoS. the Sorcerer in the party earned the Peudodragon's trust and bonded with it. I'm not sure how to proceed, should I treat it as a pet, a beast companion, a familiar or something else entirely.
I want the character to be able to the Pseudodragon in and out of combat.
Just treat it as an animal companion and not over complicate how it is used, but if you want guideline look at Warlock familiar rules to give you some ideas. One goal you should have to develop the interaction between the sorcerer and the Pseudodragon which could bring a lot of fun to your game.
I’d say start it as an NPC, since that’s closest to what it is. Then you can control what it’s willing to do. It’s smart enough to know how small it is and not rush into danger. And honestly, it’s probably going to die the first time it meets a fireball. Even with advantage on the save and taking half damage, if the spell does 14 hp, it’s gone. It will probably realize this. And it’s not a PC, so RAW, it doesn’t get death saves. If the character wants it to be something else, they need to invest some kind of resources (learn find familiar, homebrew a feat) into it. Otherwise you are giving them either a spell or class feature for free. And a free spell for a sorcerer is a big deal. As I’m thinking, though, I could see letting them treat it like one of those things (spell or companion) for free, with the understanding that unlike a familiar, it can die. And unlike a beast companion, it can’t be resummoned. If it’s a one-off thing they can’t replace, that can balance giving them a feature for free.
The other way could be to not allow them to use it (I know you said you want to, I’m just throwing out ideas). If it’s just a flavor/RP device, and they don’t use it to help them overcome challenges in or out of combat, then I’d be happy to give it plenty of plot armor and general damage immunity and let them have fun.
Ok- we just finished the Sea Ghost portion of GoS. the Sorcerer in the party earned the Peudodragon's trust and bonded with it. I'm not sure how to proceed, should I treat it as a pet, a beast companion, a familiar or something else entirely.
I want the character to be able to the Pseudodragon in and out of combat.
If the Sorcerer has bonded with it, and you as the DM want the Sorcerer to be able to treat the Pseudodragon as a familiar, then it's a familiar.
If you (as the DM) don't want it to be a familiar, or if you want it to cease being a familiar, then it's not a familiar. You're in the driver's seat.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Ok- we just finished the Sea Ghost portion of GoS. the Sorcerer in the party earned the Peudodragon's trust and bonded with it. I'm not sure how to proceed, should I treat it as a pet, a beast companion, a familiar or something else entirely.
I want the character to be able to the Pseudodragon in and out of combat.
Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated.
Thanks in adance
-TC
Just treat it as an animal companion and not over complicate how it is used, but if you want guideline look at Warlock familiar rules to give you some ideas. One goal you should have to develop the interaction between the sorcerer and the Pseudodragon which could bring a lot of fun to your game.
I’d say start it as an NPC, since that’s closest to what it is. Then you can control what it’s willing to do. It’s smart enough to know how small it is and not rush into danger. And honestly, it’s probably going to die the first time it meets a fireball. Even with advantage on the save and taking half damage, if the spell does 14 hp, it’s gone. It will probably realize this. And it’s not a PC, so RAW, it doesn’t get death saves.
If the character wants it to be something else, they need to invest some kind of resources (learn find familiar, homebrew a feat) into it.
Otherwise you are giving them either a spell or class feature for free. And a free spell for a sorcerer is a big deal.
As I’m thinking, though, I could see letting them treat it like one of those things (spell or companion) for free, with the understanding that unlike a familiar, it can die. And unlike a beast companion, it can’t be resummoned. If it’s a one-off thing they can’t replace, that can balance giving them a feature for free.
The other way could be to not allow them to use it (I know you said you want to, I’m just throwing out ideas). If it’s just a flavor/RP device, and they don’t use it to help them overcome challenges in or out of combat, then I’d be happy to give it plenty of plot armor and general damage immunity and let them have fun.
Pseudodragon (familiar variant), Pseudodragon
If the Sorcerer has bonded with it, and you as the DM want the Sorcerer to be able to treat the Pseudodragon as a familiar, then it's a familiar.
If you (as the DM) don't want it to be a familiar, or if you want it to cease being a familiar, then it's not a familiar. You're in the driver's seat.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Treating it as a familiar would most likely give the greatest help to the sorcerer.
Keep your friends close, and enemies closer.