Kharille wrote:
Lovely work reading about horses in one of those recent books I don't recall the title of, but perhaps it could be expanded upon on its role in gameplay.
The article of which you're thinking is "My Lovely Horse" on the Dragon Warriors wiki (
http://dragonwarriors.wikifoundry.com/p ... vely+Horse). This article was republished in the Players' Guide, which may also be where you've read it. It basically busts a lot of myths around horses that are peddled in cheap fantasy fiction and Hollywood films - if you want a more realistic depiction of horses in your games (which are arguably the most common animal companions that adventurers will have), then this is the article to read!
Also entomed within the Players' Guide are rules for demonologist familiars, which lend themselves more to the role-playing elements of having a familiar than just as a means to give the demonologist or sorcerer a quick boost to his stats. The rules make it clear that familiars are NPCs controlled by the GM, not extensions of the demonologist - familiars have personalities and objectives of their own to fulfill on behalf of their dark master so whilst they are bound to the demonologist, he would be careless to think this gives him the right to treat the familiar as an unfailingly loyal extension of his will.
As for other animals, knights, certainly, would typically engage in hunts and falconry, and probably have the skills to train such animals. Of the two, dogs are probably more likely to accompany a knight on an adventure, but given some of the trap-laden devil-filled underworlds in which the knight will find himself, I think their life expectancy would be low (plus they can't climb, eat a lot of food, drink a lot of water, may get spooked in underworlds and run off, may give away the party's location with a stray bark, etc.). Consider also that the facilities and downtime between adventures a knight would need to train a new animal each time he lost one. I wouldn't stop one of my players from having their character take a dog with them on an adventure, though, and I think it would be an interesting role-playing challenge that could create some interesting dilemmas and dramas.