First, some general information:
I am not the Castle Keeper of this game. There is a human knight, a human fighter-cleric (being NPC'd because the player has had to leave town for an extended time,) a gnome druid-wizard (my character), a halfling illusionist-assassin (my wife's PC who no one knows anything about), and a human bard-rogue (new to the group.) The party average level is now 5 after 2 years starting at level 1. My character has three animals traveling with him and is therefore not allowed in the inn (or any town so far): a giant frog (I named him Ribber), a grizzly bear (named Growler), and a familiar raven named Poe.
We are not running a module, and are currently "parked" at an inn where a giant carnival is in progress -- there was a murder and the knight has been pressed into investigating it. To make things more interesting, my character was the last one to see the NPC alive and it most certainly was not the result of my wife's character taking him out.
A few sessions back, the party knight and cleric had went off on their own to investigate a campground where it was assumed the secret of the murder investigation would be revealed and we could finally put things to rest and move forward. They had gone under the silence of spells but seemingly forgot they were still visible, and thus ensued a battle -- the knight fell first, literally, when trying to climb a tree to drag an archer down, and with the roll of a natural 1 on the save from the fall to avoid unconsciousness. They were thus captured. Unfortunately, the party had been uninformed of their decision...
So, after our normal routines (my character has taken to performing as a side-show act to earn money since that's the reason we even stopped here in the first place was so the knight could earn enough gold to buy a new horse after the last was taken down by a sabre-tooth and had refused the one we had stolen) my character heads back to his camp which is outside both the carnival and the grounds of the inn, deep in the woods where he feels safe and his buddies can be themselves when he hears this sound of battle and also notices his campsite has been invaded -- there are tracks that aren't his own (since he doesn't leave them when affected by pass without trace) and smells that the bear picks up as belonging to someone not known to him. I then decide I'll go check it out and head off in the direction of the disturbance. What I stumble into is a kill-fest. The tree archer spots the bear coming, moving his full charge rate and fails to score a hit. I then tell the bear, using an on-going speak with animals, to take the archer. Standing, the bear reaches twelve feet, which the Castle Keeper decides is enough for him to be eye level with the archer -- the bear reaches out and smack, smack scores two hits with his claws (one being a natural twenty which in our game means maximum damage + 1d4), resulting in an automatic hug and bite unless the poor guy can get away. He fails and is now pinned. In the interim, I use a heat metal spell to start the process of disabling the poor slod who came to attack my frog when it leaped ahead -- he'll last three rounds before the spell cripples him as he won't be able to remove his breastplate. Poe is commanded to dive-bomb another for the eyes, hits, but barely, and is unable to pluck its googly prize -- in return, he is struck for more damage than I would have liked which sends me into hatred mode... second round, now: the bear continues to munch on his captured bad guy, the warming up guy starts to sizzle and tries to get the frog again and hits, for minimal damage, causing the frog to run away as I won't make him stay if he's in danger. Poe flies to a tree and sits there, nursing a wounded wing -- and then, I see the third warrior in the camp and inflict a summoned swarm of flying beetles, effectively removing him from the fight. Round three, and Mr. Hugged manages to slip away, but before the bear gets its initiative, so the bear is now free to use all three attacks again, rather than just the bite -- claw: hit; claw: hit; bite: automatic. Damage? All three were maximums, rolled in the open. It is not the third round of heat metal, and the poor SoB is disabled, and since I am not in melee, and neither is he, I run up and give him a death with my cleaver -- and then the guy in the swarm is allowed to surrender, as the bear smiles at him.
In the course of the battle, in those three rounds, the grizzly inflicted over 50 damage.
Animal companions kick ass. Also, I showed the players that one does not mess with a druid...
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Serl's Corner
When Animals Attack...
After reading this, I needs to go get me some animal companions for Nate's Sunday night games.
R-
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Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind
R-
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Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind
Castles & Crusades: What 3rd Edition AD&D should have been.
TLG Forum Moderator
House Rules & Whatnots
My Game Threads
Monday Night Online Group Member since 2007
TLG Forum Moderator
House Rules & Whatnots
My Game Threads
Monday Night Online Group Member since 2007
For sure.
Animal familiars are so much fun for CKs and players alike. My nephew has an owl companion and continues to come up with useful ways to use him.
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Count Rhuveinus - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Franqueforte
"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth
Animal familiars are so much fun for CKs and players alike. My nephew has an owl companion and continues to come up with useful ways to use him.
_________________
Count Rhuveinus - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Franqueforte
"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth
Lord Tadhg - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Ardmore
"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth
"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth