I play a druid, and until now have been summoning my pet anywhere, assuming it was a magical summons. Now, however, I heard a murmur that I might be inncorrect in this, and the pet is just sitting around outside the town waiting for you. Can it be summoned indoors? Can it be dispelled mid combat?

Dispelling mid combat isn't possible as its just a way to dodge xp penalty. However if you wanna consider summoning em some kinda magic call thats perfectly fine. Thats my 2 cents anyway

Naga Dispelling mid combat isn't possible as its just a way to dodge xp penalty. However if you wanna consider summoning em some kinda magic call thats perfectly fine. Thats my 2 cents anyway

But apparently they're not summons...so unsummoning is...well..not.

Also if it carries an XP loss due to death, I consider throwing the "lose no xp for free" card down as an exploit.

... and then again, the engine doesn't allow telling the pet to flee (which would be perfectly reasonable even if they're not summons), so basically it's "Eat the XP penalty or be labelled as an exploiter".

Coldburn I don't see the difference IC between unsummoning Summon Creature II and Rory the Roaring Rothe companion.

That's it! Now I know what to call him.

Exactly. Your companion is there to protect you, but you can't tell it to run away or protect itself--and it fights absolutely mindlessly in combat. Unsummoning it so it can "run away" seems completely fair.

Anyone who tries to say that's not acceptable and isn't a DM has a stick up their ass. I'd probably say the same if a DM didn't agree. It just makes no sense. If you couldn't use the companion in combat, it would be nerfed like familiars so its only good for roleplaying and they'd make a big post explaining how you can't unsummon them too.

Actually oro there is a run away function. Its called "follow me" option. But that only assumes your standing right behind the lines with abow.

I don't mind em using it and unsummoning it if their fighting up front and there really is NO run away option but if they're using it as a recplacement fighter they should eat he xp accordingly.

Yes they are companions and yes they should be cherished and not sent into combat if you don't think they can handle it. Myabe I just have stick up my ass but there IS a a run away.

That "run away" function works only if you were to run away yourself, as well. You can't tell the pet to run away and keep fighting. Plus if you have to stop for some reason after running away, the pet will just take hits from the pursuing enemy without doing anything unless you explicitly tell it to attack again.

So no, there is not a run away function: the above is not enough.

So where's the "chase summons" option for unsummond pets?

I'm with Oro.

More importantly, it's a Animal Companion, are people really irked enough to argue how much they think it's lame to not lose 400+ XP over the death of a summon/familiar with a crappy order system?

It really doesn't seem like a big deal to me, there are very few Rangers/Druids as it is, the system to tell your pet what to do is pretty shitty in the first place.

It takes some getting used to but it can be used easily enough. I agree the xp penalty is harsh but there's no point in implementing its not intended to ever effect any character other than the odd critical insta death kill.

Well, there is no xp penalty in PnP.

It exists on many servers to force players to avoid using the companion as a tank, and to actually consider paying attention to it. Its not there so you have to suffer a 400 xp drop every time you summon it in combat. That's asinine.

As a player of a ranger I view my animal companion as just that, an actual animal companion that as in PnP I spent some time calling, finding and bonding with. For me it is something that sticks with you and that likely stays out in the wilds while you are inside a city, inn, etc. To me it is unlikey that my level whatever animal would have the power to break down gates and bowl over watchguards right and left to get to me in town should I face an attack within the walls. To that end, I "summon" and I use the term to really mean signal to, or call out to, my animal companion only in the wilds where it would likely be found.

As to the "run away" deal with the xp loss, if I summon it I tend to have it stay in the fight for the duration no matter what happens. To date I have been lucky, but it has and usually does get to near death when I do summon it. I play it as more of an animal companion rather than a pet though, which said animal may have a pack mentality and reguard you as it's pack or brood mate, with said animal defending it's "pack mate" through thick and thin. That said, this is only my way of playing it after studying a bit of how a pack functions when attacked in real life.

No issue with unsummoning whenever or wherever. The AI is just terrible.

Until further notice, you should summon your companion only in an area where it would make sense for it be able to reach you.

This is subject to change, though.

I very rarely use my animal companion anyways, which if you ask Tobias is just an experimental prototype and in reality he wouldnt give to shits if it died. But I almost always, make sure that when I do summon it, I do not unsummon it until battle is over.

But we have a dm ruling so there you go.

Doesn't Drizz't routinely "unsummon" Guenhwyvar mid-combat if she gets too badly hurt in all those silly books?

Guenhwyvar is not his animal companion in the same sense as a normal animal companion. It's a creature from the astral plane that he summons/unsummons, through a magical figurine.

(Ugh, why do I know this?)