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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
NPC Core

Creature Companions

Source NPC Core pg. 216
NPCs often have companions, pets, or familiars that travel with them. While some types of companions might serve only a narrative purpose, others might present the NPC with additional actions or abilities.

When creating an NPC with a companion creature, it's important to decide what general category that creature will fit and how it will affect the encounter. Pets and familiars provide NPCs with flavorful extra abilities without using an additional stat block. Animal companions and eidolons function as separate creatures with their own abilities.

Pets and Familiars

Source NPC Core pg. 216
Pets are Tiny animals, while familiars can be nearly any other similar-sized creature with some magical abilities. A pet makes for a good companion of just about NPC, while familiars should be companions only of spellcasting NPCs. Because of their size, pets and familiars usually wouldn't make significant contributions to most encounters as their own creatures. Therefore, they can be represented by additional abilities used by their NPC owner. If used in this way, pets and familiars can't be targets by Strikes, spells, or other abilities, though they can represent interesting roleplaying opportunities after their NPC owner has been defeated.

Pets and familiars can be broken down into the broad categories below, depending on what kind of ability they grant to their owner.

Aquatic

Source NPC Core pg. 216
Examples fish, octopus, otter, turtle
Splash [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) Requirements The NPC is in water; Effect The NPC commands their companion to splash water on an enemy within 15 feet. That target is dazzled until the beginning of the NPC's next turn.

Burrowing

Source NPC Core pg. 216
Examples fox, giant ant, mole
Churn Earth [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) The NPC commands their companion to burrow through the nearby soil, creating a 10-foot-square area of difficult terrain within 15 feet.

Flying

Source NPC Core pg. 216
Examples bat, parrot, raven
Dive Bomb [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) The NPC commands their companion to fly at an enemy within 30 feet and flap its wings in their face. The target is off-guard until the end of the NPC's turn.

Scent

Source NPC Core pg. 216
Examples cat, compsognathus, dog
Point Out [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) The NPC commands their companion to root out an undetected creature. The NPC gains the benefits of Point Out against an undetected creature within 20 feet.

Toxic

Source NPC Core pg. 216
Examples scorpion, spider, viper
Poison [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) The NPC commands their companion to deliver a dose of its natural venom to an enemy within 15 feet. That target takes 1d4 poison damage. This increases by 1d4 at 5th level and every 4 levels after that.

Other Encounter Abilties

Source NPC Core pg. 216
An NPC with a pet or familiar might also have one of the following abilities, no matter the shape and form of their companion. If an ability mentions a familiar, that NPC must have a familiar and not a pet.

Go Fetch [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) Requirements The NPC has a free hand; Effect The NPC commands their companion to retrieve an item of 1 Bulk or less that is unattended and within 20 feet. The companion places the item in the NPC's free hand.

Spell Courier [one-action] (auditory, concentrate) If the next action the NPC uses is to Cast a Spell with a range of touch, they can command their familiar to deliver that spell to a target within 15 feet. This effectively increases the range of the spell.

Downtime and Exploration Abilities

Source NPC Core pg. 216
A pet or familiar might also grant their NPC aid during downtime and exploration mode. If an ability mentions a familiar, that NPC must have a familiar and not a pet.

Eavesdropper The NPC's familiar can Gather Information through careful positioning and tact. While in a settlement the NPC is familiar with, their familiar can use Gather Information on any topic by eavesdropping in key locations. The NPC can learn about topics that would normally be kept secret, but it must be information someone could reasonably be discussing within the settlement. This takes 1 hour instead of the normal amount of time, and the NPC does not risk alerting others of their intentions and can take other actions during this time.

Ritual Assistant The NPC's companion provides assistance during rituals. The familiar qualifies as a single secondary caster for rituals they cast, though the NPC uses their skill modifiers for any checks. If a ritual does not need secondary casters, the NPC instead gains a +2 circumstance bonus to any skill checks related to casting the ritual.

Suspicious Familiar (misfortune) The NPC's companion has a skeptical nature and can express it. When a creature attempts to Lie to or Make an Impression on the NPC, the creature must roll twice and take the lower of the two results

Animal Companions

Source NPC Core pg. 217
Some NPCs, such as the beast tamer, the orc gamekeeper, and the pack leader, take on and train animal companions to help them with their endeavors. The creatures from Monster Core listed below work well in this role. Unlike a PC's animal companion, an NPC's animal companion has the standard number of actions, uses its normal stat block, and counts toward the encounter's XP budget normally.

Several new creatures suitable for animal companions are presented beginning on page 218. You can use the weak and elite adjustments to scale their level to be appropriate for an encounter's budget.

Level -1: compsognathus, eagle, flash beetle, giant centipede, giant rat, guard dog, viper
Level 0: bottlenose dolphin, riding dog
Level 1: electric eel, giant gecko, goblin dog, hippocampus, hunting spider, hyena, python, riding dog, riding horse, velociraptor, war pony, wolf
Level 2: boar, crocodile, deinonychus, giant ant, giant monitor lizard, giant viper, hippogriff, leopard, pteranodon, slurk, war horse
Level 3: ankhrav, dire wolf, giant mantis, giant scorpion, giant wasp, gorilla, grizzly bear, hell hound, hyaenodon, lion, pachycephalosaurus, snapping flytrap
Level 4: daeodon, giant stag beetle, griffon, rhinoceros, tiger
Level 5: giant frilled lizard, giant moray eel
Level 6: cave bear, giant tarantula, smilodon, woolly rhinoceros
Level 8: krooth
Level 9: greater hell hound
Level 10: gezullon

Riding Animal Companions

An NPC can ride a creature that works alongside them as long as the creature is at least one size larger than the rider. Generally, a creature that is carrying a rider can use only its land Speed and can't grant its support benefit. However, certain creatures that have been trained to be ridden, such as horses and riding drakes, ignores those restrictions.

Encounter Abilities

Source NPC Core pg. 217
Player characters can receive the support of their animal companions in combat using the Support action. To give an NPC that close bond with their animal companion, you can grant them the Receive Support action. Receive Support [one-action] Requirements The NPC has a companion creature; Effect The NPC's animal ally supports them. The NPC gains the support benefit appropriate to that animal (or a similar animal).

Common Support Abilities

Source NPC Core pg. 217
Ape The ape threatens the NPC's foes with menacing growls. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, if the NPC hits and deals damage to a creature in the ape's reach, the creature becomes frightened 1.

Badger The badger digs around a foe's position, upending the ground and interfering with its footing. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, if the NPC hits and deals damage to a creature the badger threatens, the target can't use a Step action (unless it can Step through difficult terrain) until it moves from its current position.

Bat The bat flaps around a foe's arms and faces, screeching and getting in the way of their attacks. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, creatures in the bat's reach that the NPC damages with Strikes take a –1 circumstance penalty to their attack rolls.

Bear The bear mauls the NPC's enemies when the NPC creates an opening. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, each time they hit a creature in the bear's reach with a Strike, the creature takes 1d8 slashing damage from the bear (or 2d8 if the bear is 8th level or higher).

Bird The bird pecks at foes' eyes when the NPC creates an opening. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, the NPC's Strikes that damage a creature that the bird threatens also deal 1d4 persistent bleed damage (or 2d4 if the bird is 8th level or higher), and the target is dazzled until the bleed damage ends.

Boar The boar gores the NPC's foes. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, the NPC's Strikes that damage a creature in the boar's reach deal an extra 1d6 persistent bleed damage (or 2d6 if the boar is 8th level or higher).

Cat The cat throws enemies off-balance when the NPC creates an opening. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, the NPC's Strikes that deal damage to a creature within the cat's reach make the target off-guard until the end of the NPC's next turn.

Crocodile The crocodile clamps its jaws on a foe, refusing to let go. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, if the NPC's Strike damages a creature in the crocodile's reach, the crocodile can latch onto the creature. While thus attached, the crocodile can move along with the target whenever the target moves until the end of the NPC's next turn. The crocodile can latch onto only one creature in this way, and it must release the creature to make a jaws Strike. If the target is smaller than the crocodile, it takes a –10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds and can't Fly while the crocodile is latched on.

Dromaesaur The raptor constantly darts into flanking position. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, it counts as being in its space or an empty space of the NPC's choice within 10 feet of the NPC when determining whether the NPC and the dromaesaur are flanking; the NPC can choose a different space for each of their attacks.

Horse Until the start of the NPC's next turn, if the NPC is mounted on the horse and moved 10 feet or more on the action before a melee Strike, the NPC gains a circumstance bonus to the damage roll equal to double the number of weapon damage dice. If the NPC's weapon already has the jousting weapon trait, instead increase the trait's damage bonus by 2 per die.

Scorpion The scorpion drips poison from its stinger when the NPC creates an opening. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, the NPC's Strikes that damage a creature in the scorpion's reach deal an extra 1d6 persistent poison damage (or 2d6 if the scorpion is 8th level or higher).

Shark When the shark senses blood, it tears into the NPC's enemies. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, each time the NPC hits a creature in the shark's reach with a Strike and deals slashing or piercing damage, the creature takes 1d8 slashing damage from the shark (or 2d8 if the shark is 8th level or higher).

Snake The snake holds enemies with its coils, interfering with reactions. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, any creature the snake threatens can't use reactions triggered by the NPC's actions unless the creature's level is higher than the NPC's.

Wolf The wolf tears tendons with each opening. Until the start of the NPC's next turn, the NPC's Strikes that damage creatures the wolf threatens give the target a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds for 1 minute (–10 on a critical success).

Eidolons

Source NPC Core pg. 217
Similar to animal companions, eidolons for summoner NPCs should be treated as separate creatures. An eidolon has the standard number of actions, uses a normal stat block, and counts toward the encounter's XP budget normally. Usually, an eidolon must remain within 100 feet of its summoner, or its physical form will dissolve. A summoner can make their eidolon take form or disappear with the Manifest Eidolon action, which gains a tradition trait related to the type of eidolon it manifests (examples include arcane for construct eidolons; divine for angel, devil, and demon eidolons; occult for phantom eidolons; and primal for beast and elemental eidolons).

For most eidolons, you can use standard stat blocks of appropriate types and levels. Even though they have the standard abilities, you can alter the descriptions of such creatures to make them seem more like eidolons. You might even replace one or more of their resistances or weaknesses to energy damage with different types of energy to make them more unique.