How to Pick Your Pet in #pathfinder2e !

Hi Pals!
I noticed there's a lot of videos out there for *how* to play, but not much to help people find what might interest them in the first place. In a game with so many options, that can be a bit overwhelming to navigate. But don't worry, I'm here to help!

Starting with which kind of pet would be best for you: Familiars, Companions, Eidolons, or Summoned Creatures?

00:00 - Thank you to the Pathfinder Community
00:15 - Introduction
00:54 - Familiars
02:56 - Companions
05:08 - Eidolons
06:53 - Summons

Archives of Nethys Links!

#pathfinder2e #dnd #dnd5e #pf2e

[DNichevo]

The AV "Fall of Plaguestone" has a poor leopard that was experimented on by a cruel alchemist to become a fire leopard. The PCs encounter it in its cage, dying of thirst because every time it tries to drink its water it evaporates. The party magus felt great pity for this cat and used Ray of Frost (this was pre-remaster) to cool the cat's water so it could actually drink. The AV has the cat flee when released, but suggests it return at adventure's end to the PC that helped it.

That cat has been the magus' animal companion for the whole campaign (so far), and I think we're in well over a year now. It tends to roll amazingly on Perception, and often smells things the party can't see. It's been in many combats and taken more than its fair share of damage. The party even used a very valuable healing item on it to save it from death, rather than keeping it for themselves.

Including that leopard was a clever little touch by whoever wrote that AV. Some players love their pets, and to have the chance to get a unique one early on with a story behind it is great. There must be thousands of versions of this leopard out there!

[squidrecluse]

Technically there are kinda 2 more pets. If you're trained in Nature you can use the general Command an Animal action to get a non companion animal to follow basic instructions. The animal has it's own initiative, there's no guarantee it'll follow your exact commands even on a success, and it might just run away at the first sign of danger, but if you want little woodland creatures to help you with random tasks then it's something.

You can also take the Pet general feat. Which gives you an animal that functions similarly to a familiar, but isn't a magical creature. Just a lil animal guy like a dog or cat.

The main 4 that you mention more closely fulfill the fantasy of having a companion aiding you on your adventure, but it's still nice that they give other options, even if they're not as min-maxy.

[elidiedits]

This is exactly the kind of Pathfinder content we need 🙏 thank you for the hard work 💕

[H.P.Loveshack]

I really enjoyed your first video, and this one is pushing you towards the top of my favorite PF2 channels. I love that you want to make it a 'cozy place' instead of using clickbait or jumping onto controversy to get views. It's very polished and articulate, but feels like you're just talking to us instead of dryly reading a pdf.

Also the suggestion at around 8:40 about picking three summons at each spell rank is great advice, especially for newer players that can be overwhelmed by the amount of options. Really looking forward to your next video!

[RebelThenKing]

I've only used a familiar or companion once, through the Alchemical Familiar Alchemist class feat, but it was fun. Those extra reagents (under the pre Player Core 2 rules) were super helpful.

[AoifeEster]

The one type of pet you missed here is the regular pet that you get from the Pet general feat. It functions like a familiar, but you can't pick any of the magical abilities for it, and you can't change its abilities each day. So it's still good if you have a particular use in mind for it, such as a scout or just a party mascot, but lacks the versatility of a familiar.

[TheRewyn]

Just want to say, your great (and some other g words!). Love adding you to my favorite content creators. PF2E lets go!

[mikaelobos]

A chill, concise channel to go review rules and go over different character aspects? Perfect!

[elifia]

I only just discovered you due to a post in the subreddit (by your friend?), but this is a pretty high-quality video! I also went and checked out your previous video, and I can see you already improved a lot since then. I'm looking forward to seeing more of you!

[saeedrazavi]

"Get back caspeh *stabbing motion*" sold me on this video lol

[TheHighjaker]

Perfect timing on this video, my partner is getting into PF2e but wasn't sure about picking a familiar as she didn't want to be overwhelmed with choices. This video breaks it down nicely!

[joshuaturnquist]

As far as companions go, always ask your DM if you can reflavor an existing companion. Like my Kobold Druid wanted a Slurk (cave toad) companion, but there's no stats for that. Ape is close with the climbing ability, and the scary screeching being his croaks.

[TheOnlyTherazan]

Great video! You're right there oughta to be more of it just to lay down the options simply to help players find that they want to play.
I've read last week the trivia that while D&D has 13 classes... Pathfinder has 13 Martial classes alone! I can only imagine some default to Barbarian or Figher less by choice, and more because it's overwhelming to figure out the concept of all those martials at once!

[karakune]

That video was was a huge step up in quality! Even though I had made some research in order to play a witch, I learned a ton. Thanks a lot!

I would suggest picking a good focus point for your camera then disabling auto-focus, it was a little bit distracting near the end

[DanTalksGames]

Speaking of chocobos, I'm a big fan of terror birds as mounts.

[VoicesOfChaos]

1 important thing to mention about summons is that you do need spend a Sustain action each turn to keep them around. Now I know most people won't get the chance to play at such a high level but there is a level 16 feat for basically every Spellcaster called Effortless Concentration which gives you a free spell sustain each turn. When my Wizard reached that level it made summoning Dragons all the more fun! Even all the up to 20th level!

[Rune_tide]

My favorite familiar is entirely for thematic reasons. I love the Calligraphy Wyrm SO much!

[DGenHero]

I had a little elemental Familiar as a Pyrokineticist. It danced arround, helping my little performances and the little guy growled at enemies with me when I tried to scare people! I love them!

[brianh]

"Crikey"? You're a dork. Love it!

[andrewmcclean]

I am currently playing a Gnome Summoner with the Beastmaster Archetype and a familiar. Something tells me this video is relevant to me.