Pet Monster

Cost: 6 Points/Rank
Relevant Ability: None
Progression: The character owns one or more pet monsters, constructed from 15 Character Points plus 15/Rank

A Pet Monster is the ultimate friend and servant, ready to perform nearly any task for its master. Unlike a Servant, Pet Monsters have few desires beyond pleasing their master and rarely disobey orders. Frequently, Pet Monsters fight in gladiatorial combats for their owners' glory since they eager to please (and are usually more powerful than their owners as well). For other types of companions, see the Servant Attribute.

A Pet Monster is a 1st Level Adventurer, created with his or her own Ability Scores, Attributes, Defects, and Skills as normal but with only 20 Discretionary Character Points. Each Rank of the Pet Monster Attribute also gives the player 20 additional Character Points to add to the Pet Monster (for example, 40 Points at Rank 1, 60 Points at Rank 2, etc.). Pet Monsters do not gain Experience Points themselves and never progress in class beyond Level 1, though; instead, a Pet Monster gets more powerful when its owner advances in Rank in the Pet Monster Attribute and gives his or her pet more Character Points (to acquire Feats, Attributes, Skills, etc.). The Pet Monster may not have the Pet Monster Attributes, and some relationship-based Defects should not be assigned due to its innate role as a character's pet. Thus, it is inappropriate for a Pet Monster to have the following Defects: Owned, Red Tape, or Significant Other.

If creating more than one monster (for populating a monster farm or ranch), the character can divide the Pet Monster Points amongst them in any way he or she desires. Each new Pet Monster added is created as a 1st Level Adventurer as normal with 20 Discretionary Character Points. If the GM wishes to encourage players to own multiple Pet Monsters instead of just one, the Rank Progression could be changed from "+20 Character Points/Rank" to "+15 Points/Rank +5 Points added to each Pet Monster." For example, if a character with six Pet Monsters increases from Rank 3 to Rank 4 in this Attribute, each Pet Monster gains an additional 5 Points and the player has 15 more Points to divide amongst the six pets as he or she sees fit.

In addition to Character Point assignment, players should consider the following five aspects for his or her character's Pet Monster:

• What is its name? Make sure it's a cute name.
• What does the Pet Monster look like? Make sure it's cute.
• What species is it? Common species types include: aquatic, beast, bird, bug, dragon/reptile, eyeball, gerbil/rodent, golem, metamorph, slime, spirit, and veggie.
• From what elemental force does the Pet Monster derive its powers? Common elements include: celestial, darkness, death, earth, electricity, fire, gas, ice, light, metal, psionics, sonic, water, and wind.
• How is the Pet Monster stored when not in use? All Pet Monsters come with their own device for free, which may include an electronic toy, a magical pocket ball, or an extra dimensional gadget. When the owner needs the Pet Monster, he or she summons them from the device, most commonly with a command phrase.

Experience Point Pet Monster Advancement

Rather than increasing the Pet Monster's point total to reflect advancement, players and GMs may wish to advance pet monsters as Adventurers.

The Pet Monster begins play as a 1st Level Adventurer and gains Experience Points at the same pace as the character. If a character has multiple Pet Monsters, the XP award is divided amongst the monsters (assigning the most XP to those monsters that saw the most action in the adventure).

If the character increases his or her Rank in the Pet Monster Attribute, the Monster gains the additional points as normal, reflecting additional power, not additional experience. Using this method, however, player's should ignore the "Pet Monster +1" gained from character advancement for the Pet Monster Trainer class - the XP advancement gained through adventuring reflects the increased ability of the monsters.