Creature Care

A character can perform creature care by spending free time between adventures taking care of, raising, and training creatures. To successfully rear creatures, the character must spend time with them and keep them housed in a properly attended stable.
Creature care requires access to a stabling facility equipped to care for the creatures. The weekly cost of stabling creatures depends on the size and number of creatures. Consult the Creature Care Expenses table to determine the weekly cost of feeding and stabling the creatures in a character’s care. Gaining any creature care benefits (other than meeting basic survival needs) requires a character to spend one workweek training, handling, or otherwise personally caring for the creatures. At the GM’s discretion, a character can stable creature types other than beasts or monstrosities. For example, a GM might allow a character to stable a pegasus (a celestial) or a clutch of pseudodragons. Keep in mind, stabling unique or intelligent creatures might come with additional complications or needs, such as a special diet for the pegasus or a small library for the pseudodragons.

Creature Care Expenses

Weekly Cost (Per Creature)

Creature Type and Size

5 sp

Tiny or Small Beast

1 gp

Medium or Large Beast

5 gp

Huge Beast

15 gp

Large or smaller Monstrosity

30 gp

Huge or larger Monstrosity

Husbandry Points

After a workweek of hands-on creature care, a character makes a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check using the Creature Care table to determine the number of husbandry points acquired that week. If a character has husbandry points before making this check, add the husbandry point total to the check.

Creature Care

Check Total

Result

1-5

You unintentionally frightened your creatures or otherwise earned their ire. You lose 1 husbandry point. If you have no husbandry points when you roll this result, you have disadvantage on the next Wisdom (Animal Handling) check you make to determine husbandry points.

6-10

You tried your best, but your relationship with your creatures hasn’t deepened. You gain no husbandry points.

11-15

You had a small breakthrough and managed to connect a little more with your creatures. You gain 1 husbandry point.

16-20

The bond with your creatures has deepened significantly. You gain 2 husbandry points.

21+

Your relationship with your creatures has grown into true friendship. You gain 3 husbandry points.

Husbandry points represent the strength of a character’s bond with the creatures under the character’s care. A character can spend one or more husbandry points to use the following features.

Advantage (Costs 1 Husbandry Point).
The character has advantage on a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check made to influence a non-humanoid creature with an Intelligence of 10 or less.

Training (Costs 2 or more Husbandry Points).
The character can attempt to train a creature. The creature must be mature, and the character must have the creature stabled in an adequate facility. To train a creature, the character must make a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check, adding the amount of spent husbandry points to the check. The DC is equal to the creature’s highest ability score. At the GM’s discretion, the creature’s type or intelligence might increase or decrease this DC by up to 3. For example, an ape might easily pick up on training cues, while an owlbear might stubbornly resist training. On a success, the creature is trained to do one of the following:

• As long as you have the appropriate equipment and the creature is of the appropriate size, you can ride the creature as a mount. A creature can receive this training only once.
• The creature gains proficiency in one of the following skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth.
• The creature’s hit point maximum increases by 10. A creature can receive this training only once.
• The creature’s base movement speed increases by 5 feet. A creature can receive this training only once.

Sell (Costs 3 Husbandry Points).
The character can sell a creature that has been in the character’s care for at least 30 days. Due to the character’s expertise and connections, the creature sells for half again its standard cost. For example, a riding horse raised by the character sells for 112 gp instead of 75 gp. If the character has trained the creature, it sells for twice its standard cost. The GM determines the costs and sell values of creatures without standard costs.

Breed (Costs 5 Husbandry Points).
The character can breed a mature creature that has been in the character’s care for at least 30 days. The selected parent creature must have reasonable conditions to breed, such as access to a mate, materials to nest, or similar, and it can’t have already produced offspring within the last year. If the mate is also in the character’s care, the husbandry point cost for the breeding is only 5, but the mate must still meet all the same requirements, such as not having produced offspring within the last year. Unless determined otherwise by the GM, an infant creature reaches maturity one year after its birth, hatching, or other first moment of life. Until the creature reaches maturity, its weekly creature care expenses are half the price of a mature creature of its size and type.

Complications

Characters who spend their time pursuing creature care take on several risks associated with caring for other creatures, including dealing with potential injuries, treating illness, and accruing unexpected costs. A character has a 10 percent chance of triggering a complication for each workweek spent providing creature care. When a complication is triggered, the GM can create a complication or roll a d8 and consult the Creature Care Complications table.

Creature Care Complications

d8

Complication

1

A creature has fallen ill. Lose 100 gp this week to cover medical expenses but gain 1 extra husbandry point this week.

2

Facility maintenance and other routine chores prevent you from spending enough quality time with your creatures. You can’t gain husbandry points this week.

3

One of your creatures damaged the stabling facility. You must pay double your standard creature care expenses this week.

4

An animal trainer is jealous of your success. You now have someone looking for ways to sabotage your efforts.

5

A particularly disastrous training session has put all your creatures on edge. Lose 1 husbandry point.

6

The locals are impressed with your efforts. You receive repeated requests to purchase your creatures.

7

Bad weather or poor environmental conditions have stressed out your creatures. You have disadvantage on the check to determine your husbandry points this week.

8

Lovely weather and ideal environment conditions have relaxed your creatures. You have advantage on the check to determine your husbandry points this week.