Quote Originally Posted by Bronk View Post
NPCs are everyone else in the world other than the PCs. An animal companion is not a PC.
And again, I would claim, based on A) the rules text in the animal companion section of the Druid entry, B) the lack of mention of animal companions in the NPC chapter of the DMG, and C) the very specific way the animal companion section in the Characters chapter of the DMG refers only to circumstances regarding the loss of a companion and the limitations in combat of commanding the animal via the Handle Animal skill, that the animal companion is not an NPC, but is an extension of the Druid's class features.

Nowhere in the PHB does it say the animal companion is a DM controlled NPC, and nowhere in the DMG does it say the animal companion is a DM controlled NPC, but in both it's outlined that the Druid can control the animal as a free action via the Handle Animal skill, with all the limitations that entails.

All NPCs are DM controlled.
That's not always true when it comes to animals. A purchased horse or other mundane mount that's being ridden by a PC is controlled by the PC, not the DM (via the Ride skill and Mounted Combat rules, so there are limitations to its behavior). Given this common exception, is it really such a leap that a special animal that's called out as being different to normal animals, and that comes from a player's class feature, is also an exception? Especially given a total lack of any text directly saying the companion is an NPC, and thus is DM controlled?




and relaxing the rules about using handle animal tricks - helps quite a bit.

I don't know that you need any relaxing of the HA rules. It spells out pretty clearly precisely what the animal companion is capable of and what it's not, which is all the limitation and freedom they need. Plus the Druid gets it as a free action with a bonus already.