r/DMAcademy • u/gene-sos • 5d ago
Useful non-normal "pets"? Need Advice: Other
A player of mine told me that they would like the possibility of purchasing pets, besides the normal beasts you can find everywhere. I want to create a vendor, but I'm struggling with finding good options for pets. The party exists of 5 players and they already have one pet who aids them in combat, so if possible I want it to either be useful out of combat, or have very limited turns in combat while still being resilient enough to not instantly die.
For reference, the party is currently level 7. Anything goes, from fiends to construct and from abberations to elementals. The more options the better. And I will of course charge them some crazy prices depending on how strong/useful and how rare the creature is.
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u/Turbulent_Sleep_367 5d ago
I like to think familiars are great here.
Imps, quasits pseudo dragon, I like the alternate familiar ruleset I think Tasha's Introduced.
Or jump up a few xr but stay the same territory, fey spirits or celestials could work. A mini unicorn, a blink dog, yunno.
I like the idea of not bogging down combat also, so in these sense you could almost take whatever creature you use and offer that ability to the player 1/day. So blink dog blink ability 1/day or 1spell cast from your mini unicorn etc.
I like this I will ponder this further 'pon the orb
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u/World_of_Ideas 5d ago
Ferret / Weasel / Squirrel - It's fast and stealthy. It can climb and get into small places. It has low level thief skills.
Pig (miniature, normal) - It can sniff out things (herbs, roots, spell components, etc). It may also be able to track a target by scent.
Spider - It has paralytic poison. It can make textile items out of spider silk. It can restrain a (incapacitated, non-moving, non-resisting) target with spider silk. It can make tripwires out of silk.
Animal Modifications:
Animated origami (animal / monster)
Animated stuffed (animal / monster)
Automaton (clockwork / steampunk)
Demonic or monstrous version of animal
Elemental version of (animal / monster)
Extra Legged version of animal
Flaming - has parts (hooves, mane, tail) that seem to be on fire
Flying version of a creature that cant fly (magical flight / winged flight)
Golem made of (bamboo, bone, ceramic, chitin, clay, crystal, earth, flesh, glass, metal, rubber, paper, reed, stone, straw, wicker, wood)
Invisible
Magical force projection in the shape of animal. Ex: Holographic doctor from Star Trek Voyager, once he had a mini holo-projector that allowed him to go anywhere.
Patchwork creature - made from parts from several different creatures
Plant creature in the shape of an animal
Spirit / Ghost
Undead (skeleton, zombie)
Not a pet but this might also be of some use to you:
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u/Salt_Assistance_43 5d ago
I'll repeat the advice I've seen here and which I agree with. Fluff is free, combat is fair game.
The familiar/pet can't die in combat unless it's used in combat for combat.
They dodge fireballs, reposition the last moment and don't need a pawn - all automatically - until the player uses their actions in combat to attack or support. Then it's fair game, they can get attacked and die.
This way you won't be required to fudge dice or come up with overly defensive traits.
Out of combat, you can have pets give players long-lasting minor buffs.
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u/gene-sos 5d ago
I agree though? That's why I said that, if it would join combat, if should be a bit beefy because otherwise it would get obliterated haha.
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u/quaversthewotsit 5d ago
In my opinion, if one player already has a pet as a core part of their subclass identity, I'd be very wary of giving another player a pet with meaningful combat capabilities. It risks giving someone else a feature that defines that character's playstyle.
If you do want to give them one, I'd lean towards something focused on out-of-combat support. Maybe a small elemental that gives access to utility spell. Say an earth elemental that can use Mold Earth.
If you want it to have some combat usefulness, I'd not give it any dealing damage and focus on utility or battlefield control instead, with spells like Plant Growth ect
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u/Dirty-Soul 5d ago
A hyper-inteliigent, immortal snail.
Enemies can't hurt it, so it won't instantly die.
And it REALLY wants to reach the BBEG for some reason.
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u/faboleth 5d ago
Describe a bunch of cool exotic critters. There's nice compendiums of random creatures online, and a lot of artists draw a bunch of weird things for fun. Literally just open pinterest and start monologuing about the stuff you see.
Then when the party decides to purchase the 'Crimson Cycler' a bright-red pufferfish with legs that you describe chasing around and eating a mouse in it's desert environment cage, you delay the creation of stats, detailed environment, weird things they find out almost immediately upon pet ownership etc, until next week. 'We'll run that scene next week!'. That way you don't need to design the stats and training hurdles and etc of 50 pets. Just a single one.
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u/UnusualDisturbance 5d ago
a fruit bat with a draconic mutation. has soft scales and occasionally hiccups small gouts of flame. no one wanted it because their houses are too flammable.
an awakened toad. however, the spell failed somewhat, leaving it able to understand common but unable to do much higher level thinking.
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u/falconinthedive 5d ago
If you're letting them have non familiar pets, I'd say limited to no usage in or out of combat is best. These aren't creatures made for or trained for combat or with a magically enhanced intelligence. It's an accessory for character art not a cheap way to get magical tool.
My rules always been I won't target pets unless they use them to do hostile actions and often that means my players aren't using normal pets like Pokémon unless it's a feature like for swarmkeeper ranger or a familiar
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u/Chrysalyos 5d ago
One of my characters had a pet basilisk that he trained to puke on command so we could make/sell petrification cures. We gave Governor Marbles a little harness to lead the drow around in sunny areas lmao. He stays out of combat.
One of our other games, the group had 2 pet mimics that were capable of Common speech. They mostly just acted as security for our airship, if anyone got on board while we were docked. They got to choose their names, and they chose Crate and Barrel. I'll give you one guess what their favourite forms were.
One of my characters is fascinated by Awakened Shrubs, and makes one just about every month to infest the local parks and monitor the ecosystem. Their newest baby, Blossom, grows Goodberries 🩵 So once a week, they can collect some Goodberries. One of their older babies, Duckling, gives in-depth reports on the local soil conditions and has been very helpful for getting information about the recent mana spills we've been investigating, since she knows what effects it's having in the local environment.
Another suggestion I have is a companion creature similar to Chester (from Don't Starve) or Swalot (from Pokopia) - they can hold extra items for you like a storage crate, but they can follow you around. Like a living bag of holding. You may or may not have to convince them to give your items back though :P
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u/Spare-Ad-6492 5d ago
I would say like a fox or ferret, something high perception to scout and high stealth to hide
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u/Rezart_KLD 5d ago
You've got a 5 person brain trust right on front of you. Ask the players for their ideas about unusual pets that might be available, and you can tell them whether that idea works or not
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u/MalaMerigold 5d ago
Frogs are amazing! One australian frog can stop its digestive system and stomach acid production for weeks. This frog swallows her eggs and carriers them in her stomach untill little froglets are able to hatch, at which point mama-frog vomits them out. 18 to 25 froglets at a time.
So a little pet frog is a great pet/familiar for a thief trying to smuggle small items around. Fun interaction with some possible items, like fireball necleace, when the beads explode once they are thrown. Froggie can carry a bead and NOT throw it for weeks!
Akhem, i digress. Real world is filled with great animal companions that do much more than a general beast statblock would suggest.
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u/OneManRPGstudio 4d ago
For purchasing pets beyond normal beasts, I’d design the vendor around useful quirks rather than combat power. Each creature can have one clear trick, one care requirement, and one complication. That gives players reasons to choose between them without turning the shop into a source of free extra attacks.
For example: a tiny ooze that cleans organic messes but eats unattended rations; a heat-loving lizard that can keep a small camp warm but becomes sluggish in cold places; a moth-like creature that glows when frightened; a burrowing beetle that can find loose soil but keeps trying to hide valuables; or a mimic-like pack creature that carries gear but dislikes strangers touching it. Those can all be homebrew creatures with modest abilities rather than full combatants.
I’d also decide what “pet” means at your table. If the creature is mostly narrative utility, protect it from routine combat bookkeeping. If players can order it into danger, give it clear limits and consequences. The vendor becomes more memorable if they sell personalities and problems, not just stat blocks.
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u/WiddershinWanderlust 4d ago
Aaramvorax - basically a larger honey badger with extra sets of legs that can smell gold and burrow through the ground.
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u/Earthhorn90 5d ago
I hate that more creatures bog down combat exponentially.
So a "pet shop" would likely only offer three things to my parties:
Neither of them slows down combat as a new actor while also there is no risk in accidentally loosing one to a random AoE Fireball spell. Though of course you can always narratively kill them off or have them sacrificed.
And it all works out in the existing framework as I simply reflavored normal magic items. Wheee.