Editing Norrathians: Additional Information Concerning Pets (section)

=Elemental and Undead Pets=

Elementals or undead creatures (magician elemental pets and necromancer or shadow knight skeletal pets) are capable of performing any action that takes no more than one round to perform, not including movement.  These creatures may never take 10 or 20.  

Elemental and skeletal pets may be commanded to drop items being worn, wielded, or carried, one item at a time.  Donning and removing armor takes twice as long, and drawing or dropping weapons takes a full-round action instead of a move equivalent action.  Any objects being carried by a pet elemental or skeleton when it is destroyed are also destroyed.  Elementals and undead creatures are only capable of wearing appropriately-sized armor or shields and wielding weapons light enough to be lifted by the creature.

Elemental and skeletal pets cannot perform most special actions in combat.  They can charge, resist and break out of a grapple, and perform the Aid Another action.  They cannot bull rush, disarm, feint, initiate a grapple, overrun, sunder, throw weapons or use ranged weapons, or trip.  

====Pet Proficiencies====

Pets are never proficient with ranged attacks, and may never become proficient with the archery or throwing weapon types.  

Elemental and skeletal pets of at least type 1 are proficient with all simple weapons and all shields.  Starting at type 2, the caster may designate one new proficiency for the pet when casting the summoning spell.  The list of proficiencies is standard for the setting (1H blunt, 1H slashing, piercing, 2H blunt, 2H slashing, and light, medium, or heavy armor).  Because of this, pets of type 9 are proficient with all armor and melee weapons.

====Skeletal Damage Reduction====

Skeletal companions are listed as taking half damage from slashing and piercing weapons.  Change this to Damage Reduction.  Each type of skeletal pet receives the normal DR listed, but the key adds “bludgeoning” to the normal bonus required.  That is, a foe attacking a type 7 skeletal pet with a +2 longsword would have to get past 10 points of DR in order to do any damage.  But, if he were using a +2 mace, the skeletal pet would get no DR at all.