Handle Animal
Handle Animal
(Charisma; Trained Only)
Use this skill to drive a team of horses pulling a wagon over rough terrain, to teach a dog to guard, or to teach a tyrannosaur to "speak" on your command.Handle Animal Checks
| Action | Check DC |
|---|---|
| Handle an Animal | 10 |
| "Push" an Animal | 25 |
| Teach an Animal a Trick | 15-25 |
| Train an Animal for a Purpose | 15-25 |
| Domesticate a Wild Animal | 15 + HD* |
Handle an Animal
This task involves commanding an animal to perform a task or trick that it knows. If your check succeeds, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action. Check: The base DC to handle an animal is 10. Action: Handling an animal is a Move Action. Try Again: Yes. Special: Animal Companions can be handled by their masters as a Free Action and with a +4 Circumstance Bonus to the roll. If the animal is wounded or has taken any nonlethal damage or ability score damage, the DC increases by 2. If you have no ranks in Handle Animal, you may attempt to handle a domesticated animal or your Animal Companion with a Charisma check."Push" an Animal
To push an animal means to get it to perform a task or trick that it doesn't know but is physically capable of performing. This category also covers making an animal perform a forced march or forcing it to hustle for more than 1 hour between sleep cycles. If your check succeeds, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action. Check: The base DC to push an animal is 25. Action: Pushing an animal is a Full-Round Action. Try Again: Yes. Special: Animal Companions can be pushed as a Move Action and with a +4 Circumstance Bonus to the roll. If an animal is wounded or has taken any nonlethal damage or ability score damage, the DC to push it increases by 2. If you have no ranks in Handle Animal, you may attempt to push a domesticated animal or your Animal Companion with a Charisma check.Teach an Animal a Trick
You can teach an animal a specific trick with one week of work and a successful Handle Animal check against the indicated DC. An animal with an Intelligence score of 1 (such as a snake or a shark) can learn a maximum of three tricks, while an animal with an Intelligence score of 2 (such as a Dog or a Light Horse) can learn a maximum of six tricks. You cannot teach tricks to an animal with 3 or more Intelligence. A comprehensive set of tricks can be found in the Animal Tricks article. Action: Teaching an animal a trick takes one week. Try Again: Yes.Train an Animal for a General Purpose
Rather than teaching an animal individual tricks, you can simply train it for a general purpose. Essentially, an animal's purpose represents a preselected set of known tricks that fit into a common scheme, such as guarding or heavy labor. The animal must meet all the normal prerequisites for all tricks included in the training package. If the package includes more than three tricks, the animal must have an Intelligence score of 2. An animal can be trained for only one general purpose, though if the creature is capable of learning additional tricks (above and beyond those included in its general purpose), it may do so. Training an animal for a purpose requires fewer checks than teaching individual tricks does, but no less time. A list of general purposes for which animals can be trained can be found in the Animal Tricks article. Action: Varies. Teaching an animal a general purpose takes 1 week per trick in that purpose. Try Again: Yes.Domesticate a Wild Animal
Domesticating a wild animal takes 1 week per Hit Dice of the animal, and has a DC of 15 + the animal's Hit Dice. An animal with a friendly disposition has the DC to domesticate it reduced by 5, and one with a helpful disposition only takes 1 day per Hit Dice to domesticate. An unfriendly animal's DC to domesticate is increased by 5, and a hostile animal takes an additional 1 week per Hit Dice to domesticate. These bonuses and penalties are cumulative. You must make a check each week you spend domesticating an animal. On a successful check, you make one week's progress. If you fail by 9 or less you fail to make progress that week. Failure by 10 or more means your attempt fails and you must start over. You can domesticate as many as three animals of the same kind and at once (The DC and time to domesticate are each the highest amongst the animals you are domesticating, if different). Action: Varies. A hostile animal takes 2 weeks per Hit Dice to domesticate. A friendly animal takes 1 day per Hit Dice to domesticate. All other animals take 1 week per Hit Dice to domesticate. Try Again: Yes.Rear a Wild Animal
To rear an animal means to raise a wild creature from infancy so that it becomes domesticated. A handler can rear as many as three creatures of the same kind at once. A successfully domesticated animal can be taught tricks at the same time it's being raised (no check or additional time required), or it can be taught as a domesticated animal later. Rearing a wild animal requires no check, but only characters possessing at least one rank in Handle Animal may do so. You may adventure while rearing an animal, but at least one quarter of your Downtime must be dedicated towards the process. Action: Varies. you must rear an animal until it reaches adulthood. Try Again: No.Calm an Animal
Many normal and even war-trained mounts do not do well in unusual environments. The hold of a storm-tossed warship is no place for a horse, and underground environments make a goliath's dire eagle mount nervous and uncomfortable. At the DM's option, mounts in unusual environments must make a Will Save or be overcome with fear. The DC of the saving throw is 10 in an unusual environment, 15 in a disturbing environment, and 20 or more in an obviously dangerous or startling environment. Failing the saving throw by 9 or less leaves a mount Shaken. Failing the saving throw by 10 or more leaves a mount Cowering. A mount can retry this saving throw every hour. A mount only needs to succeed on this save once per day (after a success, they need not roll again until the next day). A skilled animal handler can substitute their Handle Animal check result for the mount's Will Save. Similarly, a skilled rider can substitute their Ride check result for the mount's Will Save. In both cases, the mount uses the handler's skill check result or its saving throw result, whichever is higher. Action: None. Try Again: A failed save may be attempted again once every hour.Special
You can use this skill on a creature with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 that is not an animal, but the DC of any such check increases by 5. Such creatures have the same limit on tricks known as animals do. Animal Companions grant thier masters a +4 Circumstance Bonus on Handle Animal checks involving them. In addition, Animal Companions know one or more bonus tricks, which don't count against the normal limit on tricks known and don't require any training time or Handle Animal checks to teach.Skill Unlock
A character who selects this skill for the Signature Skill feat or a Rogue who selects it for their Rogue's Edge class ability gains the following abilities when they reach the designated number of ranks in this skill:- 5 Ranks: Creatures you have trained gain a +2 bonus on Will saves when adjacent to you.
- 10 Ranks: Creatures you have trained gain a +2 bonus on Will saves whenever you are within 30 feet and clearly visible. You can teach a trick in 1 day by increasing the DC by 20.
- 15 Ranks: You can train an animal to understand your speech (as Speak with Animals) with 1 week of effort and a successful DC 30 Handle Animal check. Its actions are still limited by its Intelligence. You can teach a trick in 1 day (increasing the DC by 10) or 1 hour (increasing the DC by 20).
- 20 Ranks: You can make your speech understandable to any animal for 24 hours with a successful DC 30 Handle Animal check (DC 40 for magical beasts or vermin). You can teach a trick in 1 day, 1 hour (increasing the DC by 10), or 1 minute (increasing the DC by 20).
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