Post/Author/DateTime

Post

Malruhn 06-28-06, 11:39 PM

After a heated discussion this weekend, I have established a new house rule for animal companions. A pet is just like any dog down the street... they might be smart, but they are still a dog. An Animal Companion is like Lassie, Gentle Ben or Flipper. They understand almost all common words, and can TRY to communicate back in their native tongue... They can attempt to follow instructions per their intellect, but to get them to flip the switch, pull the rope, empty the bucket and bring back the keys may get you bit... however, they can go flip the switch, then come back for further instruction, then go pull the rope and come back for more instruction, etcetera. What is rough is when you have something like an owl, and you tell it to go scout. It may well report back that there are hundreds of nice mice in the meadow - but forget that you wanted a report about an army camped there. It can't readily tell the difference between orcs and goblins, but can tell the difference between sizes ("big two-legs" (ogres?) versus "little two-legs" (halflings?) versus "two-legs" (humans?)). It is working out rather well, thus far.