First of all, let me apologize in advance if the questions I am about to ask have been asked before.
I started a new game with some friends a couple of weeks ago. Among them is a druid with a tiger animal companion. I've never had a druid in my group before, the player is still relatively new to the game, and we're running into some complications with the tiger companion. I've done some further reading on the subject from both the Core book and the Bestiary, and there are still a few issues I need resolved.
First of all, correct me if I'm wrong, but the companion does not necessarily act as a secondary character, correct? I mean, I'm leaving the majority of the tiger's actions in the player's hands, but certain actions should still be resolved using the Handle Animal skill and its associated tricks, right?
Secondly, the entry for the tiger companion in the Core book lists it has having 2 claw attacks and the rake ability. The entry for the rake ability in the Bestiary implies that the claw attacks are only available while grappling, and that the target must already be grappled in order to perform the claw attacks.
A) Does this really mean that the claw attacks cannot be performed without first grappling an opponent?
B) When the entry says "2 claws" (and this can apply to any monster with similar attacks), are both claws considered the same attack? Do they both use the same attack roll and the damage roll represents both attacks hitting simultaneously? Or do you roll attack and damage separately for each claw?
C) Does the tiger get its own initiative count in combat? We've only had two sessions so far, and I've been having the tiger act on the druid's turn after the druid's actions. Should I instead be having the tiger have its own initiative roll at the start of combat?
D) Assuming the tiger starts its turn grappling an opponent and uses the rake ability, is another check required to deal damage, or does the initial combat maneuver roll to maintain the grapple count as the attack roll for this ability?
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First, correct
Second, IIRC, the tiger has 2 claws, and in addition it also has the rake for another 2 claws.
a) So it can hit twice, or it can grapple, and next round it can deal damage in grapple and then hit 2 more times. (I'm not sure if it gets those two rake claw attacks on it's initial grapple or not.)
b) nope, two seperate attacks. Just like a two weapon fighter. If it moves, it only gets one, I think.
c) Table variation. RaW sugguest it gets it's own init. Practical gameplay requirements say it can really only be directed to do stuff on it's owners turn. technically, that means that if it rolls a lower init than it's owner, it doesn't get to do anything on his first turn, and has to go later in the round (by which point the instructions might be obsolete) or it has to wait till his next turn.
d) umm... I have to go look it up. I *think* once it maintains, it gets 2 additional attack rolls.
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Re initiative, I prefer to roll separately. If the player gives his animal companion Improved Initiative etc it should count. Also, even if not commanded until later in the round, if the animal gets a higher initiative it removes the flat-footed condition earlier than if he went on the druid's initiative.
Finally, even if an animal companion is not given a command, that doesn't mean it won't necessarily act; if its attacked in melee it may attack back of its own volition, not waiting for a command to be to be told to do so. An animal companion is not an automaton, it is a living being with instincts.
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what level is the druid ?
if he/she is just starting out at low levels, the companion won't have much rake yet. rake does require starting in a grapple , which won't happen as much before the companion gets pounce.
while it lists rake (1d4) for the companion, rake is 2 free claw attacks ( at 1d4 for this creature ) when it begins the round grappling the target. it still gets its normal bite and 2 claws on a full attack action. but as it doesn't have grab, or pounce, getting it into a grapple to make use of the rake happens less often.
Starting Statistics: Size Medium; Speed 40 ft.; AC +1 natural armor; Attack bite (1d6), 2 claws (1d4); Ability Scores Str 13, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 10; Special Attacks rake (1d4); Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.
7th-Level Advancement: Size Large; AC +2 natural armor; Attack bite (1d8), 2 claws (1d6); Ability Scores Str +8, Dex –2, Con +4; Special Attacks grab, pounce, rake (1d6) .
so at 1st - 6th levels, the medium tiger has a bite+str and 2 claws +str. and rake ( 2 claws at 1d4 + str ) .
at 7th and beyond, with being able to start a grapple w/ a successful attack, and pounce, it becomes more deadly. it still only gets the 2 free rake attacks the next round when it full attacks the creature its grappling. it then has to let go since it didn't spend an action maintaining the grapple, unless one of its claws hit, giving it a free grapple.
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Ha! At last, a question I know something about!
I have 5 separate druid characters with tigers. What can I say? I like tigers.
For initiative, you can either have them roll for the same initiative (especially if the druid is mounted) or you can have them roll separately, in which case the companion will have to delay if it goes before the druid so it can be given a command, or the druid would delay to the companion's initiative so they can act as a team for flanking or whatever other tricks it's been taught.
You may want to check out (or have the player check out) the Animal Archives book, which lays out additional tricks to teach an animal companion. One trick they should teach it asap is attack attack (or attack anything). If it only has attack, it will not attack creatures with an unnatural aura (such as undead or aberrations, etc). It will also need to be taught the flank trick to flank and the grapple trick to grapple. You can have them "push" the companion to perform one of these tricks, but it will be move action for the druid and they will have to make a handle animal check to hit the DC in order to have them do it.
Most players will play their animal companions as well as their druids. To have fun with it, you can certainly chime in as the GM and have the animal give certain responses (i.e. the PC gives the companion an order and fails the handle animal check and you tell the PC "the tiger looks at you questioningly..." etc). Especially if they cast speak with animals. That can be a very fun interaction as you respond to the PC with how a tiger would think ("hmm...food? food now? how about food?"). But for the most part, they will be directing where their companion goes and what it does.
Tigers have 3 primary attacks - 2 claws and bite. If the tiger moves more than the 5' step on its turn, then it only gets one attack (EITHER one claw attack or bite attack). Otherwise if they don't move or only 5' step, then they can lay into the bad guy with the bite and 2 claw attacks (none are secondary). There is nothing more fun than rolling 3 D20s for the attacks. If the tiger has the grapple trick, it can instead attempt a grapple (which provokes attacks of opportunity), and once it succeeds on a grapple (on the same turn) it can make 2 claw attacks as the rake - it will still have to roll the attack to see if each one hits. On the next turn, if it maintains the grapple, it can rake again. The rake ability is a lot easier to use once it hits 7th level. At 7th level, the tiger can pounce (in which it can charge the enemy and take a full attack [2 claws & bite]) and if any of the attacks hit, they can get a free grab in which they can attempt a free grapple without provoking attacks of opportunity and if they grapple then they immediately get the rake attempt (roll for each attack for the claws). Tigers are quite deadly once they hit 7th level. Especially with feats like power attack. And improved natural attack. And spells like strongjaw (makes natural attacks 2 sizes larger).
You will probably have more questions as the druid levels up, like wild shape. For wild shape, at 4th level, they can wild shape as any small or medium animal they would be familiar with, so you'll need to look up the stats in the beastiary. BUT, they only have the template added to their character's stats, per the beast shape spell, but they are proficient in all the animal's natural attacks. They also keep their current feats and do not get the animal's feats as listed in the beastiary. They also lose all their armor and shields, unless they have wild armor (which is +3 armor bonus, which is 9000 gp enchantment to armor). Anything on their person melds with their body when they wild shape. If they have a bag, it gets melded. If their wearing magical items that have a constant bonus, it's melded into their form, but it will still continue to function. If you have Ultimate Equipment, there is a magical item called a polymorphic bag, which transforms to a small bag tied around their neck when they wild shape, so they can still have access to stuff in their bags (like wands and potions and things).
I hope that helped.
But most importantly - have fun with it! Having an animal companion in the party can be fun and makes things much more of a challenge then people think. "Hey, we're going to rest up in this inn overnight, oh, but what are we going to do about this tiger?" Or, "why is everyone in town looking at us funny?" "Maybe because we have a giant tiger with us?". And don't forget the fun challenges with getting an animal into various places. "Hmm...how are we going to get the tiger down in the sewer with us? And back out for that matter. They don't climb ladders very well." Or "A cliff? Seriously???"
*note, to help with these situations, you can get the Knights of the Inner Sea guide to get the Carry Companion spell, which helps in the most sticky of situations
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minor error: you must start the turn grappling. you can't initiate a grapple and rake in the same turn. its in the rake rules.
it'd actually go like: give grapple order to cat, cat attempts grapple ( provokes aoo unless oponent is flatfooted w/o combat reflexes ) , cat succeeds and target is grappled. target gets a chance to break grapple. if cat still has grapple next round, gets bite and 4 claw attacks. ends grapple if cat doesn't yet have grab special ability and didn't spend a standard action maintaining the grapple.
the fun part though is if something tries to grapple kitty. kitty starts its turn grappling, and can take all 5 attacks and doesn't have to worry about spending an action to continue the grapple.
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It will also need to be taught the flank trick to flank and the grapple trick to grapple.
This is where you may need to speak to your GM.
Having those tricks allow a Druid to force an animal companion to Flank (and stay adjacent to the foe as I understand it) or Grapple, but IMHO even without those tricks, or a successful command not being given, an animal companion may still flank or grapple of their own volition and if it makes sense for their animal type.
If your animal companion has the Grab ability and is given the Attack command and successfully strikes with a natural attack that allows for that Grab; your animal companion may well elect to grapple its foe (especially if that allows it to do more damage, e.g. with rake). If a GM would not allow that to happen unless you give it the Grapple command you need to know about that up front, i.e. at character creation.
I believe "flank" is a relatively newly added trick. Many GMs (including me) assume that Animal Companions are smart enough to know to flank since most wild animals flank without being trained to do so. But that's a GM call and by RAW now I think an AC needs to have "flank" as a trained trick.
Most druids I've played with advance their AC's int to 3 as quickly as possible, which allows for more flexibility.
By RAW the AC is an NPC meaning the GM should run them. I have never once encountered a situation in actual game play where anyone but the player controls the AC except in unusual circumstances (like leaping over flowing magma) when the GM will call for a "handle animal" check.
Technically there is no "tiger" AC, there is a "big cat" AC which can be flavored as a tiger, which is what my druid's AC is.
Gwnerally speaking pack animals flank on their own. But regardless the druid can use push to get the tiger to flank which will get easier to do after the firsr few levels.
Ac are easy to handle as long as peoplw remember not to play them as tactical geniuses. A tiger is unlikely to release. Grapple to get full claw attacks on someone it already has a hold of for example.
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Keep in mind for wild armor the minimum cost is 16000, because it must be +1 before it can be wild.
Even animals with an Int of 3 are still animals so even if you teach them a language you still have to make handle animal checks to control your pet.
A pet will move to attack a target along the most obvious path. As a PFS GM the way I rule this is if you don't have the flank trick a pet will move toward the target as safely as possible (avoiding AoOs) and to the closest square. If that is flanking fine. A pet without the trick will not 5' step into flanking while one with it will each turn if possible.
So if the closest spot is flanking, great it will move to flank without the trick but won't maintain if the target moves. Not sure if this is how it is supposed to work but that is what I do in my games.
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Keep in mind for wild armor the minimum cost is 16000, because it must be +1 before it can be wild.
Even animals with an Int of 3 are still animals so even if you teach them a language you still have to make handle animal checks to control your pet.
A pet will move to attack a target along the most obvious path. As a PFS GM the way I rule this is if you don't have the flank trick a pet will move toward the target as safely as possible (avoiding AoOs) and to the closest square. If that is flanking fine. A pet without the trick will not 5' step into flanking while one with it will each turn if possible.
So if the closest spot is flanking, great it will move to flank without the trick but won't maintain if the target moves. Not sure if this is how it is supposed to work but that is what I do in my games.
Yup, if you're giving your companion the attack command, it's going to go the most direct route to the enemy and attack it.
If you've taken the time, with a full week of training, to teach your companion what it means when you say "flank" with the flank trick, then you can tell it to flank. Yeah, pack animals might do this in the wild, but your party is not a pack of the same animals and you're not ambushing your prey by surrounding it first. And besides, let's say you have a badger companion or a hawk companion - they probably don't flank in the wild anyways.
Just like summoning a creature. If it's animal that does not understand your language, it won't flank but will attack by the most direct route. Unless you summon it to appear in a flanking position, which is the best case scenario.
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As a PFS GM the way I rule this is if you don't have the flank trick a pet will move toward the target as safely as possible (avoiding AoOs) and to the closest square. If that is flanking fine. A pet without the trick will not 5' step into flanking while one with it will each turn if possible.
That is how I would GM things too, and incidentally how I as a player would also play my character's animal companion.
Thank you guys so much for all your help. I feel like I've got a better grasp on how to deal with the situation, and I sat down with my druid player earlier in the week to discuss how things will be proceeding with the animal companion, which we both appreciated. :)