Upon taking the Nature's Companion Talent, you form a close bond with an animal, plant, or vermin companion. Unlike normal animals of its kind, an Animal Companion may have its abilities increased by spending Experience - see Companion Crackers.
When you first gain an Animal Companion, it possesses the following:
The combined total Experience of all of your companions may never exceed more than half of their master's total Experience.
By default, you may choose an Animal, Plant, or Vermin as a companion. If you select the Beast Speaker Talent, you may instead select a magical beast.
Below is a collection of unique Talents available for Companions. You may also purchase Universal Talents or Talents via Paths for an Animal Companion, if they meet the prerequisites. An Animal Companion may never gain Caster Levels.
You may teach your Companion one bonus Trick for every 5 HD or BaB you purchase for it (maximum of 8 bonus tricks at HD 20 and BaB 20). These bonus tricks don’t require any training time or Handle Animal checks, and they don’t count against the normal limit of tricks known by the animal. You select these bonus tricks, and once selected, they can’t be changed outside of Retraining. For more information on Tricks, see the Handle Animal page.
In combat, you and your Animal Companion share actions, meaning that you may spend a Half Action on yourself, a Half Action with the Animal Companion, or any other mixing thereof.
Companions may freely wear magical items, but they lack many of the slots that normal humanoids do. See the below table as a general guide, and consult with your GM if a particular item or slot is not clearly defined.
| Body Type | Available Slots | Grasp/Carry |
|---|---|---|
| Avian | Armor, belt, chest (saddle), eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, wrist | Yes |
| Biped (claws/paws) | Armor, belt, chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, shoulders, wrist | Yes |
| Biped (hands) | All item slots | Yes |
| Piscine | Belt, chest (saddle), eyes | No |
| Quadruped (claws) | Armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders, wrist | No |
| Quadruped (hooves) | Armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, feet (horseshoes), head, headband, neck, shoulders | No |
| Quadruped (other) | Armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders, wrist | No |
| Quadruped (short legs) | Armor, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders | No |
| Serpentine | Belt, eyes, headband | No |
| Unusual (plant and vermin) | Belt, eyes | No |