A druid player in my campaign has a question regarding animal companions and their possible use of magical items.
I know companions can use armor (and presumably magical armor as well) with the appropriate feat. I suppose it could make sense to allow items which give a passive stat or skill bonus but can an animal companion use a device that requires activation? I presume not with and INT of 2 and no UMD skill.
I have looked through the rule book and find no mention of item slots for animals in either the Animal Companion or the Magical Items sections however I told her I would ask the experts here.
Thanks in advance for your help and I hope the answer isn't too obviously in the book.
A druid player in my campaign has a question regarding animal companions and their possible use of magical items.
I know companions can use armor (and presumably magical armor as well) with the appropriate feat. I suppose it could make sense to allow items which give a passive stat or skill bonus but can an animal companion use a device that requires activation? I presume not with and INT of 2 and no UMD skill.
I have looked through the rule book and find no mention of item slots for animals in either the Animal Companion or the Magical Items sections however I told her I would ask the experts here.
Thanks in advance for your help and I hope the answer isn't too obviously in the book.
It really depends upon two things:
1 - the capabilities of the animal (intelligence, anathomy, etc.)2 - Which item are we talking about?
I am not aware of items slots for animals specifically mentioned, either. If there are, someone please correct my ignorance.
I would look at the slots for a humanoid and transfer the appropriate ones. Some items might not work for all companions, Bracers of Archery, for example require that you be able to fire a bow. Bracers of Armor, would work fine; Bracers of Brachiation (which do not exist anymore, but help to illustrate my point) might not work for companions that do not climb trees naturally - dogs, but might work great for those that do - squirrels. The effect probably will not look like exactly the companion swinging through the trees like Tarzan. It would do the same thing - give a movement score in the canopy - just look more appropriate to a squirrel.
As to using an item with an activation... Do any of the items have a minimun Int requirement to use them? No. So this is not an obstacle. What will stop the use of most activation items, is the use of a command word. Perhaps with Animal Handling, the druid's companion could be taught how to say the word (make a sound close enough to activate the item). Do activation items require a command word in your campaign? If not, then why not. Again, not all items would be usable.
Druids also gain the Share Spells ability with their companion. This allows them to define their companions as themselves for purposes of spell targeting and effect. You could expand this, allowing the companion to carry an activation item and let the Druid speak the command word. I would probably not allow a companion to use wands this way, but I would let them use a Ring of Invisibility. The difference being that the one targets just the wearer, the other does not; keeping with the intent of Share Spells.
Hope that helps.
The way I've always handled it in my games is that it is on a case by case basis.
Generally...
I let animals use amulets (around the neck) right out of the box (if their neck is not too big or too small to fit).
Rings are normally right out (although I would let a horned animal wear a ring).
Boots can be made into horse shoes for horses/centaurs. Alternately, non-hoofed or split hoofed animals can get four anklets to perform the same function.
Barding is already covered.
I've allowed a psuedodragon to use rings as bracelets.
Belts can generally be used (for horses it's often a saddle of <blah> instead of a belt) if the animal has a waist it can have things tied around.
Headbands can often be converted or specially made (bridle of boost stat for example).
All special made items cost double normal price, and have to be made special by the characters or commissioned. The only exception might be horseshoes or saddles or bridles. Those would be fairly common for some things.
All items have to be 'always on' or else the animal has to have at least a 3 in INT (although you can put a bridle of +2 int on a horse and give him common (on the bridle) and linguistics skill to add on a few more languages). He won't be able to speak them, but he'll understand and be able to make a specific noise to activate an item.
Huh... I swear I remember 3.5 making explicit mention of certain item types fitting themselves to non-humanoid forms, but I don't see it. Maybe that was 3.0?
Kind of annoying that both 3.5 and PF are careful to specify that the slots listed are for humanoid forms, but mention nothing about other body types.
Huh... I swear I remember 3.5 making explicit mention of certain item types fitting themselves to non-humanoid forms, but I don't see it. Maybe that was 3.0?
Kind of annoying that both 3.5 and PF are careful to specify that the slots listed are for humanoid forms, but mention nothing about other body types.
There was in 2nd Ed mention that boots, rings, belts, hats, helms etc. (excluding armors, wondrous items) would resize themselves from Hafling to Ogre. I might be wrong about how small, since this is off the top of my head, but I know Ogre is right on the high end.
Dragon magazine way back also had one or more articles that talked about how dragons could wear rings on their claws and them still work; special feature of dragons. I always apply the principle to everything that has a slot that is reasonably close, dogs use toes for rings, squirrels would use their tails - for example. This is for those items that are not specifically tailored to the critter in question - like Horseshoes of the Zephyr for hoofed critters.