Pathfinder (2e): Basics of Animal Companions
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- The basics of Animal Companions in the Pathfinder (2nd Edition) RPG from Paizo!
In this video we examine animal companions in Pathfinder. How to stat them, how to control them in battle, and more!
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00:00 Introduction
00:17 Animal Companions
02:17 Minion Trait
04:19 Companion Stats
07:04 Improving Companions (Mature, Nimble and Savage)
09:06 Support Abilities
10:07 Riding Animal Companions
11:18 TL;DR (Summary)
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See here for more great videos on Pathfinder: ruclips.net/p/PLYCDCUfG0xJb5I-wDIezuDkTfbd8k21Km
Want to help support the channel?
Get you name listed at the end of my videos by joining my Patreon :
▶️ www.patreon.com/HowItsPlayed/
Thank me with a cup of coffee!
▶️ ko-fi.com/HowItsPlayed
It's extremely frustrating that the only table top rpg content out there is 5e D&D. Glad I finally found something in Pathfinder 2e because it's hard to learn and keep everything straight in my head with reading alone.
Glad to hear the videos are helping!
Best pathfinder videos out there
Man, I hyperlink this stuff to my Roll20 handouts. You're a lifesaver!
Awesome! I'm glad to hear they're helping!
Another excellent and informative lesson! You really do a great job making complex subjects easy to digest. As a new Pathfinder 2e GM, your channel is one of the most valuable resources in my GM toolbox. Thank you for all your hard work.
You're very welcome! :)
Your channel is absolutely underrated. I wait for your videos every week as an addict XD
LOL -- I appreciate the support!
Your videos are so informative and don't have a bunch of fluff. Just straight information and examples. I appreciate that immensely.
Note that per RAW the Magic Fang spell provides an item bonus and your companion can't gain any benefit from it. RAI it is clearly supposed to work but if your GM is a stickler for the rules be sure to double check with them.
Once again, an fantastic summary of a quite complex topic. There are a few things, that can be added here:
1) Mature animal companions for rangers can during an encounter still use 1 action that round on the ranger's turn to Stride toward or Strike the prey that the ranger has marked with Hunt Prey, even if the ranger does not use the Command an Animal action. For druids, the animal companion also can use 1 action to Stride or Strike, but is not limited to a specific target.
2) After becoming Nimble or Savage, an animal companion can also become Specialized. You can chose between 6 different specializations, which grant the animal companion higher ability modifiers, proficiencies, more damage and other benefits. For example, a Badger with the Wrecker specialization can ignore half an object’s Hardness.
Thank you for the video, I play a ranger recently and i was confused for some things and this explain those
I feel like Neo in the Matrix when he’s like “I know kung fu” after watching your videos.
Love the videos!
Thanks!
I am fairly new to Pathfinder and I was using Pathbuilder to help me build my first character. I spent too long trying to find Command an Animal under spells until I found it staring me in the face under actions.
Hello, Excuse me I have a doubt about where I can find in the rulebooks, the part you say the animal companions do not panic when in danger? I'm just curious.
Thanks a lot for the info.
The rule that says that animal companions only benefit from item bonuses to speed and AC is quickly forgotten, as Horseshoes of Speed grant that animal companion an item bonus to athletics checks for jumping. xD
When my companion gain const, i have to recalculate all hitpoints? for example in lvl 4, i got 1 more const, so now the companion life shoud be base health + (6+ new const)*player level?
I have some confusion here when it comes to commanding them. Commanding an animal as listed under the nature skill is limited to a few basic actions, but the animal companion is trained in multiple skills. Can they be commanded to use the actions for those skills without needing more training?
Hi, i have 2 questions.
If you don use command animal and move, the companions move or stay in the site.
And if you use a companion how mount, you and your companion share MAP?
So i have a question about the Ranger animal companion. If u pick Precision in Hunter's edge, does that mean both you AND your animal companion deal bonus 1d8 on the first attack that hits?
Yes
As it says at the Animal Companion feat for Ranger: "When you Hunt Prey, your animal companion gains the action's beenfits and your hunter's edge benefit if you have one."
Since they also gain the ability, it would be considered a separate instance, and Precision should not be mitigated because of what another creature is doing.
When it comes to the support action do they have to be next to enemy? I ask with the Bird in mind as it does damage to the target but the bird also has the Flyby ability and I was thinking it would be nice to had the bird do it's support damage and then return. But with only 2 actions it would need to move in range then use 2nd action as support leaving it next to the enemy for a turn.
By RAW, the bird would need to be adjacent to the target to Support and not fly off afterwards. But, of course, GMs can rule differently if they think it makes sense with Flyby.
I could use a tutorial on how to fill out a stat block for an animal companion, Ranger class specifically.
I'll add it to next month's poll! (The members of my Patreon vote for the topics I cover).
I personally fix the issue with animal companions being automatically one action slower than non-companions when used as mounts by allowing specifically in a mounted situation the riding owner can spend one more action to grant one more action that can't be used for anything but Stride, Step, Strike. This would require the normal nature check to Command an Animal. And this specifically doesn't stack with anything added later to do a similar thing. This does make Companions a fair bit stronger, but better them be better mounts than automatically much worse in a fairly common situation. If one wants, they can pin this mechanic to the Ride feat and/or the Mount trait to balance it a smidge.
Okay glad to hear all of this cleared up. I just joined a PF2E game as a halfling ranger mastiff rider, and when I watched your other videos about animal commands, I was worried that I was going to end up drowning myself in nature checks and spending more than half my actions simply commanding the dog. That being said, do you think having the ride feat is redundant then, if a companion will automatically follow all stride command actions?
I think it would only be useful if ... 1) you think you'll be riding things other than your companion, 2) your Nature skill bonus isn't good and 3) your GM is fairly strict. I would think in most cases you can find a better feat to take.
should animal companions get an exploration activity? if yes, does the master need to get the train animal feat (none of the exploration activities are in the list of basic actions animals know)?
I'd be willing that if a player had access to that same type of movement like burrow, swim fly to let the animal companion to use that movement while mounted. wouldn't be game breaking
The character manager TOS 2nd CORE edition has an Animal Companion sheet that handles your selected animal companion! Check it out: TheOnlySheet.com
Someone please help! I'm confused at 4:54 getting a +5. I'm only counting +4. Str is +2 and Trained In unarmed is +2. Where is the +1 coming from?
Trained is +2 + level, not just +2
I feel dumb for asking this but, when you run with an animal companion and it's your turn, does it work like this:
You use 1 action to give your animal companion 2 actions, and that counts as your 3 actions per turn
or
You use 1 action to give your animal companion 2 actions, and then you still can use 2 actions in addition to the 2 actions your companion gets
Yes, you use 1 action (leaving you with 2 remaining) and the companion gets to use 2 actions on the same turn.
one thing about command animal is still required for things ur animal is not prepared to do, thats why u can teach it new tricks in downtime
Can not teach your giant bear the mount type/ability ? With train animal
And what happens with beast master archetype multiple companions and mature giving them all always 1 action to use not limited to your current animal companion?
You can ride your animal companion as long as it is one size category larger than you (but can only use its Land Speed and cannot use its Support ability while mounted). And if it has the Mount special ability then it ignores those restrictions.
And I'm pretty sure Rules as Intended says a Beastmaster's "non-active" companions do not participate in combat encounters at all. They're not there... they're "nearby, usually foraging or hunting for food".
Is it possible for your animal companions to use skills actions if they're trained with them? Such as demoralize or trip?
Can you use your animal companions perception instead of yours for initiative?
For using demoralize or trip, I'm not sure if it's spelled out in black and white, but I believe animal companions can use the skill actions available to the skills they're trained in (subject to GM approval -- a GM might rule that your snake companion can't use the Force Open action in certain situations). As long as the master spends an action to command, I think it's permissible.
As for initiative, no I do not think you can use the companion's Perception (unless there's a new feat or archetype that I haven't read yet).
If a Bear supports a PC and the PC critically hits, is the Bear support damage doubled?
My reading of it would be yes, that damage is doubled because it is added to your strike damage and dependent on you rolling a hit.
One question. If a ranger has an animal companion, do they share the multi attack penalties? Could not find that info in the book. Example: the ranger attacks twice and commands his animal to attack twice as well. Will both the animal attacks suffer -10?
Yes, the ranger and the animal companion would work together as one unit and share the same multiple attack penalty. So, yes, the animal companion would be rolling at -10 (unless they use an agile attack).
@@HowItsPlayed I was looking for that answer in some PF2 forums and most people are saying that the MAP applies to your animal if it is your mount, but not if it is just your animal companion. So now your are telling me MAP applies to that too. I'm confused :D
@@douglasbaiense I have a very simple solution for your confusion... I goofed. I was thinking of mounts, but after re-reading the AC rules, the other people you have discussed this with appears to be correct. Characters and their companions have separate MAPs... unless the character is mounted. Sorry for the confusion!
@@HowItsPlayed no problemo my friend. Your content is amazing, and this is a very complex system. Your have helped me tremendously in the past few months
9:25
How can you use the horse support ability?
Support Benefit Your horse adds momentum to your charge. Until the start of your next turn, if you moved at least 10 feet *on the action before your attack* , add a circumstance bonus to damage to that attack equal to twice the number of damage dice. If your weapon already has the jousting weapon trait, increase the trait’s damage bonus by 2 per die instead.
If you only can move and then support, you could never use this, because your last action before the attack would always be a support action and never a move action.
Your last action was command an animal, during which you moved at least ten feet via your horse striding before activating its support.
Great video! Unrelated question... where are you from? I'm trying to guess your accent.. I'm thinking mid-west but have a feeling I'm way off.. :P
Virginia... but I was born in Ohio, so Mid-west counts!
Can you give a companion two "Command an Animal" to give it four actions?
No. It's limited to once per turn.
Animals are minions too, so they only ever get 2 actions.
Excellent video! Im playing a Ranger with a Bear and I needed all this info, thanks so much. But I have a question, what type of sheet do you use for the Animal? Just a normal sheet?
A normal sheet should work fine. I believe my players use Pathbuilder to manage their characters, and I think it will print out a sheet for animal companions too.
Errata: Nimble no longer get Expert Unarmored Defence
What happens when you Animal Companion Dies? The rules are: If your companion dies, you can spend a week of downtime to replace it at no cost. However, the doubt is: what does replace mean? I get a new one exactly as the dead one? Do I have to make the choices again about its specialization and race?
"Replace" means you choose a new Animal Companion, subject to the GM. Sometimes that may limit your options to only animals that naturally exist in your current area. The idea is you spend the week finding a new animal and bonding with them. And, yes, you would choose if you want to it be nimble or savage... it doesn't have to be the same as the previous companion.
Why Comman an Animal skill says you have to make Nature check and animal has 1 action per command used and Animal companion on page 214 says it acts on its own and has 2 actions and acts on its own.
An "Animal Companion" is a special type of animal that you have to spend class feats to have. Therefore, there are some benefits to having an Animal Companion (like not having to make Nature skill checks when commanding).
@@HowItsPlayed So in other words: Animal Companion feat, overwrites the rules of the Command an Animal skill? :)
You did not mention that Mature AC's get" During an encounter, even if you don’t use the Command an Animal action, your animal companion can still use 1 action on your turn that round to Stride or Strike"
When do they get the extra Action?
On your turn? After your turn when you haven't used Command an Animal?
If you choose to take the extra Action, then you simply cannot do the normal Command an Animal on this turn?
Maybe this is just the thing that makes the AC defend itself, and of course that if it stands on hot coals it won't do that forever till it dies just because it happened to end up there.
Bonus question:
Can you Ready an Action to Command an Animal? What if you already got the free Action on your Turn?
Great point about Mature Animal Companions being able to stride or strike when no commands are given. Animal Companions act on the player's turn, so I assume that would still be true in rounds where you don't give them a command. Whether it can be performed before the end of the player has used all three actions, I think is a bit of semantics, but if you want to play it super safe you could require the player use all three actions first and if none of them were spent on Command an Animal, then the AC can take one stride or strike. But I wouldn't have a problem with letting the AC go first, and if the player later decides to use Command an Animal, then the AC has already spent one of those 2 actions it'd normally get.
As for using Ready to Command an Animal, I don't see any reason why you couldn't. I'm sure someone out there might point out that it says minions act on the player's turn, and therefore couldn't act outside of that turn via Ready, but that just seems picky to me.
I'm curious about what "use no actions except to defend itself" actually means for a minion. "Defend itself" is not an action AFAIK. So does this mean that a minion can use a strike action in response to an attack (since the "or escape" seems to imply an option)? Does it rather mean only that the minion doesn't suffer penalties (such as being flat-footed or some other condition) that are often described as being applied when a creature "cannot defend itself," but otherwise can not use a strike action?
Like so much in second edition, I believe it's up to the GM to determine what it means to "Defend itself". In the game I GM, if the animal companion has been attacked in the last round, it will spend its turn striking back at that creature. In the game I play in, the GM rolls a die each round to see if my animal companion attacks or backs away. Although not allowed by RAW, I think an argument could be made that the animal companion defends itself... or its master each round, and attack an enemy that attacks their master.
The key thing to keep in mind, and I'm sure the reason why the rules are written this way, is you don't want to just give free attacks to players via their animal companion. The rules are written to ensure that the player has to spend one of their actions each turn to trigger those extra attacks.
@@HowItsPlayed Thank you for the reply. I quite agree with the last paragraph. I was actually thinking back to the "fight defensively" or "total defense" actions. Again, as far as I know, 2E doesn't have an action equivalent to these. I sometimes wonder whether the older edition(s) sometimes act like a collective unconscious in certain areas of the game! In any case, I was merely curious as to your opinion ... certainly not engaging in polemic. This is a fantastic video series.
@@robertwarren4734 I think the closest thing to Total Defense in 2nd Ed is Take Cover. And thanks again for the kind words!
lv 20 badger can kill an orc
We ended up ditching the command action and animals get 3 actions of their own(2 if the animal is slow). They’re sentient creatures that you train with regularly, and we treat them as such.
So it's a feat that doubles your actions every round.
here druids, have 6 attacks
Enaronia still need to go the companion feat route though. And most of my players even the sorcerers/wizards arent even picking up the familiar feats either. So even though we made it easier, nobody wants companions, lol.
Guy Guy hey, that’s 6 attacks with flanking, thank you very much!
A well-trained animal is also one that only attacks when commanded. An animal that attacks when not commanded is more of a dangerous menace.
Need one on Familiars now, that stuff REALLY seems like it was tacked on last minute to the end of Animal Companions...EG: PLAYER: I want an Owl as a Familiar? PATHFINDER: Yep No problem, PLAYER: OK now I want my Owl Familiar to fly... PATHFINDER:WAIT it cant fly. PLAYER:What do you mean it cant fly? Its an OWL? ...PATHFINDER: NO its a familiar, it "use" to be an OWL and therefore can do none of the stuff it use to do when it was an owl. PLAYER: WTF!? FAMILIARS SHezzzz. (well the owl actually does still have fly but it means you loose one of the powers you can assign to it)
Familiars are next up!