Hi,
can anyone clarify the rules for the feats Bonded Animal, Train Animal and for animals (not animal companions) in general?
Bonded Animal:
Is this feat supposed to work on any animal of the beastiary or only on the few entries in the Equipment-->Animals section of the Player's Handbook? Since it has a flat DC20 check - given the fitting environment, sufficient downtime and some lucky rolls a e.g. lvl1 character could possibly befriend a T-Rex (yes, I know, a DM would rather have the chracter instantly been eaten by the T-Rex, my question is, if it's possible at all)
Train Animal:
Ok, our Lvl1 character just got his own T-Rex. Can he use all of his abilities using command an animal (Trample, Swallow Whole) or does he have to teach the T-Rex those tricks using Train Animal. If he does not have to teach them, what actually is the function of Train Animal's "Teach new Actions"?
Animals in general:
The biggest of all questions: Is the T-Rex frightened 4 and fleeing as soon as a battle begins (meaning at Lvl1 he flees from spiders and rats...)? There is a rule about that, but it is located in the Equipment-->Animals section followed by a rather short list of buyable animals. Does the rule only apply to those animals or to all animals in general?
Overall, the animal rules are quite confusing. If every anmal can be a bonded animal, every character with nature gets a significant boost in power at the cost of just 1 skill feat due to the fact, that a creature of the same level easily overpowers melee characters in termns of atk-bonus and damage. With the launch of beasiary 2 end of may there will be even more animals available on every level.