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Joined: Nov 2022
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I barely, and I mean barely, know anything about 4th or 5th edition D&D so I appologise for my ignorance. I know it's an actual D&D question but I don't use the Hasbro/WotC/D&D forums so I'll ask here in hopes that someone is kind enough to have a good answer. Why don't 5th edition druids have an animal companion? At least they don't in BG3 anyway. I remember 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition D&D a druid's animal companion was always a big draw to the class. Why was this taken away?
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Joined: Feb 2022
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I'll be interested in any answers to this one, too! Coming to the 5e druid for the first time in BG3 I can see that there is a big focus on the wildshape transformation of the druid, which I confess I didn't really use in the original games. Though I don't know the other rulesets either except through games, and I don't recall my druid having a companion in the original BG games though I did have one in NWN. More than willing to accept my memory being faulty there, though.
I can see from looking at the druid spells for 5e not yet implemented in BG3 that there are ones that let you summon or conjure beasts or elementals, so perhaps druids are expected to leverage those rather than have a single animal companion like a ranger. Perhaps of lovers of nature generally, they're not supposed to show favouritism!
Hoping that some of the long-time D&Ders who are sometimes around on these forums can shed some light on the changes to the class.
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
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enthusiast
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Joined: Aug 2019
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Because, as is, the Druid is a ridiculously powerful class already. Or, at least, I would think that was the rationale. First, they're full casters with a strong spell-list, only remotely challenged by the Wizard spell list. They have access to medium armor and shields, the best saving throw proficiency in the game that they can use to its fullest, good cantrips, and an ever evolving wild shape ability that provides wide ranging utility throughout all pillars of play. And that is all before any specific sub-class they later add grants other features to class. In the end, one has to make the determination that enough is enough.
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Joined: Sep 2020
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Idk about the exact reasoning/history behind it, but dedicated animal companions in 5e are much more of a Ranger thing, through their Beast Master subclass. Along with a less-powerful Familiar for Wizards and certain Warlocks. Druids do have a Circle that focuses on their connection to "spirits of nature," the Circle of the Shepherd. They get an AoE spirit effect that can do different things depending on the animal spirit it represents, and they also get more powerful beasts or fey Summons. I found this tweet by designer Jeremy Crafword: https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/943561637713215488?lang=en
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Thank you for sharing! That's interesting and a bit weird that he says that druids could just use Animal Friendship to get a sort of companion! I've never used the spell in BG3 because its description says beasts may become hostile at the end of the spell. Using a spell that controls an animal against its will then being forced to kill it when it you've finished with it doesn't sound very nature loving to me  . Is this a difference in implementation between BG3 and 5e, and should there be some way of telling which animals are happy to join you on your adventure and therefore wouldn't mind the spell, versus ones that will get upset and attack? In fact, given that the description of the spell put me right off I never tried it, so perhaps it already works that way.
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
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addict
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Joined: Oct 2020
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Same issue with animal friendship…. Never use it because of that. I did end up killing that squirrel by kicking it sooo…. Opps
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Joined: Nov 2022
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Hmm. I have to admit that I never realised in BG1 and 2 that the druid didn't get an animal companion. Hmm. How did I miss that? Lol. I didn't use her half the time simply because I got tired of listening to her complain or her husband whine and complain all the time. I don't recall if I ever tried to make my own druid either. Been a long time.
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Joined: Oct 2020
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I just recently played oneshot as a Druid ... And my Halsin (wink, wink) had allways little hawk on his shoulder. O_o Using this feature: https://www.worldanvil.com/block/286461Wild Companion
2nd-level druid feature (enhances Wild Shape) You gain the ability to summon a spirit that assumes an animal form: as an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to cast the Find Familiar spell, without material components. When you cast the spell in this way, the familiar is a fey instead of a beast, and the familiar disappears after a number of hours equal to half your druid level.
----------------------------------- Find Familiar You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, Lizard, Octopus, owl, Poisonous Snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, Sea Horse, Spider, or Weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the Statistics of the chosen form, though it is a Celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In Combat, it rolls its own Initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't Attack, but it can take other Actions as normal.
When the familiar drops to 0 Hit Points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again.
While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any Special Senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own Senses.
As an action, you can temporarily dismiss your familiar. It disappears into a pocket dimension where it awaits your summons. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.
You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.
Finally, when you Cast a Spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its Reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an Attack roll, you use your Attack modifier for the roll.
I still dont understand why cant we change Race for our hirelings.  Lets us play Githyanki as racist as they trully are!
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Joined: Oct 2020
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It's largely down to concerns about action economy and game balance. A druid might befriend an animal (the sidekick rules are good for this), but then they would be treated as a separate party member, rather than part of the druid, for game balance calculations.
NB, Speak with Animals is the spell to use, not Animal Friendship.
Last edited by FrostyFardragon; 06/01/23 08:13 AM.
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