What Does Animal Handling Do In D&d

Welcome to part 2 of my weekly series on using the skills of fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons. Final calendar week we covered Acrobatics, and this week we'll exist going over Animal Treatment

Every bit mentioned before, the point of this serial is to clearly ascertain what each skill is equally well equally provide examples and options for using it in your game. Some skills, such as Beast Treatment, seem (to me) to not be used as much every bit they should. Hopefully this series of posts will inspire you to effort something new in your games, or provide your PCs with the opportunity to do so themselves.

Using Skills – Animal Handling

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A woodsman coaxes a comport cub, badly burned past a bushfire, out from under a dead log. A hunter watches warily as a dire wolf stalks nearer, trying to figure out if the thing is curious – or hungry. A charging knight guides his stallion to jump over a thorny wall of brambles with only the slightest touch. Beast Handling is the domain of those with a connection to the beasts of the earth, and the desire to control them in some way.

The Actor'due south Handbook describes Fauna Handling as: "When there is any question whether you lot can at-home downwards a domesticated animal, continue a mount from getting spooked, or intuit an animate being's intentions, the DM might phone call for a Wisdom (Creature Handling) check. You besides make a Wisdom (Animal Treatment) cheque to control your mount when you attempt a risky maneuver." (PHB 178)

Normal Usage

Beast Handling has two important functions in usual play: information technology's the get to skill for mounted challenges, and it serves as a sort of animal empathy. When you're trying to keep a horse not trained for battle at-home in the middle of a melee, a DM should telephone call for a Wisdom (Animal Handling) bank check. This is also truthful for when yous are trying to determine if the creature sniffing you is curious or assessing a threat, equally well as if you attempting to teach a hound a trick.

Creature Treatment is especially useful for mounted combatants in order to pull off impressive stunts without your mount becoming spooked. Information technology could likewise be useful for attempting to circumvent a gainsay run into with animals past figuring out a way to calm hostilities – either with food, body language, or a calming voice.

Note the above PHB citation'due south linguistic communication in regards to domesticated animals versus other animals. This seems to indicate that you wouldn't be able to calm a wild animal every bit y'all would a domesticated brute though no other skill would seem to cover this. (As a personal bated, I would allow it and merely set the DC accordingly.)

A good number of adventures will call for Creature Handling checks for certain encounters or challenges, such as the wolves guarding the Goblin Cavern in the starter set gamble Lost Mines of Phandalin.

What it is Non

Nature – Animal Treatment is non a lore skill. While it might signal sure basic cognition of creature behavior, it's not meant to exist a skill cheque you apply to recall animal or beast lore or other such data.

Optional Uses

The following are optional uses or edge cases for using Beast Handling, and are entirely dependent on the Dungeon Chief.

In the same way one might railroad train a proficiency with a tool or a linguistic communication, with the DM'southward permission you lot might exist able to spend the requisite amount of downtime days training an brute if you are proficient in the Animal Handling skill. A militarist, hound, or other fauna trained in such a way would become a low-level Follower as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG pg.92-94), though would not gain experience. It would exist all-time to allow this merely for depression-level creatures that are hands trainable. A mastiff, rather than a displacer beast.
An animal trained for battle, such as a Warhorse, shouldn't require soothing in the midst of a bullheaded melee. And nether abnormal circumstances, the DM should consider giving the Beast Handler advantage with such a creature trained for battle.

Dungeon Primary Examples

The post-obit couple of examples are meant to inspire the Dungeon Master to design with Animal Treatment in mind. Remember that a medieval fantasy world is dependant on animals to even piece of work. Horses were a revolutionary force from ancient times that were the fastest style to travel until the industrial revolution. Animate being agriculture is a huge role of the earth economy fifty-fifty now – even more than so in a medieval setting. Humankind's obsession with taming and somewhen domesticating animals paved the style for settled social club. In that location is no reason why Brute Treatment shouldn't play at least a modest function in your sessions.

The Quintessential Guard Dog – Nearly every popular fantasy tale dealing with thieves involves the slavering baby-sit domestic dog just over the wall. An brute as a guard is a cheap alternative to a humanoid henchman, and easier to replace. Consider having a lot more than animals used in such a chapters, as information technology was truly mutual (and still is to this 24-hour interval) in the medieval era. In club to bypass this obstacle, the PC volition demand to calmly soothe the beasts into forgetting their grooming. The DC would depend on the training and intelligence of the creature, simply it should never be easy. A DC fifteen is a proficient starting point for regular guard hounds. Providing a distraction, such equally fresh meat, might give them reward on the roll. Of course, if they neglect, the creature will heighten a loud ruckus and attempt to attack.
The Cowboys – Another fashion to await at Animal Handling from a broad view rather than a single situational view is to challenge the PCs to apply it to consummate a task that takes days. Herding animals across terrain would make for an interesting utilize of overland travel; each twenty-four hour period have the one in charge of the herding roll for Animal Handling and if they fail half the amount of distance they can cover that solar day. They might be herding the animals as a side job to make money, or maybe a village sent them to herd them as an offering to a brutal orc tribe nearby to stave off any raids. For animals such as cows or sheep the roll should be easy, DC x. For more temperamental animals such as bulls, or fifty-fifty Aurochs it should be increased to 15 or even 20. Of course, traveling across the land always has the chance to get awry with hostile encounters. If a battle might occur, the PCs will need to make sure to keep the animals calm when defending them.

Cheers for reading! What did yous think? Feedback will be incorporated into the serial equally I go!
Next week we'll be taking a break from this series equally it is the first tuesday of the calendar month. As such y'all will instead be getting a crunchier monthly postal service. Expect adjacent tuesday to find a new Paladin Oath: The Adjuration of the Quest! The week subsequently we'll exist grappling the only Forcefulness based skill, Athletics.