I am currently playing in a campaigne where I am playing a druid. I have a bear as an animal companion. I have encountered numerous things which make having this pet very difficult. for example there was a 30' cavern wall that the party had to climb. The bear is small in size so my thought was to place the bear on my shoulders and climb, however My DM thought different. then we had a 1' wide ledge we had to cross , again my bear was an issue and almost fell to his death. Then there was a 5' break in the ledge we had to jump over, I had the bear make a jump check but appearently bears can jump well, and again the bear almost feel to his death.
are there things I am missing that will make this easier to include my bear or should I just leave him outside
thoughts?
Yeah, animal companions can be a real pain in the butt. Generally speaking, you have to either ditch them at the entrance, take the long way around, or assist with your considerable magic abilities. It's a small price to pay in a game that values the action economy above all else.
As a quick reference, the following spells are decent ones to keep on scroll/memorized when you're going dungeon delving:
1- Jump // 2- Glide, Spider Climb // 3 - Stone Shape // 4 - Air Walk
|
I play a druid in Pathfinder Society, so I can feel your pain there. The post above says it, you need to get some utility spells to assist you in certain situation. I would add scrolls of Reduce Animal and potions of Levitate to that list too. A tiny bear would fit easy into a backpack.
I run around with a large sized T-Rex, so the issues get a little bigger(like having to leave him outside...). Basically any spell or potion that augments your companion's mobility in some way will help.
Yeah, animal companions can be a real pain in the butt. Generally speaking, you have to either ditch them at the entrance, take the long way around, or assist with your considerable magic abilities. It's a small price to pay in a game that values the action economy above all else.
As a quick reference, the following spells are decent ones to keep on scroll/memorized when you're going dungeon delving:
1- Jump // 2- Glide, Spider Climb // 3 - Stone Shape // 4 - Air Walk
Yeah thats not a bad idea, it just stinks because druids spell allowance at first level is very small. but hey like you said small price to pay to have a bear buddy :o)
Even Small sized bears are heavy. Whether or not I'd let your carry him would be based on your strength score. And you'd probably have to have someone else carry your gear.
It would be a cute visual tho.
I am currently playing in a campaigne where I am playing a druid. I have a bear as an animal companion. I have encountered numerous things which make having this pet very difficult. for example there was a 30' cavern wall that the party had to climb. The bear is small in size so my thought was to place the bear on my shoulders and climb, however My DM thought different. then we had a 1' wide ledge we had to cross , again my bear was an issue and almost fell to his death. Then there was a 5' break in the ledge we had to jump over, I had the bear make a jump check but appearently bears can jump well, and again the bear almost feel to his death.
are there things I am missing that will make this easier to include my bear or should I just leave him outside
thoughts?
Your DM is being annoying. It is a small bear, a cub. It should have an easier time on the ledge than anyone, and shouldn't way much more than 50 pounds
The bear has a movement of 40 feet. It has a +4 bonus to jump the ledge from its speed and a +2 bonus from its 15 dex. That should be higher than anyone else in the party. In fact, it automatically makes the jump, even on the roll of a 1. So either your DM keeps forgetting that it's small, and or is being a prat. I hate to recommend bludgeoning a dm with the rules but in this case...
*ties the PHB to the end of a stick*
have at it.
Acrobatics and Climb are both class skills for animal companions. Get your bear 1 rank in each and reap the +4 bonus (+3 from class and 1 from the rank) The DM will have a harder time justifying the abuse when the animal has a higher acrobatics check than the wizard and a higher climb check than the druid.