I wouldn't mind having a pet, but what I would really like is a familiar or something. I could summon it and it would rest on my shoulder and go and hide when in a fight. It's main use would be to enhance my magical abilities.

So, sort of like the Imp that is permanently summoned in the Anvil Mages Guild in Oblivion? For familiars, I'm imagining a quest to summon one being offered from one of the legal magical organisations, or another offered by witches of the wild / hedge wizards (as seen in Bloodmoon) from the Daedra. That would cater to good and evil characters (to an extent. Would depend on what the witches were like, I suppose).

I think pets should be introduced, but be completely optional.. Look at fable 2, you HAVE to have that annoying creature (dog) barking at you constantly, a dig spot here with a necklace i don't care about, ect ect.

I would be OK with pets in the game, I wouldn't want one myself. In Fallout New Vegas there was a miners dog abandoned in a camp - I would have liked the opportunity to take it somewhere safe, say with a family or group so they could look after it, sadly the option wasn't there.

It would be nice to see pets around - as long as they were treated well (not killable. :nono: )

Yes, by founding from wilderness or through quest.
I'd love to have saber toothed cat, wolf or something
like that. Maybe even hawk that would sit on my shoulder.

I'd agree. Personally I liked the dog in both Fable games, but I can understand those who don't. That's why I was proposing that pets be obtained through a quest you'd have to purposefully complete, or be purchased like horses in Oblivion. Although I suppose the problem would be amassing more than one pet. Army of cats, anyone? Although I would imagine a dialogue could be inserted in which a shop owner would refuse to sell you more if you already had a dog or whatever, because you wouldn't be able to care for it properly. Which would lead to dogs being sold or 'disposed of' if a new and more interesting (useful) pet was found... I guess.


It would be odd to slaughter yours way through a pack of wolves, then watch as a stray arrow bounces off your dog though, you must admit. (Besides, woman fireballing dogs has a precedent. )

That reminds me of a summon from a scroll in Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny. Four summon scrolls which summon Imps starting with weakest to strongest, you summon them to aid you battle for a brief time then they disappear while in combat or after.

Pets would be nice. Maybe one of the dragon shouts could turn a low leveled creature into your pet (Read:Low Leveled). It would of course have to get a stats booster so it didn't die right off the bat.

I thought this thread was going to be about Khajit.

No pets.

Ravens, please. The perfect magical companion.

What do you think Khajiits are for?

Id say both, with unique pets being earned through a quest or something, either way, makes small difference to me unless the AI is less disruptive (getting in my way during combat, etc..) than it was in Oblivion I doubt id use it much.

Its one of the basic pillars TES was founded on.

I'd love to have a wolf by my side. You should be able to tame them from a specific quest. In example in this random encounter...

A wolf looks at the player-character, it's bleeding to death from an arrow wound to the chest. The character must make an intelligence and agility check (Int.+Agi./2 vs we'll say 80) to pull the arrow out without killing it or they can just kill it. The player can then use a heal other spell or give it a healing potion or leave it. if one of the oformer is chosen, then it'll run off. A week'll pass and you'll be attacked by a bear in a cutscene. The wolf will charge at it, distracting the bear and you'll kill it.

Yet again the wolf'll be hurt and if you heal it, you'll start dialogue with it.

Wolf:
Player:
A. Come Along
B. Shoo Off
C. Hug
Wolf:
Response A.
Response B. Runs Off
Response C.

That's for a wolf companion, which'll need to be fed.

For a bear companion.

A Nord is wrestling a bear in the middle of the forest. The nord pins the bear and pulls out a dagger, ready to finish his kill. You can either kill the Nord, watch, or kill the bear. If you kill the Nord, the bear will look at you and walk over. Dialogue will initiate...

Bear:

Player:
Response A. Scratch Ears
Response B. Look Bigger
Response C. Strike It

Bear:
Response A. It eagerly follows as a companion.
Response B. It runs off intimidated.
Response C. Combat is initiated.

Both companions would have twice the normal health, armor, and fatigue of normal wolves and bears. You could have both, but they wouldn;'t be allowed to enter cities with you.

I want a dancing vampire called "Gweega-Gee"

I won't vote, just because I honestly dont care. If there's a companion, and it doesnt help much in fights, then it'l probably die.
However, it would be cool if they added it so you could buy armor for your pet, and get it 'weapons' (like claw attachments), enchant it's armor, ect. That would make it interesting... But by 'armor' i don't mean full plate armor all over it's body lol. I just mean like a briast-plate, a helmetish thing, ect. Lots of fur still showing through the armor, otherwise it just wouldnt look right.

no no no to companion quests as that infers I would get a companion that could actually fight too well, I would prefer to buy a companion animal or slave or soldier wise but have them almost ineffectual in actual combat

Should pets be purchased or found?

Both.

I want a http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Khajiit#Sub-species_Notes companion for my Khajiits!

What if certain races could have certain animals as pets? For example, a nord could have a bear, an elf a sabre-tooth, etc.

They should also be able to be purchased or found, but with different things.

If found, they can take care of themselves so they are better at fighting with decent health but don't obey you as much (it is also rare to find an animal who will be your pet).

If bought from a pet store then you must train them somehow to be good at fighting but still won't be as good as an animal who was living in the woods but also have the advantage of being healthier so they have high health.

You can buy a combat dog for a hefty price who has high health and is great at fighting but is the veteran of many fights and is in his twilight so he's not as fast as the other dogs, so his attacks will be powerful but not fast.

What do you guys think?

Evol, I couldn't disagree more...

I kind of like being alone scouting the landscape. A companion would only be a distraction and burden. And to Animate and design pets would take lots and lots of time and spoil precious money and GBs. So I say "No".

I want summonable and dismissable pets (so familiars, I guess), so that I wouldn't lose it and/or I could get rid of it for a while if I didn't feel like babysitting it. Usually I just end up being aggravated by all my companions because they're idiots, get stuck everywhere and get single-hit killed by any bandits we come across.

Other would actually be better. A non-quest related thing. For example a taming skill, the higher the skill the easier it is to tame a creature. Some creatures would of course be restricted. It's a bit of a complex thing that I doubt will be added to skyrim, maybe in the next TES.

Source.