Animal Empathy
Animal Empathy dominates an animal, beast or magical beast. A dominated creature is commanded the way a henchman is.
| Ability | Charisma |
| Requires training | Yes - one rank at least, or the attempt is refused |
| Armour check penalty | None |
| Available to | Druid, Ranger, Shifter |
| Counts as an attack | Yes |
Only those three classes can raise it, at one point per rank. No other class can put points into it at any price.
The check
Your d20 + your Animal Empathy rank against the creature's difficulty, which is:
| Creature | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| Animal | its challenge rating + 15 |
| Beast or magical beast | its challenge rating + 19 |
You must beat that number; matching it is a failure. The difficulty never rises above 100.
Out of combat you take 20 - the roll is not made, 20 is used. You count as in combat if you are fighting anything, or if the creature is already attacking you. So the first attempt on a peaceful creature is decided entirely by your rank.
What happens
| Success | the creature is dominated |
| Failure by 5 or more | the creature turns hostile |
| Failure by less | nothing |
How long it lasts: one turn for every combined Druid, Ranger and Shifter level, plus two turns for every five ranks you have bought in the skill. Only those three class levels count, not your character level, and the class half is never less than one turn - so a character with none of the three still holds the creature for a turn, plus whatever the ranks add. Ranks bought count here; a bonus from gear does not.
What cannot be targeted
- anything that is not an animal, a beast or a magical beast
- other players
- bosses and quest givers
- creatures immune to mind-affecting magic
- creatures already dominated
- creatures that cannot move
- party members, and anything protected from harm
The creature must be able to see you, so this cannot be done from hiding or while invisible. Your character walks to the target before the attempt begins.
Required for
Nothing requires ranks in Animal Empathy.