Rules Index | GM Screen

Companions and Familiars

Source Ultimate Wilderness pg. 176
Many classes involve more than just a single hero or villain. What is the druid without her trusty animal companion, the cavalier without his steadfast mount, or the witch without her devoted familiar? These classes split their powers between the hero’s personal abilities and those of a companion of some sort—be it a relatively minor creature like a familiar associated with the class’s magical traditions, or a significant battlefield presence such as an animal companion or a mount. This chapter explores all these variants and provides dozens of new options for players who are making decisions about the next staunch sidekick their character will adopt!

In addition to the new animal companion and familiar options presented in the following pages, all six of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary volumes offer additional choices for your character. In addition, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic provides options for vermin companions and other familiar options. As with all expansions to the rules, make sure to secure your GM’s approval before selecting your character’s animal companion or familiar—not all of the options presented on the following pages (or those in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary volumes) are appropriate for every campaign or every game world.

Magic Item Slots

Source Ultimate Wilderness pg. 176
The sheer diversity among species of animal companions and familiars makes it difficult to determine what kinds of magic items are suitable for a creature to use or wear. Wearable wondrous items typically resize themselves to fit a creature trying to wear them, but the situation becomes a little more complicated if the creature simply lacks the requisite appendage or body part. For example, a snake can’t wear magic boots, and a giant raven can’t wear magic gloves.

The following lists summarize these rules for several creature body types as well as specify which magic item slots are available to them. Available slots followed by either “(saddle)” or “(horseshoes)” denote that creatures of that body type can wear magic items in the appropriate slots only as long as they are either saddles or horseshoes, respectively (for instance, a hoofed quadruped can wear horseshoes of a zephyr, but not boots of speed).

Creatures with certain body types are able to grasp and carry one object at a time in their paws, claws, or hands, including rods, staves, wands, and weapons, though animal companions are almost never able to use such items effectively (subject to the GM’s discretion) and take penalties for nonproficiency as usual. Creatures with this capacity have the indication “can grasp objects” at the end of their available slots entry.

Specific animals may be able to wear different types of items as specified in their original monster entry.

If you are using animal companions or familiars from another source, you can use the information below as a guideline for those creatures. Additionally, GMs can use this table as a guide to determine what kinds of magical gear non-humanoid monsters can use and wear. Note that the rules in this section are merely suggestions, and ultimately it is up to the GM to decide what kinds of animals can use particular types of magic items.

Avian

Available Slots armor, belt, chest (saddle), eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, wrist; can grasp objects
Animal Companions archaeopyeryx, axe beak, bustard, dimorphodon, dire bat, eagle, giant owl, giant raven, giant vulture, hawk, moa, pteranodon, ornithomimosaur, owl, quetzalcoatlus, roc, trumpeter swan
Familiars archaeopteryx, arctic tern, bat, chicken, dodo, hawk, kakapo, osprey, owl, parrot, peafowl, penguin, ptarmigan, puffin, rhamphorhynchus, raven, snail kite, thrush, toucan

Biped (Claws)

Available Slots armor, belt, chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, ring, shoulders, wrist; can grasp objects
Animal Companions allosaurus, ceratosaurus, chalicotherium, deinonychus, giganotosaurus, iguanodon, kangaroo, pachycephalosaurus, parasaurolophus, spinosaurus, therizinosaurus, troodon, tyrannosaurus, velociraptor
Familiars compsognathus, wallaby

Biped (Hands)

Available Slots all; can grasp objects
Animal Companions ape, baboon, chimpanzee, devil monkey, megaprimatus
Familiars monkey, tarsier

Piscine

Available Slots belt, chest (saddle), eyes
Animal Companions anglerfish, armorfish, blue whale, dolphin, dunkleosteus, gar, giant seahorse, hammerhead shark, manta ray, narwhal, orca, plesiosaurus, shark, stingray, tylosaurus, walrus
Familiars lamprey, popoto dolphin, pufferfish, seal

Quadruped (Claws)

Available Slots armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, head, headband, neck, shoulders, wrist
Animal Companions badger, bear, capybara, cheetah, digmaul, dire polar bear, dire rat, dog, giant mole, giant porcupine, giant skunk, giant weasel, goblin dog, grizzly bear, hyena, leopard, lion, marsupial devil, marsupial lion, panda, polar bear, saber-toothed cat, thylacine, tiger, wolf, wolfdog, wolverine
Familiars arctic fox, arctic hare, armadillo, cat, donkey rat, ermine, flying fox, flying squirrel, fox, hedgehog, jerboa, koala, lemming, margay, meerkat, mole, mongoose, otter, platypus, rabbit, raccoon, rat, red panda, sloth, squirrel, weasel

Quadruped (Hooves)

Available Slots armor, belt (saddle), chest, eyes, feet (horseshoes), head, headband, neck, shoulders
Animal Companions antelope, aurochs, bison, boar, brontotherium, buffalo, cattle, elk, giraffe, horse, llama, megaloceros, moose, pony, ram, reindeer, stag, styracosaurus, yak, zebra
Familiars goat, pig

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

Companions and Familiars

Magic Item Slots

Avian

Biped (Claws)

Biped (Hands)

Piscine

Quadruped (Claws)

Quadruped (Hooves)

Quadruped (Short Legs)

Quadruped (Other)

Serpentine

Unusual (Plant and Vermin)