Well, my PCs managed to capture the rust monster in the basement and want to train him for their own use. How should I handle this?
I was thinking of making them first assemble a cage that can hold it, then hire a trainer for it, treating it as an animal that can only learn so many tricks. Any ideas?
Arms and Equipment Guide has just about everything you need for training a rust monster. You are correct so far, but consider that the trainer takes a -4 because it is a magical beast. I would also say that training it to not eat nearby metal unless given permission would be the equivalent of 2 tricks, because simply not consuming metal around it would be 1 on its own, getting it to do so indefinitely, or at least for longer than a minute or so, would take another.
But yeah, Arms and Equipment Guide. All you should need.
The Handle Animal skill says it can be used on any creature with 1 or 2 Int with a +5 DC if it's not an animal. Since it's a 2 Int creature, it can learn 6 tricks. So, for instance, training it for fighting would be DC 25 and take 3 weeks.
Note that the rules seem to assume that you can only train a domesticated animal. Whether the rust monster counts as domesticated is up to you.
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Note that the rules seem to assume that you can only train a domesticated animal. Whether the rust monster counts as domesticated is up to you.
are you talking Domesticated as "reduced from a state of native wildness especially so as to be tractable and useful to humans" I would think that the chief would domesticate his pet enough that they could bring home spoils from raids...
Taming the rust monster is a great idea. Rowyn might be tempted to set it loose in the hold during the trip to the Isle of Dread, or just teach it a few new tricks (she'll have lots of time on her hands).
eeeewwww... a rust monster as a pet... That could cause a lot of problems from a DM's standpoint. Kill it ASAP! :)
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I say let them keep it, if they are smart enough to keep it. Afterall, the Bullywug's managed to make it a pet, so there's no reason the PCs couldn't.
Looks like you got most of the technical advice you need in the other posts. One thing to remember, there will be accidents, it will at some point "test" its training and touch an odd item here and there. It *needs* to feed. Notice how the King had no metal on him at all? Even his crown was wooden. So every ow and again, just play with this dangerous pet a bit...don't make it take out any magical gear (unless the PCs are dumb enough to leave the RM alone with it) or anything, but let it rus an occasional item now and again.
When they get on the boat, it'll be interesrting, especially if it goes after the nails and bolts holding things together... And as someone mentioned, Rowyn would likely letit free to cause havock.
Another thing to consider, there might be others who want such a prize. From legal entities like the Arena to illegal ones, like a thieve's guild.