Using animals that are not pets

[Cevah]

I am looking for advice on using Handle Animal. I saw Paulcynic's thread and guide. One of the things I thought was that the spell Sow Thought should be an easy way to control an animal, and perhaps train it. The spell Speak with Animals is also a good idea. Other spells of note are Charm Animal, Call Animal, Calm Animals, Animal Growth, and Reduce Animal.

As I am in the Skull & Shackles AP, as a pirate on a ship, I am looking for animals suitable for shipboard living, yet useful on board and/or in combat. Please suggest uses, from just-for-fun to deadly-serious.

If anyone can show rules support for creatures other than animals, I would take suggestions on such.

/cevah

[KarlBob]

A seal, sea lion or dolphin makes a good scout. So does a bird. A walrus could be a guard "dog", as could a sea cat. I believe there are a couple of feats and/or archetypes that would allow vermin, like coconut crabs, to be trained. I don't recall whether octopi are counted as animals or vermin, but they could be handy to have around, someimes.

[Movin]

Get verminfriend, use call animal and make a menagerie of poisonous/venomous critters. Urchins and jellyfish both have incredibly nasty poisons that you can make use of. Your rogue and skill monkey types will cry tears of joy. Some of the larger snakes are fairly nasty as well.

The mungwani coast is near the shackles, dinosaurs live in the mungwani. Dinosaurs are animals. Velociraptors are nasty for their size, and make excellent shock troops due to having a massive jump bonus on account of their speed. One does not expect it to come flying onto their ship from 30-40 feet away.

If you feel like doing something ridiculous you can try the roc. Get one or two of them and reinforce your main mast as a perch, have your roc then lift the boat and become sky pirates druid style.

And thats all that I have off the top of my head, might come back with more.