Handle Animal: Deliver

[starchildren3317]

Deliver (DC 15): The animal takes an object (one you or an ally gives it, or that it recovers with the fetch trick) to a place or person you indicate. If you indicate a place, the animal drops the item and returns to you. If you indicate a person, the animal stays adjacent to the person until the item is taken. (Retrieving an item from an animal using the deliver trick is a move action.)

Question: No where can I find in the rules does it say you need to show the animal where the person or place is. The animal takes it to the person or place you indicate. So if you were a new arrival in a town and instruct an animal to deliver s message to a guard, could the animal do that?

[starchildren3317]

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[CaptainJandor]

Hmmm. It seems logical that you would need some indication of who the person was beyond a vague description, especially since we're dealing with an animal.

For example, a piece of clothing for scent.

Or, you could specify a location; but the location would have to be one the animal knows.

The animal messenger spell is what you want if you're delivering to a vague person place or thing.

just my two cp

[Ciaran Barnes]

I agree that the animal must know of the person and where to find him or her. A place must be known the the animal. But if you can indicate a person or place within sight I think it would work too. If the example of using a piece of clothing for scent, there is no guarantee of how long it takes, or if the animal even looks in the place where a scent can be followed.