Animal Companion: Camel Types [Archive] - Wizards Community

Animal Companion: Camel Types [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Bloodhawke
09-26-05, 03:02 PM I just started a Brightsands character as a Badlands Dwarf Druid. In Sandstorm, my choices of animal companions includes Camel. There are three types of Camels availible in Sandstorm: Dromedary, Two Humped and War.

The DM's at the convention were mixed in there beleifs as to whether I could have a War Camel as an Animal Companion. It was decided by one that if I purchased it from the Sandstorm list of mounts, that I could then use it as an animal companion.

The next few DM's all allowed it, although some of them were unsure about it. I would like to get this clarified as I don't wish to have some later DM say that this is not permited.

Thanks
TimRat
09-26-05, 09:24 PM i'll get clarification for you. thanks!
Bloodhawke
09-26-05, 10:07 PM I have seen Warhorses and Wardogs as Animal companions in some adventure modules for druids and/or Rangers. Are these options available to druids at first level?

And if so, would that also translate to War Camels as camels are listed as available animal companions?
Namarus
09-26-05, 10:53 PM Thats odd. Druids/Rangers aren't allowed war trained companions.

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Unless they got it as a reward in an Adventure Record (AR).
TimRat
09-27-05, 08:22 AM There are no camels in the bright lands. thus you have to choose a different animal companion from the standard list. Of course if you find on an AR a different animal that can be used as an animal companion you can use that but no camels.
Mad Monkey
09-27-05, 09:43 AM Thats odd. Druids/Rangers aren't allowed war trained companions.
They can take a riding dog as animal companion. It can be trained for war.
Bloodhawke
09-27-05, 02:01 PM Wasteland Animal Companions

Any of the following are appropriate for a wasteland druid to select as an animal companion at first level: bat,CAMEL, chuckwalla (treat as a lizard), coyote, .....

* * * * * *

Camel is listed for regular druids as well as Wasteland druids. Bright Sands characters have access to the equipment in the Sandstorm supplement, which includes all three types of camels. I know I'm allowed a camel animal companion, the only question was to whether war trained animals are permitted to be animal companions, ie. War Horses, War Dogs, and War Camels.
Namarus
09-27-05, 02:42 PM They can take a riding dog as animal companion. It can be trained for war.

Yes, they can take a riding dog.

No, they can't have a war trained one.

Unless you get access from an AR.
Namarus
09-27-05, 02:43 PM Wasteland Animal Companions

Any of the following are appropriate for a wasteland druid to select as an animal companion at first level: bat,CAMEL, chuckwalla (treat as a lizard), coyote, .....

* * * * * *

Camel is listed for regular druids as well as Wasteland druids. Bright Sands characters have access to the equipment in the Sandstorm supplement, which includes all three types of camels. I know I'm allowed a camel animal companion, the only question was to whether war trained animals are permitted to be animal companions, ie. War Horses, War Dogs, and War Camels.

You can't have a war trained animal as an animal companion.
scon40
09-28-05, 01:26 PM The DM's at the convention were mixed in there beleifs as to whether I could have a War Camel as an Animal Companion. It was decided by one that if I purchased it from the Sandstorm list of mounts, that I could then use it as an animal companion.

Unless you get an AR that says you can take a War Camel as an animal companion, you cannot do so. Animal companions are normally not war-trained.
Bloodhawke
09-28-05, 04:46 PM OK, now I can understand maybe not having access to war trained animals(Though NPC's do), but I 've now been told that Camels are not even available to Bright Sands characters. Where does this ruling come from? It is not in the Blight on Bright Sands sourcebook that I found on the RPGA site, nor can I find it when I search either the RPGA site or the WOTC main site. How is a player supposed to know that his entire character concept is illegal if the information is not made available to him?

Where can I find that ruling? And what am I supposed to do with a Character that had a Camel for an Animal companion, and then purchased a War camel and barding? Do I just go back and completely redo my AR's? I really need to know as I enjoyed the convention, but want my character legal to play when I go to another one.

Thanks.
Namarus
09-28-05, 06:38 PM http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Living_Greyhawk/?yguid=228812850

That's the LG yahoo group, which can answer most of your questions, also you can verify information concerning your character with the Point Of Contact (POC) of your local triad. Generally they are more then willing to explain the rules, and point out rules for you.
skerrigan
09-29-05, 04:59 AM It's stated in various sources that there are no camels in the Bright Lands, ergo you cannot have a camel as it would've had to have walked about 400 miles or so to find you from the next closest desert.

OK, now I can understand maybe not having access to war trained animals(Though NPC's do), but I 've now been told that Camels are not even available to Bright Sands characters. Where does this ruling come from?
Bloodhawke
09-29-05, 10:35 AM So name some of them where I can find them. I have scoured this board for the last 100 days of posts, checked the D&D boards, used the search engine on WoTC, read the Blight on Bright Sands Sourcebook, etc. I keep being told that they are not in Bright Sands, but not once have I seen any official verification or ruling. If I have been actively hunting for this info and can't find it, is it any wonder that NONE of the GM's at Sibcon knew that camels weren't supposed to be there?

And how ridiculous is it for a desert campaign WITHOUT camels, which are listed for both druid and SS Druids for animal companions. Even if they were not native to the Bright Lands before it became a waste, you know darn well that the enterprising merchants of Greyhawk would have imported them to sell there.

If you know who I should contact with these question, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks
Namarus
09-29-05, 03:28 PM Double Post
Namarus
09-29-05, 03:28 PM Reading the Bright Sands sourcebook, I would say that you can use anything that the Sandstorm version of the druid is allowed.

So if camels are on their animal companion scheme, then you should be able to use them.

You should contact the LG Yahoo group if you have more questions though. At least your more likely to get an offical response there.

Alternately you could ask the question to DnD Customer services. They can also give you an offical response.
chrispedersen
09-29-05, 07:35 PM They can take a riding dog as animal companion. It can be trained for war.

OK. An animal companion comes with bonus tricks. Why can't a druid choose an animal companion and then give them the tricks that make them war trained?

Chris
Bloodhawke
09-29-05, 08:11 PM (Quote) OK. An animal companion comes with bonus tricks. Why can't a druid choose an animal companion and then give them the tricks that make them war trained?
(/quote)

For Camels at least, they only have an intel of 1 while the war version has Int. 2. The attack training package requires 6 tricks, which takes a 2 INT, or INT 1 plus 3 bonus tricks. Also, you lose both hoove attacks with a regular Camel vs. a War version. I don't have my MM handy, so I can't see if the same applies to the other animals.

But as I have been told, Camels do not exist in the Brightlands for whatever reasons. See my new thread.
Iswald
09-29-05, 11:27 PM The DM's at the convention were mixed in there beleifs as to whether I could have a War Camel as an Animal Companion. It was decided by one that if I purchased it from the Sandstorm list of mounts, that I could then use it as an animal companion.

You couldn't have purchased a mount as you aren't allowed to make purchases from that table.

WTF is with not allowing sandstorm druids to have camel companions? A standard druid can without questions. They can also have cheetahs and other 'exotic' companions without having to consider whether or not they exist in their home region.

The list just says 'camel'. You'd have to look at the monster manual to understand that they mean a default camel, or dromedary.
Namarus
09-30-05, 11:33 AM OK. An animal companion comes with bonus tricks. Why can't a druid choose an animal companion and then give them the tricks that make them war trained?

Chris

Nope, unless you get an AR access that gives you war training, your pet can't be war trained.
Iswald
10-01-05, 02:44 AM Nope, unless you get an AR access that gives you war training, your pet can't be war trained.

I'm not clear on what you mean by this. A druid can start with a companion with 1 int, granting 3 tricks. In addition, they get one bonus trick. The druid could either teach the companion how to guard (attack, defend, down and guard). Or, how to fight (attack, down and stay) and one other trick. With the second option, you could have spent the last trick on attack (two tricks) so that your companion will attack all types of creatures.

Although a druid can't start with a 'warhorse' or 'war camel', that doesn't mean they couldn't train their basic horse or camel companions act as if they were war trained.

Even if you are just buying an animal, the LGCS says that you could buy a riding dog and use two tricks to make it trained for fighting (letting it make trip attacks).
Namarus
10-01-05, 10:12 AM I'm not clear on what you mean by this. A druid can start with a companion with 1 int, granting 3 tricks. In addition, they get one bonus trick. The druid could either teach the companion how to guard (attack, defend, down and guard). Or, how to fight (attack, down and stay) and one other trick. With the second option, you could have spent the last trick on attack (two tricks) so that your companion will attack all types of creatures.

Although a druid can't start with a 'warhorse' or 'war camel', that doesn't mean they couldn't train their basic horse or camel companions act as if they were war trained.

Even if you are just buying an animal, the LGCS says that you could buy a riding dog and use two tricks to make it trained for fighting (letting it make trip attacks).

War Training is often refered to as the animal being specially bred for generations for war. Just teaching the animal a few tricks doesn't make it a war animal.

You could buy a Riding Dog that is war trained, but you cannot then make it an animal companion.
Mad Monkey
10-01-05, 11:13 AM Why not? A riding dog is a dog that is trained to carry a rider, I doubt that you can find one in the wild. The entry in the SRD also mentions working breeds like collies, huskies and St. Bernards. These are bred and trained, not wild animals.
One can say that if you want a riding dog, you have to buy one (including druids that want one as an animal companion).

You don't need special access to get a riding dog that's trained for war (it's mentioned in the LGCS), why can't you take that dog as your animal companion? It's still a riding dog.
Namarus
10-01-05, 03:02 PM The 'war' designation for certain animals refers to a level of breeding in addition to training. This is why war horses are not available on the druid
list of animal companions, but regular horses are. Even though there are
several combat-related tricks, none of them give an animal the 'war'
designation. So I would say that, even though you could teach your riding
dog these combat tricks - it would not be a war dog (and not gain the trip
ability of a wolf).

My suggestion would be to take a wolf for your animal companion instead if
you want the trip ability.

This is part of the reply I had to the very same question to my local Triad a while back.

However, to make double sure nothing has changed I checked the latest LGCS which has this to say. Page 40.

For the riding, you may either pick two tricks or use these trick slots to make the dog trained for fighting, also granting them a trip attack (as specified in the riding dog entry in the Monster Manual v3.5) Animals gained that start play with more than the standard training must be supported with campaign or regional documentation

So I stand corrected.

Does this mean that the riding animal is thus trained for war and can wear heavy types of armour? I have no idea, but I will be contacting my local triad for clarification.
Iswald
10-02-05, 10:42 AM If it's for an animal companion, you could always have them take the feats.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bloodhawke 09-26-05, 03:02 PM	I just started a Brightsands character as a Badlands Dwarf Druid. In Sandstorm, my choices of animal companions includes Camel. There are three types of Camels availible in Sandstorm: Dromedary, Two Humped and War. The DM's at the convention were mixed in there beleifs as to whether I could have a War Camel as an Animal Companion. It was decided by one that if I purchased it from the Sandstorm list of mounts, that I could then use it as an animal companion. The next few DM's all allowed it, although some of them were unsure about it. I would like to get this clarified as I don't wish to have some later DM say that this is not permited. Thanks
TimRat 09-26-05, 09:24 PM	i'll get clarification for you. thanks!
Bloodhawke 09-26-05, 10:07 PM	I have seen Warhorses and Wardogs as Animal companions in some adventure modules for druids and/or Rangers. Are these options available to druids at first level? And if so, would that also translate to War Camels as camels are listed as available animal companions?
Namarus 09-26-05, 10:53 PM	Thats odd. Druids/Rangers aren't allowed war trained companions. . . . . . . . Unless they got it as a reward in an Adventure Record (AR).
TimRat 09-27-05, 08:22 AM	There are no camels in the bright lands. thus you have to choose a different animal companion from the standard list. Of course if you find on an AR a different animal that can be used as an animal companion you can use that but no camels.
Mad Monkey 09-27-05, 09:43 AM	Thats odd. Druids/Rangers aren't allowed war trained companions. They can take a riding dog as animal companion. It can be trained for war.
Bloodhawke 09-27-05, 02:01 PM	Wasteland Animal Companions Any of the following are appropriate for a wasteland druid to select as an animal companion at first level: bat,CAMEL, chuckwalla (treat as a lizard), coyote, ..... * * * * * * Camel is listed for regular druids as well as Wasteland druids. Bright Sands characters have access to the equipment in the Sandstorm supplement, which includes all three types of camels. I know I'm allowed a camel animal companion, the only question was to whether war trained animals are permitted to be animal companions, ie. War Horses, War Dogs, and War Camels.
Namarus 09-27-05, 02:42 PM	They can take a riding dog as animal companion. It can be trained for war. Yes, they can take a riding dog. No, they can't have a war trained one. Unless you get access from an AR.
Namarus 09-27-05, 02:43 PM	Wasteland Animal Companions Any of the following are appropriate for a wasteland druid to select as an animal companion at first level: bat,CAMEL, chuckwalla (treat as a lizard), coyote, ..... * * * * * * Camel is listed for regular druids as well as Wasteland druids. Bright Sands characters have access to the equipment in the Sandstorm supplement, which includes all three types of camels. I know I'm allowed a camel animal companion, the only question was to whether war trained animals are permitted to be animal companions, ie. War Horses, War Dogs, and War Camels. You can't have a war trained animal as an animal companion.
scon40 09-28-05, 01:26 PM	The DM's at the convention were mixed in there beleifs as to whether I could have a War Camel as an Animal Companion. It was decided by one that if I purchased it from the Sandstorm list of mounts, that I could then use it as an animal companion. Unless you get an AR that says you can take a War Camel as an animal companion, you cannot do so. Animal companions are normally not war-trained.
Bloodhawke 09-28-05, 04:46 PM	OK, now I can understand maybe not having access to war trained animals(Though NPC's do), but I 've now been told that Camels are not even available to Bright Sands characters. Where does this ruling come from? It is not in the Blight on Bright Sands sourcebook that I found on the RPGA site, nor can I find it when I search either the RPGA site or the WOTC main site. How is a player supposed to know that his entire character concept is illegal if the information is not made available to him? Where can I find that ruling? And what am I supposed to do with a Character that had a Camel for an Animal companion, and then purchased a War camel and barding? Do I just go back and completely redo my AR's? I really need to know as I enjoyed the convention, but want my character legal to play when I go to another one. Thanks.
Namarus 09-28-05, 06:38 PM	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Living_Greyhawk/?yguid=228812850 That's the LG yahoo group, which can answer most of your questions, also you can verify information concerning your character with the Point Of Contact (POC) of your local triad. Generally they are more then willing to explain the rules, and point out rules for you.
skerrigan 09-29-05, 04:59 AM	It's stated in various sources that there are no camels in the Bright Lands, ergo you cannot have a camel as it would've had to have walked about 400 miles or so to find you from the next closest desert. OK, now I can understand maybe not having access to war trained animals(Though NPC's do), but I 've now been told that Camels are not even available to Bright Sands characters. Where does this ruling come from?
Bloodhawke 09-29-05, 10:35 AM	So name some of them where I can find them. I have scoured this board for the last 100 days of posts, checked the D&D boards, used the search engine on WoTC, read the Blight on Bright Sands Sourcebook, etc. I keep being told that they are not in Bright Sands, but not once have I seen any official verification or ruling. If I have been actively hunting for this info and can't find it, is it any wonder that NONE of the GM's at Sibcon knew that camels weren't supposed to be there? And how ridiculous is it for a desert campaign WITHOUT camels, which are listed for both druid and SS Druids for animal companions. Even if they were not native to the Bright Lands before it became a waste, you know darn well that the enterprising merchants of Greyhawk would have imported them to sell there. If you know who I should contact with these question, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks
Namarus 09-29-05, 03:28 PM	Double Post
Namarus 09-29-05, 03:28 PM	Reading the Bright Sands sourcebook, I would say that you can use anything that the Sandstorm version of the druid is allowed. So if camels are on their animal companion scheme, then you should be able to use them. You should contact the LG Yahoo group if you have more questions though. At least your more likely to get an offical response there. Alternately you could ask the question to DnD Customer services. They can also give you an offical response.
chrispedersen 09-29-05, 07:35 PM	They can take a riding dog as animal companion. It can be trained for war. OK. An animal companion comes with bonus tricks. Why can't a druid choose an animal companion and then give them the tricks that make them war trained? Chris
Bloodhawke 09-29-05, 08:11 PM	(Quote) OK. An animal companion comes with bonus tricks. Why can't a druid choose an animal companion and then give them the tricks that make them war trained? (/quote) For Camels at least, they only have an intel of 1 while the war version has Int. 2. The attack training package requires 6 tricks, which takes a 2 INT, or INT 1 plus 3 bonus tricks. Also, you lose both hoove attacks with a regular Camel vs. a War version. I don't have my MM handy, so I can't see if the same applies to the other animals. But as I have been told, Camels do not exist in the Brightlands for whatever reasons. See my new thread.
Iswald 09-29-05, 11:27 PM	The DM's at the convention were mixed in there beleifs as to whether I could have a War Camel as an Animal Companion. It was decided by one that if I purchased it from the Sandstorm list of mounts, that I could then use it as an animal companion. You couldn't have purchased a mount as you aren't allowed to make purchases from that table. WTF is with not allowing sandstorm druids to have camel companions? A standard druid can without questions. They can also have cheetahs and other 'exotic' companions without having to consider whether or not they exist in their home region. The list just says 'camel'. You'd have to look at the monster manual to understand that they mean a default camel, or dromedary.
Namarus 09-30-05, 11:33 AM	OK. An animal companion comes with bonus tricks. Why can't a druid choose an animal companion and then give them the tricks that make them war trained? Chris Nope, unless you get an AR access that gives you war training, your pet can't be war trained.
Iswald 10-01-05, 02:44 AM	Nope, unless you get an AR access that gives you war training, your pet can't be war trained. I'm not clear on what you mean by this. A druid can start with a companion with 1 int, granting 3 tricks. In addition, they get one bonus trick. The druid could either teach the companion how to guard (attack, defend, down and guard). Or, how to fight (attack, down and stay) and one other trick. With the second option, you could have spent the last trick on attack (two tricks) so that your companion will attack all types of creatures. Although a druid can't start with a 'warhorse' or 'war camel', that doesn't mean they couldn't train their basic horse or camel companions act as if they were war trained. Even if you are just buying an animal, the LGCS says that you could buy a riding dog and use two tricks to make it trained for fighting (letting it make trip attacks).
Namarus 10-01-05, 10:12 AM	I'm not clear on what you mean by this. A druid can start with a companion with 1 int, granting 3 tricks. In addition, they get one bonus trick. The druid could either teach the companion how to guard (attack, defend, down and guard). Or, how to fight (attack, down and stay) and one other trick. With the second option, you could have spent the last trick on attack (two tricks) so that your companion will attack all types of creatures. Although a druid can't start with a 'warhorse' or 'war camel', that doesn't mean they couldn't train their basic horse or camel companions act as if they were war trained. Even if you are just buying an animal, the LGCS says that you could buy a riding dog and use two tricks to make it trained for fighting (letting it make trip attacks). War Training is often refered to as the animal being specially bred for generations for war. Just teaching the animal a few tricks doesn't make it a war animal. You could buy a Riding Dog that is war trained, but you cannot then make it an animal companion.
Mad Monkey 10-01-05, 11:13 AM	Why not? A riding dog is a dog that is trained to carry a rider, I doubt that you can find one in the wild. The entry in the SRD also mentions working breeds like collies, huskies and St. Bernards. These are bred and trained, not wild animals. One can say that if you want a riding dog, you have to buy one (including druids that want one as an animal companion). You don't need special access to get a riding dog that's trained for war (it's mentioned in the LGCS), why can't you take that dog as your animal companion? It's still a riding dog.
Namarus 10-01-05, 03:02 PM	The 'war' designation for certain animals refers to a level of breeding in addition to training. This is why war horses are not available on the druid list of animal companions, but regular horses are. Even though there are several combat-related tricks, none of them give an animal the 'war' designation. So I would say that, even though you could teach your riding dog these combat tricks - it would not be a war dog (and not gain the trip ability of a wolf). My suggestion would be to take a wolf for your animal companion instead if you want the trip ability. This is part of the reply I had to the very same question to my local Triad a while back. However, to make double sure nothing has changed I checked the latest LGCS which has this to say. Page 40. For the riding, you may either pick two tricks or use these trick slots to make the dog trained for fighting, also granting them a trip attack (as specified in the riding dog entry in the Monster Manual v3.5) Animals gained that start play with more than the standard training must be supported with campaign or regional documentation So I stand corrected. Does this mean that the riding animal is thus trained for war and can wear heavy types of armour? I have no idea, but I will be contacting my local triad for clarification.
Iswald 10-02-05, 10:42 AM	If it's for an animal companion, you could always have them take the feats.