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I have a player who is a Druid, and uses a raptor (dinosaur) for his animal companion.
The player purchased the trained falcon from the equipment list.
Is the falcon essentially animal companion #2?
Can the Druid then teach him tricks similar to the raptor? Obviously the falcon would not receive the class benefits that the raptor gets, like link and so on.
If the falcon is trainable, this seems to mean the Druid now has 2 companions who he can direct to attack at will.
This is how we played out our most recent adventure anyways.
Now, the falcon has a perception check of +14 or so. Does this mean the Druid and others in the party can assist in perception checks? Is there a rule which states some checks can be assisted due to range away from allies or lack of similar intellect? I went ahead and allowed the assists as default.
I also had the falcon make his checks irregardless of being directed by the druid. For example, the druid would be walking along and the falcon would be high overhead. If the falcon spotted something, the falcon would cry out in warning. Does this make sense, not too overpowered?
Is the falcon essentially animal companion #2?
Nope, he's equipment.
Can the Druid then teach him tricks similar to the raptor? Obviously the falcon would not receive the class benefits that the raptor gets, like link and so on.
The raptor either knows or can be taught 2 tricks per intelligence modifier (see the handle animal skill) so 4 tricks.
If it were me, i would have the hawk know
Come
Seek
Fetch
Guard
If the falcon is trainable, this seems to mean the Druid now has 2 companions who he can direct to attack at will.
If he tells the hawk to attack it will have the life expectancy of a mayfly after level 4.
Now, the falcon has a perception check of +14 or so. Does this mean the Druid and others in the party can assist in perception checks? Is there a rule which states some checks can be assisted due to range away from allies or lack of similar intellect? I went ahead and allowed the assists as default.
DM's call on allowing perception checks to be assisted or not, but as much as i love finding new uses for animals, i don't see how it could be helping you unless you can communicate with it.
I also had the falcon make his checks irregardless of being directed by the druid. For example, the druid would be walking along and the falcon would be high overhead. If the falcon spotted something, the falcon would cry out in warning. Does this make sense, not too overpowered?
Makes sense (and is why i recommended the seek trick) It should be about the most useful thing you do with it.
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FAQ for pathfinder society restricts you to 1 combat companion per person unless the gm allows otherwise. Mainly because it slows down combat. You could do a similar limitation in home games. one cohort/companion per character.
so: raptor, or your pet dog you bought, or your trained falcon. not all three, nor 10 trained dogs.
also: falcon is a move action to command, not a free action like his raptor.
so... in the situation where you try and have 10 trained dogs... guess what you can only keep so many of them obedient to you at one time, you'd probably lose more to attrition, wilderness, not being able to feed them, monsters ganking them, etc.
What BigNorseWolf said.
Plus--the druid may need to take the time necessary to train the falcon with the tricks it wants it to know. Now, the one advantage the druid has is that they can handle an animal--make it use one of the tricks it knows--as a free action. It takes them a move action to "push" an animal (make it do something it's not trained to do). I'd suggest reviewing the Handle Animal skill to get a better idea of how managing the falcon will/should work.
just wondering but what equipment list has the falcon? I was considering doing something like this with a monk but couldn't find anything inregards to trained animals (other than a dog) in the core book.
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Not sure all of them count as "trained", but if you're purchasing them from an animal trainer, it'd make sense if they were.
Looks at cat, purchased from a professional(pet store).
Points at spider on wall."Kitty, kill!"
Cat cracks open one eye, then goes back to sleep.
I would say training probably costs extra. :)
Now, the one advantage the druid has is that they can handle an animal--make it use one of the tricks it knows--as a free action. It takes them a move action to "push" an animal (make it do something it's not trained to do). I'd suggest reviewing the Handle Animal skill to get a better idea of how managing the falcon will/should work.That applies to the druid's animal companion. The druid handles her companion as a free action, and pushes the companion as a move action.
In this case, the falcon is not an animal companion; it is a trained animal. The druid needs to use a standard action with a handle animal check if she actively wants the falcon do something specific.
You are correct and I entirely misread the entry. Ironically, I was originally posting to say "it's a move action to handle" and then read the description to double check and got myself backwards. Thanks.
Additional combatants can easily be "gamebreakers", especially at low levels - you could also just hire a bunch of local mercenaries. What matters is style, just think about that and you're done.
Falcon for scouting? Sure, why not, perception bonus due to warning cry seems reasonable and definitively not overpowered, you paid for that bird with good money. Additional mount? I played a ranger who had a horse in addition to his companion, no problem with that - of course, I never used that horse as a combatant (while horses can fight it's just silly after all and not very heroic)
Even a guy who uses a bunch of dogs has some style tough I'd make that another class (pack leader is the direction) - just remember that even regular companions get weak in comparisson at high levels, such a class would probably suck after level 10 or so.
As for combat speed, from other systems I'm used to so called mob rules, a mob is comparable to a swarm, only that it consists of large stuff like for example well, an angry mob of peasants with forks and torches. Treat a bunch of wardogs like a single combatant and you got your speed, however that would ask for many additional rules.
As for PFS, it has stricter rules for balancing, just live with it, even when it seams to be (/indeed is) not logical, I mean, why shouldn't a PC not be able to create items if not for balance and easy character administration?
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This Tiny, long-winged hawk is a popular hunting bird
This doesn't make it fully explicit that the listed falcon is trained for the purpose of hunting (as described under Handle Animal) but I think that's in line with interpretations made for other creatures. It would then know the tricks attack, down, fetch, heel, seek and track.
Major problem... the Handle Animal skill can only affect one creature at a time. and for you non druid/non rangers out there that's at least one move or standard action per doggie.
In game terms, in the morning you set 9 dogs to guard 1 dog, and then you use that 1 dog to attack, the others will follow.
Either that or use BBQ sauce as a splash weapon and cover your opponents in it.
It'll be sad when all those dogs get killed at once when you're around level 5-6.
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its not a standard action to command a trained animal.
for characters with out a Link (ex) to the animal, its a move action, or a full round action to push. for druids and their ilk, its a free action for a trick it knows, and a move action to push. Read the skills section on handle animals.
Action: Varies. Handling an animal is a move action, while “pushing” an animal is a full-round action. (A druid or ranger can handle an animal companion as a free action or push it as a move action.) For tasks with specific time frames noted above, you must spend half this time (at the rate of 3 hours per day per animal being handled) working toward completion of the task before you attempt the Handle Animal check. If the check fails, your attempt to teach, rear, or train the animal fails and you need not complete the teaching, rearing, or training time. If the check succeeds, you must invest the remainder of the time to complete the teaching, rearing, or training. If the time is interrupted or the task is not followed through to completion, the attempt to teach, rear, or train the animal automatically fails.
And i only referenced PFS as an example of some limitations on animal companions that you can use to speed up play. Certainly there are fox hunts, i'm sure. But even for fox hunts, a master of the hounds usually only has three or four dogs per person, and usually on leashes when tracking, as they tend to get out of hand.