Beastbond Domain

Beastbond Domain characters share their life with an animal companion—a hound, hawk, horse, wolf, cat, or something stranger. The bond is friendship first: the companion is a character at the table, not a weapon. A Beastbond character might be a farm kid with a loyal dog, a falconer, or a rider who would cross any distance on a trusted mount.

Tier 1 Base Card: Beastbond Initiate

Beastbond Aspect: Choose Control (steady hands and patient training) or Presence (the pack follows whoever leads). This Aspect powers your Beastbond Features and your companion’s rolls.

Core Feature: Companion

Gain an animal companion using the Companion Rules above. You understand its feelings and simple needs, and it understands simple words from you. Command: Attack (1 Action Load) — the companion attacks a creature within its reach using your Beastbond Aspect dice + 1d6.

Choose two Domain Feature Cards from Tier 1.

Requirements to Advance to Tier 2 (complete 3):

• Your companion saves you or an ally from harm
• Nurse your companion back from an injury
• Use your companion to scout, track, or find something important
• Calm or turn away a wild animal without hurting it
• Hunt, forage, or herd together to feed the party
• Any one Shared Milestone (see Domains)

Tier 1 Feature Cards

Call of the Green (Exploration – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

Your bond with beasts opens the old ways of the wild. You gain access to Nature Spells: you know 1 + your Beastbond Tier Nature spells of a Tier no higher than your Beastbond Tier, and you cast them with your Beastbond Aspect (see Spells). Beast Tongue and Beast Mantle are favorites.

Coordinated Attack (Combat – Active)

Action Load: 2

You and your companion strike the same creature together. Make one attack with your Beastbond Aspect dice, adding your weapon die and the companion’s 1d6. This counts as one action and one roll. If it hits, the target also has Disadvantage on its next attack against either of you.

Scout Ahead (Exploration – Active)

Action Load: — (out of combat; takes minutes)

Send your companion ahead up to a mile. Roll your Beastbond Aspect against the GM’s DC (usually 8–12). On a success it returns and, through body language, tells you how many creatures it found, how far, and whether they seemed dangerous. On a failure it returns spooked: the GM tells you only that something is out there.

Animal Friend (Roleplay – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

You roll with Advantage to calm, befriend, or read the mood of animals. A non-magical animal that is not already hostile won’t attack you unless provoked.

⚡ Guard Beast (Team Action – Reactive)

Action Load: 1

When an ally within 5 feet of your companion is targeted by an attack, the companion leaps in front: the attack targets the companion instead (use the companion’s Evasion and thresholds).

Mount (Exploration – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

If your companion is large enough to ride, you may ride it. While mounted, your speed becomes the companion’s (usually double yours), the party’s overland travel is one step faster when everyone is mounted, and Command: Attack costs 0 Action Load once per round if you also attacked this turn.

Hunter’s Nose (Exploration – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

Your companion can track by scent. You roll with Advantage to follow a trail up to a day old, and you can’t be surprised by creatures upwind of you.

⚡ Companion Snap (Combat – Reactive)

Action Load: 1

When a creature within your companion’s reach moves away from it, the companion may make its usual attack against that creature (companion’s attack die; no extra Load beyond this Feature’s 1).

Tier 2 Base Card: Beastbond Adept

At Tier 2, the bond deepens: your companion is tougher and learns from you.

Core Feature: Stronger Bond

Your companion’s HP increases by 5, its thresholds become 5 / 10, and its attack becomes 1d8. It learns one trick of your choice (fetch, guard a spot, play dead, carry a message to a known place).

Choose two Domain Feature Cards from Tier 2.

Requirements to Advance to Tier 3 (complete 4):

• Your companion defeats a foe or drives it off
• Find your companion when it is lost, taken, or hurt far away
• Fight alongside your companion through a whole battle without either of you dropping
• Befriend a rare or dangerous animal
• Teach your companion a new trick through play
• Any one Shared Milestone

Tier 2 Feature Cards

Pack Tactics (Combat – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

When you and your companion are both within 5 feet of the same creature, your attacks against it (and your companion’s) have Advantage.

Speak with Beasts (Roleplay – Active)

Action Load: 1

For one scene, you can talk with animals and understand their answers. Animals remember simple things (who passed, what they smelled, where the water is). Asking a wary animal for help is a Beastbond Aspect roll against the GM’s DC.

⚡ Loyal Rescue (Team Action – Reactive)

Action Load: 1

When you or an ally within 30 feet of your companion drops to 0 HP, the companion rushes over and drags them up to 30 feet to cover without provoking reactions. Attacks against the fallen creature have Disadvantage until the start of your next turn.

Night Watch (Exploration – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

While your companion is with you, the camp cannot be surprised: it wakes you at the first sign of danger, and you roll to notice hidden threats at night with Advantage.

Trample (Combat – Active)

Action Load: 2

Your mounted companion charges up to its speed in a straight line through creatures smaller than it. Each creature in the path rolls Agility or Fortitude Resistance against your Beastbond Aspect roll. On a failure it takes 1d8 Bludgeoning and is knocked Prone; on a success it takes nothing. Requires Mount or a companion large enough to ride.

Tier 3 Base Card: Beastbond Expert

Core Feature: Of One Mind

Once per round, a simple command (attack, move, guard, fetch) to your companion costs 0 Action Load. You always know where your companion is and whether it is hurt, if it is within a mile.

Choose three Domain Feature Cards from Tier 3.

Requirements to Advance to Tier 4 (complete 4):

• Defend a herd, flock, or nest from a real threat
• Earn the trust of a great or legendary beast
• Ride or run with your companion through a storm, fire, or battle line
• Raise or rehabilitate a young or injured animal
• Win a fight in which your companion’s actions turned the tide
• Any one Shared Milestone

Tier 3 Feature Cards

Shared Senses (Exploration – Active)

Action Load: 1 (in combat) or — (out of combat)

Close your eyes and see, hear, and smell through your companion while it is within a mile, until you choose to stop. While you do, you are Sightless to your own surroundings. Your companion’s scouting rolls gain Advantage.

Second Companion (Team Action – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

Gain a second companion using the Tier 1 Companion Rules (it does not get Stronger Bond). Both share one command each turn: a command can direct either companion, not both, unless you pay for two commands.

Savage Bond (Combat – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

Your companion’s attacks deal +1d4 damage, and when it causes a Serious or Critical wound the target is knocked Prone (if the companion is at least the target’s size).

Beast Speaker (Roleplay – Active)

Action Load: — (out of combat; takes an hour)

Call to the animals of the region. Birds, rats, foxes, or fish bring you news: answer up to three questions about what has happened in the area over the last day (who passed, where a creature dens, which road is watched).

⚡ Shield of Fur (Team Action – Reactive)

Action Load: 1

When an ally within 10 feet of your companion is hit, your companion shields them: reduce the wound severity by one step, and the companion takes 1 HP of damage instead.

Tier 4 Base Card: Beastbond Master

Core Feature: Legendary Companion

Your companion becomes legendary: larger, wiser, and able to speak with you in words. Its HP increases by 5 more, its Evasion becomes 12, and its attack becomes 2d6. It can make one Command: Attack each round at 0 Action Load in addition to Of One Mind.

Choose three Domain Feature Cards from Tier 4.

Tier 4 Feature Cards

Call of the Wild (Team Action – Active)

Action Load: 2 (once per adventure)

Animals of the land answer: a pack, a flock, or a herd arrives within a round and fights beside the party for one scene. Treat them as a swarm with HP equal to 3 × your Tier, Evasion 10, that attacks once per round using your Beastbond Aspect dice + 2d6 against every enemy you choose within 10 feet of it (roll once, compare to each).

Great Mount (Exploration – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

Your companion gains flying, swimming, or climbing at its speed (choose one; you may change it after a Full Rest). It can carry you and one other rider.

Beast Lord (Roleplay – Active)

Action Load: 2

Every non-magical animal within 60 feet must roll Willpower Resistance against your Beastbond Aspect roll. On a failure it obeys one simple command from you for the scene (flee, stop, guard, follow). Magical beasts roll with Advantage.

Unstoppable (Combat – Active)

Action Load: 3

You and your companion whirl through the fight. Make one attack roll with your Beastbond Aspect dice + your weapon die + the companion’s attack die, and compare it to every enemy within 5 feet of either of you. Each one you hit takes damage normally.

Never Apart (Team Action – Passive)

Action Load: — (Passive)

Once per scene, your companion can arrive at your side instantly from anywhere within a mile (it was always just out of sight). While you are within 5 feet of each other, you both gain +1 Evasion.

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