Pathfinder Player Companion: Animal Archive (PFRPG) (based on
10
ratings)
Paizo Publishing, LLC
Add
Print Edition:
$10.99
Add
PDF:
$7.99
Add
Non-Mint:
$10.99$8.24
From a witch’s black cat to a ranger’s mighty wolf companion or a cavalier’s noble steed, animals have always had a place in fantasy adventuring—but why should only a few classes have all the fun? With the proper training, animals can be invaluable allies for adventurers of all stripes. Whether you’re a scholarly spellcaster looking for a familiar to deliver spells or help turn the pages of your spellbook, or a brawler ready to lead your armored animal into the thick of battle, this book is a treasure trove of rules and advice aimed at helping you and your animal friends get the most out of your fantastic adventures.
Animal Archive presents a player-focused, in-depth discussion of animals and the various roles they can play in your game. Each Pathfinder Player Companion includes new options and tools for every Pathfinder RPG player. Inside this book, you’ll find:
A complete list of every familiar in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, to make choosing yours quick and convenient.
New archetypes like the mad dog barbarian or carnivalist rogue to help classes that haven’t traditionally used animals work with their bestial allies, as well as tips on how every class can employ animals.
New animal companions and familiars, from innocuous squirrels and rabbits to bizarre platypuses, armored armadillos, and powerful pandas.
Information on which animals are closely associated with the various races and deities of the Pathfinder campaign setting.
Tons of new tricks and feats to customize your animals, plus archetypes for animal companions and familiars.
New animal equipment, spells, magic items, information about the personalities of magically intelligent animals, and more!
Written by Amanda Hamon, Philip Minchin, Jason Nelson, Patrick Renie, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Christina Stiles
Each monthly 32-page Pathfinder Player Companion contains several player-focused articles exploring the volume’s theme as well as short articles with innovative new rules for all types of characters, as well as traits to better anchor the player to the campaign.
PDF:
Will be added to
your downloads
immediately upon purchase of
PDF.
Non-Mint:
Usually ships from our warehouse
in
2 to 6 business days.
This product is
non-mint. Refunds are not available for non-mint products.
The standard version of this product can be found
here.
Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at
webmaster@paizo.com.
Ooooooh... might have to have stats for a llama. Patrick would LOVE that (his screen saver cycles through pictures of dogs, cats, and llamas).
I assure you, there will be plenty of llamas in this book if I have any say in the matter, including rules for how they spit (a ranged touch attack) and new barding specially for llamas (barding, in this case, mostly means funny wigs).
Ooooooh... might have to have stats for a llama. Patrick would LOVE that (his screen saver cycles through pictures of dogs, cats, and llamas).
I assure you, there will be plenty of llamas in this book if I have any say in the matter, including rules for how they spit (a ranged touch attack) and new barding specially for llamas (barding, in this case, mostly means funny wigs).
Patrick's a special one lady's and gents. But he is likely going to be the one developing this, so who am I to say he'll be wrong. :P
Ooooooh... might have to have stats for a llama. Patrick would LOVE that (his screen saver cycles through pictures of dogs, cats, and llamas).
I assure you, there will be plenty of llamas in this book if I have any say in the matter, including rules for how they spit (a ranged touch attack) and new barding specially for llamas (barding, in this case, mostly means funny wigs).
My next door neighbor's llama had a baby. Because they are everywhere in Montana, nobody buys them anymore.. so I may be getting it for free.
Ooooooh... might have to have stats for a llama. Patrick would LOVE that (his screen saver cycles through pictures of dogs, cats, and llamas).
I assure you, there will be plenty of llamas in this book if I have any say in the matter, including rules for how they spit (a ranged touch attack) and new barding specially for llamas (barding, in this case, mostly means funny wigs).
Patrick's a special one lady's and gents. But he is likely going to be the one developing this, so who am I to say he'll be wrong. :P
If Pathfinder Player Companion: Llama Library hadn't gotten shot down at the brainstorm session, this would be a very different book.
Ooooooh... might have to have stats for a llama. Patrick would LOVE that (his screen saver cycles through pictures of dogs, cats, and llamas).
I assure you, there will be plenty of llamas in this book if I have any say in the matter, including rules for how they spit (a ranged touch attack) and new barding specially for llamas (barding, in this case, mostly means funny wigs).
My next door neighbor's llama had a baby. Because they are everywhere in Montana, nobody buys them anymore.. so I may be getting it for free.
This sounds good. I just hope we get information, however brief, on various breeds of dogs, horses, and the like in this.
If you are looking for especially some differences to mundane breed differences you should also take a look at Phantasia Zoologica Volume 1 - Cats, Dogs, and Horses. It is a pretty good book with some variety to breeds and such by 4WFG, End and I both did reviews of it. In case you are curious about what all is in it and it fits what you are looking for.
Not to take away from this product, which I plan to get too. Just pointing out the 3pp one that covers some animals already out. So you don't have to wait till Dec. :)
Eh, no matter how nice some of the 3PP stuff may be, it is still not by the folks at Paizo and not PFS legal.
Depends on the 3pp stuff, some of it. Not the product I listed granted, but some of the rest of the 3pp stuff is written by the same freelancers that write for Paizo. Now I do agree if you are just into PFS legal then 3pp doesn't help at all, but for home games.
It doesn't make sense for all classes to get familiars. They grow because of magic.
Fighters don't have magic.
Still, they exist in a world where a Rogue can learn to not only activate magic items, but even cast spells as spell-like abilities, with the right training, or, with the right PrC, even summon shadows.
Just because someone isn't a scientist, doesn't mean they can't learn to work a television set. Just because someone isn't a spellcaster, doesn't mean they can't form a mystical / spiritual bond to an animal.
a familiar should be tied to a magic user. However, animal companions should be open to all. After all, a border control agent doesn't need magic to control a German Shepard.
We can only hope that they don't only sum all the animal companions from the previous publications but also redo/fix some of those that are already there.
Seriously: A small/medium bear but a medium/large wolf?
Or a small/medium badger!?
Come to think of it. Wouldn't some generic construction rules be the better way instead of writing dozens of named animal templates?
a familiar should be tied to a magic user. However, animal companions should be open to all. After all, a border control agent doesn't need magic to control a German Shepard.
Interesting where you're trying to draw the line here.
Why do people always try to get RL mixed up with/into game mechanics?
If you want to simulate your example above grab Handle Animal and invest skill points. Done.
While everybody can go to the market and get a dog and train it the intent of an AC is something completely different. While it is (usually seen as) more combat-oriented, the relationship between AC and the human part are similar to familiar--magic user.
ACs and familiars are (were) a defining class feature, like sneak attack or spontaneous casting of healing spells. They made certain classes stand apart from others.
Too bad, that seems to have changed. Then again, I'm more than happy for you guys that this kind of diversity exists and Paizo serves all tastes.
Mmm... if Paizo should introduce the swanmay (and I hope they do), it would have to be different from the Book of Exalted Deed PrC (that I think can be used in PF without need of conversion, just rule out the Vow of Purity and all the rest goes as it is... I used it with an half-elf ranger in a game).
Any chance we'll get a HUGE-SIZE ANIMAL of the FLYING AVIAN variety in this book Paizo staff? I'm sure plenty of 8th Level Druids would love to Wild Shape into something like that. ^_~
Any chance we'll get a HUGE-SIZE ANIMAL of the FLYING AVIAN variety in this book Paizo staff? I'm sure plenty of 8th Level Druids would love to Wild Shape into something like that. ^_~
Any chance we'll get a HUGE-SIZE ANIMAL of the FLYING AVIAN variety in this book Paizo staff? I'm sure plenty of 8th Level Druids would love to Wild Shape into something like that. ^_~
Yeah, but new calculations done on the possible weight of the animal along with its greatly oversized head and beak is causing some pterosaur experts to rethink whether or not it and other large azhdarchid pterosaurs might not have been very efficient flyers and spent most of their time on the ground. Quetzalcoatlus, when standing on the ground, was as tall as a giraffe. So if you want a really weird riding animal that could fly/hop short distances, there ya go!
The rethinking of Quetzalcoatlus isn't about whether they were good flyers, but rather on how well they could be move around/forage on land. Basically they might have been the ecological analogue to modern storks. Storks can still fly well, although obviously with perhaps not the efficiency of an albatross or speed of a falcon.
Any chance oozes will make it in? I saw the feat and know it is not usable at the moment for PFS but would really like the idea. Can't help but think about how one cares and transports an ooze but sounds like an interesting companion.
Any chance oozes will make it in? I saw the feat and know it is not usable at the moment for PFS but would really like the idea. Can't help but think about how one cares and transports an ooze but sounds like an interesting companion.
I don't know, the last time I tried to ride a ooze it didn't end so well. :/
I really like this idea!!! It comes a little late tho... The 3 current bestiaries are already crawling with animal-planet animals...
I rather saw this happen earlier;
One book for the Animal Planet Critters
One book for the space madness and robots
One book for Templates
One book for GOOD creatures which aren't monsters but helpers
One book for playable races.
And last but not least, a clean-of-the-above bestiary/MONSTER manual without horses, hippo's wearing guns and terminators, half-elephants/half-elves, angels from heaven and Elves, humans and dwarves, but with true MONSTERS, that eat, kill and torture you for pleasure.
I really like the sound of this book tho, so count me in! Good work!
Any chance oozes will make it in? I saw the feat and know it is not usable at the moment for PFS but would really like the idea. Can't help but think about how one cares and transports an ooze but sounds like an interesting companion.
I don't know, the last time I tried to ride a ooze it didn't end so well. :/
That sounds like an easy solution. Need to not breath and have a suit made of a material that an ooze can't dissolve. I know it is unlikely. Figuring that an ooze would require a lot of work but sounds fun. I always wanted my own Slime. Being a Metal Slime Knight would be awesome.
I guess slimes (Dragon Quest) are not oozes and kinda silly but I would still like to have one as a companion. I know that it would be limited to slams but I would accept that limitation.
The rethinking of Quetzalcoatlus isn't about whether they were good flyers, but rather on how well they could be move around/forage on land. Basically they might have been the ecological analogue to modern storks. Storks can still fly well, although obviously with perhaps not the efficiency of an albatross or speed of a falcon.
Right. I can't remember which blog I found it on, it may have been Tet Zoo, but that doesn't ring right in my memory. They did bring up the terrestrial foraging theory as possibly their main method of procuring prey, but they also posited that they may have been relatively poor fliers when compared to other pterosaurs, and they may have been barely able to carry themselves for very far at all.
I guess slimes (Dragon Quest) are not oozes and kinda silly but I would still like to have one as a companion. I know that it would be limited to slams but I would accept that limitation.
I have tried on three separate occasions to get a Dragon Quest slime-like monster into the game, so far to no result I'd call a success - though the torrble is close. I like the idea of mascot allies, which is one of the reasons I like Improved Familiars so much and am so pleased with how leshies came out in B3. While I wouldn't expect to see riding oozes any time soon, more weird thingers to be friends with? Yeah, you'll be seeing those (though only to a limited degree in this product).
Patrick Renie
Developer
Set
Dark_Mistress
Mike Silva
GeraintElberion
CalebTGordan
