Taming a companion

The rules proposed here can always have exceptions where it makes sense to the story or the PC and the DM and players agree.   Adventurers frequently encounter creatures they may wish to tame for one reason or another. If the adventurer is successful, the creature becomes a companion, and with appropriate training, they can begin developing companion levels.

Taming creatures is no simple feat. It’s not quick or easy, nor is it something that will be successful for every creature. In fact, many creatures are impossible to tame, and adventurers will need alternative means if they wish to ally with them.

What Can Be Tamed?

Not everything can be tamed. At a minimum, a creature must have the following traits to be considered tamable:

• It must have an intelligence score of 6 or lower and cannot be a humanoid, celestial, or fiend.
• It cannot already be another person’s companion or have strong, pre-existing loyalties to someone else.
• It cannot be predisposed to extreme aggression and must be capable of recognizing friends from foes. For example, a black pudding could never become a companion because it can't know who its allies are.
• It cannot have a chaotic evil or neutral evil alignment. Most creatures that can become companions are unaligned.
• The creature must have a CR no greater than half the level of the party, with a maximum of 9.

Taming a Creature

This is a 3 step process.  

1. Discovering if the creature is Amenable to taming.
2. The laborious task of actually taming and training the creature
3. Once it is tamed it can become a companion that will level up with its master.

Creatures Amenable to Taming

Some creatures are more amenable to taming than others. Creatures who are territorial or who have been wounded are typically more challenging to tame, while those who don’t aggressively defend their territory and have been treated kindly are easier. Similarly, lawfully inclined creatures will be easier to tame, while chaotically inclined creatures will be extremely difficult to tame. Animal friendship and similar spells or class features can make it even easier until the spell’s effects wear off.

Taming a creature begins with finding one who may be amenable to taming. This process involves a skill challenge, which determines how difficult it will be to ultimately tame the creature. After the characters complete the skill challenge, the creature may be more or less willing to be around the characters, but it is never loyal enough to put itself in harm’s way on their behalf until it is fully tamed.

The Skill Challenge

When a character decides to attempt taming a creature, begin a skilal challenge. One or more additional characters can participate in the skill challenge, but the character who intends to tame the creature must participate and succeed on at least one check. If the target creature has been engaged in combat, wounded, or is naturally territorial, characters have disadvantage on all checks in the challenge. Once the challenge begins:

• The base DC for these types of skill challenges is 15 + the creature’s CR, rounded down.
• Each participating character should roll initiative or otherwise determine in which order they will attempt their checks.
• Typically, these challenges will require 6 successes before 3 failures.
• Requiring fewer successes may be appropriate for naturally tamable creatures, such as dogs.
• Requiring more successes may be appropriate for fiercely independent creatures or those exceedingly difficult to tame, such as a white dragon wyrmling.
• The participating characters will proceed in turn order, describing what they are doing to attempt to make the creature more tamable. Each action should correspond to a skill, but no skill may be used twice by the same character or twice in a single round.
• Characters continue making skill attempts until they reach either the required number of successes or 3 failures.

Skill Challenge Outcomes

The number of failures determines how much more difficult the training may be.  The failures may increase the DC of training or it may cost more gold to do the training or may take considerably longer or any combination of those.

Trying Again

Depending on how successful or unsuccessful the characters are with making a creature amenable to taming, they may wish to become better friends with the creature before attempting the taming. Regardless of the outcome of the previous skill challenge, characters must wait at least one week before attempting the challenge again. When they do repeat the challenge, it may be harder or easier depending on how they treated the creature  

Taming as Downtime

Once a creature has become amenable to taming, the next step is to start the challenging road toward taming the creature. Even for the most accessible creatures, this is a long process best done as a downtime activity. It may even require multiple stretches of downtime for more difficult creatures to be successfully tamed.

Resources. 

Taming a creature requires a number of weeks equal to 2x the creature’s CR (minimum 1), which can be done over multiple downtimes if desired. It also requires a 100 gp per week investment. Additionally, characters may invest gold equal to 100x the creature’s CR to gain a +1 bonus to their checks while resolving the activity.

Resolution. 

To conduct a week of taming, the character will need to make 3 dice rolls based on a taming plan the character creates. The plan must include the following elements:

• A research period to understand the creature better. This should be paired with an appropriate skill, such as Intelligence (Arcana) for magical creatures or Wisdom (Animal Handling) for beasts.
• A period of time spent getting the creature to be comfortable around the tamer. Using an appropriate check based on how the character wishes to approach this.
• Finally, the character must spend some time teaching the creature to follow commands effectively. Appropriate skills at this stage include Wisdom (Animal Handling) or Charisma (Persuasion), though others can be substituted.
• This may be a situation to use an alternative or nonstandard check, such as Charisma (Animal Handling), as they may better embody what the character is trying to accomplish.

Suggested DC for training:

Creature CR	Training DC
0-4	DC = 10 + Creature’s Challenge Rating (Rounded Up) + Creature’s Intelligence Score
5-7	DC = 13 + Creature’s Challenge Rating + Creature’s Intelligence Score
8-9	DC = 15 + Creature’s Challenge Rating + Creature’s Intelligence Score

Note. 

The extremely high DC of particular creatures can make getting enough successes to advance a week of taming extremely difficult, potentially extending the time required to tame the creature significantly. This is by design, as the most powerful creatures are typically the most independent and should be correspondingly difficult to tame.  

Creating and Leveling a Tamed Companion

  Once a creature has been tamed, it gains its first companion level. The tamer can select from the following three companion classes as they see fit:

• combat companion.
• mounted companion.
• social companion. 

At the game master’s discretion, a tamed companion may be able to gain levels simultaneously as the characters, or it may require a downtime activity to gain a level (see Leveling a Tamed Companion as Downtime below).

When a tamed companion gains a level, it gains 1 additional hit die (as indicated on its stat block) plus hit points equal to the creature’s Constitution modifier. It also gains any features granted to it by its companion class. Tamed companions have the following additional rules when leveling:

• A tamed companion can have a maximum companion level equal to 20 minus twice its CR. For example, a CR 6 creature can have a maximum companion level of 8, while a CR 0 creature can reach its 20th companion level.
• The level of the tamer likewise limits the level of their companion. A tamed creature’s companion level plus two times its CR can never exceed its tamer’s current level. For example, a CR 2 creature tamed by a sixth level character, could have a maximum companion level of 2.
• A tamed companion typically starts with a companion level of 1, regardless of when it was tamed. At the game master’s discretion, low CR creatures may start with a higher companion level or advance in level more quickly to catch up to the party’s level, but it can never exceed its current level cap.

A tiny companion may choose to use a bonus action to conceal itself on its master. This can be in a pocket, backpack, inside armor, or anywhere else the game master determines is appropriate. While concealed, the companion is blinded and restrained but is considered to be invisible to anyone except its master. The companion may choose to end its concealment using a bonus action.  

Companion Classes

Combat Companion

1st-level Combat Companion feature: Bonus Proficiencies

The companion gains proficiency in Strength saving throws if it doesn’t already have it.
Additionally, the companion gains proficiency in Athletics and Intimidation.

1st-level Combat Companion feature Creature of War: 

The companion gains proficiency with simple and martial weapons provided it has the ability to wield them. A companion that does not have hands, for example, cannot fire a crossbow but could potentially grasp a sword or dagger in their jaws to wield that. A companion cannot use a weapon attack as part of its multiattack, unless such a use is part of its multiattack feature.
The companion also selects one fighting style from the options available to the fighter class. It cannot select a fighting style that it is incapable of using.
At 16th level, the companion selects one additional fighting style from the options available to the fighter class. It cannot choose a fighting style it is incapable of using.

2nd-level Combat Companion feature: Second Wind

The companion has stamina that goes beyond its untrained counterparts. On its turn, it can use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to 1d10 + its combat companion level. Once it uses this feature, it must finish a short or long rest before it can use it again.

3rd-level Combat Companion feature: Armored Ally

The companion gains proficiency with all armor and shields. These typically need to be specially manufactured, as few blacksmiths carry armors designed for nonhumanoid creatures.

Mount Companion

1st-level Mounted Companion feature: Bonus Proficiencies

The companion gains proficiency with its choice of Dexterity or Constitution saving throws.
Additionally, the companion gains proficiency with the Athletics skill and may add double its proficiency bonus to any checks made with that skill.

1st-level Mounted Companion feature: Mounted Charge

The companion is able to make an effective charge at the beginning of combat. On the first round of combat, provided neither it nor its rider is surprised, it may take the Dash action as a bonus action. When it does so, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Starting at 14th level, the companion also provides half cover to its rider until the end of its next turn when it uses this feature.

2nd-level Mounted Companion feature: Trample

When the companion takes the dash action and moves in a straight line, it may make a shove attack against any creature of its size or smaller in its path. If it succeeds on the shove, the creature is knocked prone, and the companion treats the space controlled by hostile creatures as normal terrain. If it fails, the companion’s movement speed drops to 0 until the start of its next turn. Once it uses this feature, it must finish a short or long rest before it can use it again.
At 10th and 15th level, the companion gains one additional use of this feature.

3rd-level Mounted Companion feature: Armored Mount

The companion gains proficiency with light and medium armor. This armor typically needs to be custom-made, as armor suited for the movement of a mount is not typically stocked by blacksmiths.

Social Companion

1st-level Social Companion feature: Bonus Proficiencies

The companion gains proficiency with Charisma saving throws and the Performance skill.

1st-level Social Companion feature: Social Ally

The companion selects one of deception, intimidation, performance, or persuasion. When its tamer attempts to use the selected skill, the companion may take a special help action to add half its performance modifier rounded down to the roll and the normal benefits provided by the help action. It may use this feature a number of times equal to its proficiency bonus per long rest.
At 14th level, the companion may select one additional skill to use this feature with. At 19th level, the companion can use this feature with all charisma-based skills.

2nd-level Social Companion feature: Tamed Telepathy

The companion can communicate telepathically with its tamer. This telepathy cannot be intercepted or heard by magic. Owing to the unique nature of their bond, the companion and its tamer can communicate in this way even while talking or taking other actions.