Animal Training^

A tamed creature is all well and good, but you want something that can fight by your side, something to ride into glorious battle on! For that you’ll need to train your creature. This step is significantly easier than taming your creature, however it takes a significantly longer time. Alternatively you may pay a skilled hireling to train your creatures for you, a skilled hireling has a +5 on its rolls, OR you may pay double for a “beaster master” hireling, which is considered to have a +10, and will halve the training time required.

There are 4 basic commands that you must teach your creature before you are able to teach it other commands:

  • Move
  • Stay
  • Come
  • Calm

Once your creature has learned the basics it becomes more docile. It will no longer follow it’s baser instincts will not attack another creature unless provoked (it will still be hostile towards creatures it perceives as a threat or prey, and it may attack if you do not calm it). You may now teach it more complex commands. These commands are:

  • Dash
  • Help
  • Disengage
  • Ready
  • Action

Note: The action command refers to any actions the creature is able to perform. Each action is treated as a separate command and must be taught separately. Multiattack is treated as an action and is automatically known once all other actions have been taught.

Once all complex commands have been taught then the creature is considered fully trained.

Other special commands do not count when determining if a creature is fully trained and can only be taught to certain creatures (at the discretion of the DM), these can also only be taught after the creature knows the 4 basic commands. Some example special commands include:

  • Search
  • Track
  • Forage

There is one other command. Advanced attack is a unique command that you can only if you are a Beastmaster. Advanced attack can only be taught to a creature that has learned all other basic and complex commands and has known all it’s action commands for at least 2 months.

Teaching each command takes time and effort. Basic commands only require time, complex commands however, also require you to pass a skill challenge in order to successfully teach them to your creature. If you fail a training skill challenge you are unable to teach your creature any commands for 1 week (you can reattempt any failed commands after the week). You can only teach one command at a time (however if the training time is less than a week you may do 2 of them in that week).

Some things influence the training times for each command: Creature size, creature alignment and player class.

Note: The DM should alter the time between individual checks as necessary to compensate for altered learning times

Creature Size

  • Tiny Creatures halve the time required to teach each command and double the number of fails needed to fail a skill challenge (applied after other modifiers)
  • Large and Huge creatures increase the number of successes needed to pass a skill challenge by 1
  • Large creatures double the time required to teach a command
  • Huge creatures triple the time required to teach a command
  • Gargantuan creatures quadruple the time required to teach a command and double the number of successes needed to pass a skill challenge (applied after other modifiers)

Creature Alignment

  • Chaotic Creatures increases the time to teach a command by 1 month (applied before other modifiers)
  • Lawful Creatures halve the time required to teach a command

Player Class

  • Druids and Rangers reduce the number of successes required by 1
  • Beastmasters halve the time required to teach a command

Roleplay bonuses

Player’s who roleplay a training session well might earn bonuses at the discretion of the DM. Some possible bonuses could include:

  • Taking a single check in the skill challenge with advantage
  • Lowering the DC of a single check in the skill challenge

Crits and Fumbles

  • A natural 20 counts as 2 successes
  • A natural 1 counts as 2 failures

Command List

Basic Commands

Basic commands are considered free actions during combat.

Command: Move

Time required: 2 weeks (6 weeks if creature flies)
Skill Challenge: None
Description: You teach your creature to move to precise locations you command. You can verbally command the creature where to move.

Command: Stay

Time required: 1/2 week
Skill Challenge: None
Description: You teach your creature to remain stationary and not follow you. You can verbally command the creature to stop moving, it will remain stationary until otherwise instructed.

Command: Come

Time required: 1/2 week
Skill Challenge: None
Description: You teach your creature to come to you when called. You can verbally command the creature to return to your side and follow you around.

Command: Calm

Time required: 2 weeks
Skill Challenge: None
Description: You teach your creature to calm down on command. You can verbally command the creature to calm down, it will immediately cease any hostile activity it was performing.

Complex Commands

To learn a complex command your creature must first have learned all basic commands.
Each complex command requires a bonus action to give during combat.

Command: Action

Time required: 2 weeks
Skill Challenge: 3 successes before 2 fails (two checks per week)
Description: You teach your creature to perform an action on command. You can use your bonus action to verbally command the creature to perform one of it’s actions.

Command: Dash

Time required: 1/2 week
Skill Challenge: 3 successes before 3 fails (1 check per day)
Description: You teach your creature to dash on command. You can use your bonus action to verbally command the creature to take the Dash action.

Command: Help

Time required: 2 weeks
Skill Challenge: 3 successes before 2 fails (two checks per week)
Description: You teach your creature to help another creature on command. You can use your bonus action to verbally command the creature to take the help action.

Command: Disengage

Time required: 1/2 week
Skill Challenge: 3 successes before 3 fails (one check per day)
Description: You teach your creature to Disengage on command. You can use your bonus action to verbally command the creature to take the Disengage action.

Command: Ready

Time required: 1 month
Skill Challenge: 6 successes before 3 fails (two checks per week)
Description: You teach your creature to ready and action on command. You can use your bonus action to verbally command the creature to take the Ready action.

Special Commands

Special commands may be learned once all advanced commands have been taught. These commands are considered free actions in combat.

Command: Search

Time required: 2 months
Skill Challenge: 6 successes before 3 fails (one check per week)
Description: You teach your creature to search for an object on command. You verbally command the creature to take the search action.

Command: Track

Time required: 2 months
Skill Challenge: 6 successes before 3 fails (one check per week)
Description: You teach your creature to track. You can verbally command the creature to track something (DMG pg. 244). If the creature has the keen senses ability then it has advantage on all tracking checks.

Command: Forage

Time required: 2 months
Skill Challenge: 6 successes before 3 fails (one check per week)
Description: You teach your creature to forage for food. You can verbally command the creature to forage for food in the surrounding area (DMG pg. 111). If the creature has the keen senses ability then it has advantage on all foraging checks.

Advanced Commands

Advanced commands can only be taught by a beast master.

Command: Advanced Attack
Time required: 3 months
Skill Challenge: 7 successes before 2 fails (two checks every 3 weeks)
Description: You teach your creature to attack a target. You can use your bonus action to verbally command your creature to attack another creature, your creature will continue to attack to target without requiring you to use any actions until it is issued another command or until the target is dead.

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