Domesticate a Plant

[lowericon]

I have a PC who has recently captured an intelligent plant and he would like to domesticate it and train it as a useful companion. The creature in question is called a Thorny. It's the same size and shape as a dog, moves around and acts like a dog, yet it is technically a plant and not an animal. I put a link to it at the bottom, but the important points are here:

- Thorny is a Plant, not an Animal.
- Thornies have Intelligence of 6.
- Thornies cannot speak, but understand the language of Vegepygmy.
- Both Thornies and Vegepygmies are created by Russet Mold.
- The PC in question is a Barbarian, so no chance of an Animal Companion or Familiar.

How should I adjudicate this? Having the creature with him would be fun and really fit his character. He's covered in spikes, much like the Thorny; it's his "thing". Also, he's a great role-player so I really want to be nice and let him have this.

The way I see it I have 3 options, but maybe some of you can suggest others...

1. Do it with Handle Animal skill, just like rearing a wild animal, teaching it tricks, etc. Give him some kind of penalty to the skill check (-4?) because it's a plant instead of an animal...yet, wouldn't the Thorny's higher intelligence make it easier to train? Hard to say. Perhaps I could use Knowledge(Nature) to make the checks instead of Handle Animal? (The PC has points in both skills, but is not extraordinarily good at either)

2. Get the PC to learn the Vegepygmy language. This would require a side-quest where they seek out the vegepygmy and/or some kind of magical item that would enable him to speak that language. Once he's able to talk to the Thorny, it's just a matter of brokering a deal to work together. Int 6 is high enough that the Thorny could be convinced to work with him, rather than being "trained". More like allies than master/pet.

3. Convince the PC to take the Leadership feat at 7th level (he is currently 6th) at which time the Thorny can become his Cohort. Until 7th level is reached he'll have to feed and care for the Thorny, which role-plays out the bonding between them and helps the leader/cohort relationship make sense.

Which do you think is best? Or is there a 4th option I've overlooked? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Thorny: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/plants/thorny

[The Sideromancer]

Handle animal would only work for stuff with int 1 or 2. Either option two or three could work, but even for 3 I would require knowing the language. If using 3, note that cohorts gain class levels after adoption.

[Ess]

You might consider checking out the guidelines for befriending and training griffons in the PRD. As magical beasts with Int 5, they probably have more in common with thornies than typical animals would. Also, definitely factor in that the character has ranks in Knowledge (nature).

[Devilkiller]

I'd suggest making the Thorny a cohort since that way it can level up along with the PC. Otherwise a 24hp Thorny might soon end up dead if it comes on adventures (and kind of forgotten if it doesn't)

[Weirdo]

Another vote for cohort, with the PC learning to speak Vegepygmy being very advisable.

Though there's no real reason the Thorny couldn't also learn to understand Common. One could even just buy it a flawed Gold Nodule ioun stone keyed to Common for 1000gp.

[lowericon]

OK, lots of sensible advice here. I think I'll proceed with a combination of someone learning the language and taking the Leadership feat.

Weirdo your idea about the Ioun stone was good. I had only ever thought about it in one way before - the PC learning Vegepygmy - but getting the Thorny to learn Common would work just as well. Thanks!

[Lemmy]

If the creature isn't powerful enough to make a real difference in the party's overall capabilities, just role play it and give it to the player.

You want to reward players for role playing well... Not tax them.

[Nohwear]

Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine. A species is domesticated, an individual is tamed.

[Lemmy]

Nohwear wrote:

Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine. A species is domesticated, an individual is tamed.

Cool! I actually learned something today! Thanks!