Pets!

[Zahrah]

The title of this thread pretty much says it all. I think pets (that could follow you around while you're out on your various adventures) would be an awesome addition to CLOK. I'm suggesting them mainly for RP purposes, though I could see other uses for them that I'll get to later in my suggestion!

I think they should work mainly like riding horses (except you couldn't ride them, of course) in the sense that you could lead them around (or even carry them at times, if they were small enough to be carried) and they'd follow you and la-dee-da, though if they were spooked by being engaged in combat, they would run off. And then you can self-RP with them while you're out foraging for six hours all by yourself! Woo!

I could see each city having their own pet shop with specific things (maybe type of pet or even breed of dog or cat or whatever) that you could purchase there. Maybe even Corvus could have some unique things for the "baddies." For example, I could see Shadgard having some hardier dog breeds due to the harsh weather conditions that can be experienced there while I imagine Mistral Lake specializing more in lap dogs.

There could then be NPC merchants that came around sometime with more exotic pets (like a parrot or uh... something) and you could buy aesthetic accessories for said pet, customize their appearance, etc.

IT WOULD BE COOL, THOUGH, if there was also the option for war-trained pets (like with warhorses) that wouldn't run in combat and would instead deal a little damage, though I will say I'd be more interested in seeing just scaredy pure RP pets than "war-trained" pets, but I was thinking this could potentially be a (very expensive) alternative for certain RP styles. Like that squishy Artisan can buy themselves a guard dog to protect them while they're going along the road with a wagon full of ore. Granted, said guard dog wouldn't be anywhere NEAR as good as hiring a PC guard to protect them, but it would be better than nothing. Or the survivalist who has their trusty hunting dog or falcon or whatever to help them procure meat. (Though if war-trained pets were a thing, I'd say they should "count" as a "minion" so that you couldn't have, say, a familiar and a war-trained pet out at the same time fighting alongside you because that can get a bit ridiculous. And I say this as someone who, on another game, often went into hard fights with a familiar AND a pet tiger protecting my squishy butt and it was just stupid and OP. Though I would say just a docile pet shouldn't count as a "minion" or whatever because that'd be obnoxious to have to put them away before getting out a familiar because they're not really doing anything there but taking up space, if that makes sense).

And there could be "kennels" where you could take your pet to stay the night/be healed, though, of course, if you were lucky enough to have a house, your pet could just stay there. I would imagine inn keepers wouldn't want animals frolicking about in their rooms, though, so some sort of kennel would be necessary. Or maybe certain inns could have you pay a bit more each night to allow your pet to stay in your room.

Who knows! Possibilities!

EDIT: And even certain guilds could have special guild-specific pets that could be bought with riln or recognition points or whatever. Like, um... A HARBINGER COULD HAVE A PET TARANTULA or a Rook could get an actual rook. Or, uh... I don't know. I can't think of any specific ideas right now (not enough caffeine in bloodstream just yet), but yeah. Okay. That's it.

[Dallia]

And even certain guilds could have special guild-specific pets that could be bought with riln or recognition points or whatever.

I've always loved the idea of a "mage familiar", which while somewhat different than archetypal mages from other fantasy sources having something like that for an elemancer would be pretty cool. Though I suppose an otherwise inanimate floating ball of fire suffices for now... But I could certainly see certain other guilds having some type of affinity to a type of pet or familiar that works with them. I'd think being a certain guild rank and perhaps purchased with recognition points or something to that effect (like you mentioned) would be a good barrier to make sure that those that are really devoted to their character/guild could have them instead of having almost everyone running around with some type of pet. Would be pretty silly if that was the case IMO.

[vidor]

The dog owner in me looooooves this idea. Mostly because I want to get a little foofoo lapdog and name it Shar.
The CLOK lore fan of me doesn't see it really happening. The lost lands are DANGEROUS. I feel like pcs wandering around with dogs and cats... they'd basically get eaten the second they leave the city. (The pets, probably not the pcs). Seems like a luxury that wouldn't be normal in the type of rugged land that we choose to play in. Though I could see the idea of certain attack dogs/falcons/more utilitarian companions being appropriate. Though I'm not a GM and I don't get final say!
This brings me to the fact that there are actually two instances of pets in my experience with CLOK:
1 - They've been auctioned off to stay in peoples houses. (Super rare, and I don't think the owners even play anymore -- sad. I need to "save" that puppy).
2 - Blotlings. Super cool Octum thingers. Maybe we'll see them when when it becomes hoody weather again. (I miss hoody weather).
Great great idea from a newer player who has been a backbone of CLOK 2017. Thanks for being around and being you, Z.
And I'd love to see a pyromancer name their little ball of fire and talk to it. That'd make me happier than free coffee.

[Lun]

I've always been a huge fan of pet classes, which is what drove me to take on Rook as my first main character. Pet ownership has eluded me in real life, so having incredibly disposable digital pets filled in that gap for me. So as a lover of animals and Rook, I like the idea from OOC.

But Lorewise it's iffy and mechanics wise, it does a lot more than give you a small bonus. Also, considering the ease of death in the game, it would be hard to build any lasting connection.

[Zahrah]

Thanks for the great feedback, guys! I just wanted to mention really quick that I had heard about the house pets before making this post, so I know pets do exist somewhere in the game. But I was specifically suggesting "follow pets."

And I could DEFINITELY see it being silly to have someone running out into a dangerous area with a lapdog hot on their heels. And in that case, would totally be their fault if said pet got ripped to shreds by some rampaging infested or nethrim. Or canim! I think the most traumatic experience for Zahrah thus far has been having to let an animated suit of armor hack her beloved riding horse to pieces while she was forced to simply watch her bleed out from the shadows because Zahrah didn't want to suffer a similar fate. And it was a great bit of self RP (IF I DO SO SAY MYSELF) later having to nurse said horse back to health and now every time said horse gets close to that particular location, I RP it out as though she starts to get nervous and spooky and shy away from it.

To be honest, I would see docile pets as being more a thing for following you about one of the cities and surrounding (safe) areas. Though if someone truly wants to carry a cat into battle, far be it from me to stop them.

[Jirato]

Phew, that's a lot to read. Just skimmed for now, I'll read later when I'm home from dinner and on my computer.

A few notes:

Combat ready pets have to be limited to sorcerers, as it's kinda their thing. I don't want to cheapen what they have by making combat long-term available pets to everybody.

We already have pets for homeowners, but these are for people with player homes only, they never leave the house. They were also extremely limited release, I don't think we've offered them in the last 3 years.

There are some things you can buy at certain festivals that will follow you around fit a set time, but eventually die/vanish, that's the closest we have to pets following you around right now.

I'd like to make some changes to player homes as a whole, making them more available, and allow for more house pets, but I can't see letting folks take them out in the town, and definitely not the wilderness or a hunting area.

Anyway, I'll read all of this later when I'm not on a 5 inch screen.

[Zahrah]

No problem, J! I get wordy sometimes. I sorry.

And trust me, I'd be all for more player homes being available as opposed to pets that follow you about!