Creatures and Companions: A Monster Trainer Supplement

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Introduction

Starting back in 1987 with Shin Megumi Tensei and later being brought into the public consciousness around the world with Pokemon's refinement, the Monster Tamer/Raising/Battle genre has been a massive part of electronic and digital gaming since the beginning. Even before that the concept existed in literature and other media through various twists on the "A Boy and His X" trope, where some child befriends a supernatural, or even just normally dangerous but otherwise normal, creature and proceeds to go on an adventure. It even exists in ancient mythology and religions, with ancient shaman and sorcerers using magic or divine practices to summon or control the spirits of nature. Dragon Riders, Spirit Summoners, or simply just stories of a child who befriends and later commands a troupe of wild animals, it's a common enough trope and power in many games, stories, and comics and comes in many different forms.

Mons
Mons, short for "Monster", are powerful, smart, or otherwise useful creatures with abilities that place them above the norm. They are generally supernatural to some degree, being demons, spirits, mythical creatures, or empowered beasts that serve or fight for humans who, by some means, gain their trust or allegiance despite being weaker. With the power of these creatures in hand the Humans who command them often use them for battle each other, using the monsters as more powerful proxies in duels or as living weapons of war.

Where they come from, what they are, their role in the world, and their relationship with humans, can vary depending on the setting. In settings where they're common they can act in place of common technology using their unique powers, in settings where they are strong they can battle each other for sport. When they are rare they may actively be hunted by humans for their power, when they are smart they may have their own goals and seek out humans to partner with to fulfill them. They can be forces of good working alongside humans, neutral beasts tamed and put to use, or evil creatures kept on a leash and aimed at greater threats. In the end Mons exist as an extension of a human character, fighting on their behalf and acting as a foil or complement to their personality.

Monster Taming
At the core of a Mons setting is the relationship between the human and their critter. It comes in many flavors but is formed from a combination of 4 main factors: The power dynamic between the human and monster, The intelligence of the creature compared to the human, the personalities of the two and who they interact, and the nature of the bond that ties them together.

Mascot
Being weak but loyal Mascot critters serve more as a pet than a summon or minion, pairing up with either stronger characters who do not need their assistance in combat or to those who can make use of their more unique abilities. While they could be magical creatures of some kind more often than not they are ordinary animals, having been trained by their human to perform certain tricks. Mascots are weak and less intelligent than humans but love and trust their human, the bonds between them are not magically compelled but are simple loyalty.

Familiar
A magically bound creature, the Familiar is a critter that the human has made or sought out to serve a purpose first and foremost. They almost always magical in nature, having unique abilities to assist their master in a variety of situations. Because of their nature they are forced to act on their masters command and often do not have any mind of their own. Some familiars may be intelligent but may resent their role in the relationship even if they still follow the humans commands. Because of Familiars exist to server a purpose they are treated more as tools or weapons than living beings, and may be seen as disposable if they are simply conjured from the ether. Familiars are weak but often useful and may be capable of attack, usually mindless they follow commands to the letter but lack any initiative of their own, If intelligent they usually are neutral or disdainful of their master for the power they hold, and they are compelled to follow the human by some form of magic.

Guide
Intelligent but weak, the Guide serves as a mentor or advisor to their human partner. The Guide lacks any real combat ability, and often does not have any major power or ability it can make use of either. Instead the Guide offers knowledge, being a repository of useful information that is indispensable to new heroes, because of this Guides are normally partnered with inexperienced humans to help them on their way. They teach powerful humans how to use their powers and the threats they face, they serve as a bridge to communicate with other monsters more clearly, and they can occasionally serve as a means for the GM to dispense a powerup. Guides are weak, usually being a small talking animal. They are smarter than the average human and wiser than their summoner, and because of this they hold the position of power in the relationship with their word being the one followed by their more powerful partner. They usually choose to the human they server, either being loyal to the human themselves or honor bound to them through some intrinsic property, so they will do what they feel will be in their best interests rather than simply just follow orders.

Tamed Beast
A strong and subservient monster, they follow a master that holds power over them. Tamed beasts are often subdued dangerous animals such as wolves or lions but occasionally may be magical in nature. They are fairly strong, usually stronger than their master but not to a great degree, but are still subservient due to the human having bested them in some way. Beasts will follow an alpha and they taken that position, however despite their compliance the Tamed Beast is not truly loyal. They will seek to retake the position if they think it's possible and value their own lives above their masters'. Tamed Beasts are strong and often cunning but still may not be capable of defeating their Master, they are followers and will head commands if trained to but will break them if given a good enough reason. They are bound by the law of the jungle, simply serving the strongest of their pack by instinct.

The Partner
The equal to their human, if perhaps their opposite in focus, The Partner critter is a humans companion rather than their minion. Highly intelligent the Partner is capable of decision making and has their own wants and goals, they seek out a human in order to achieve these goals and form a mutually beneficial contract between the two of them. The human provides some form of service for the creature and in turn receive it's aide, because of this equal partnership the two often have aligning goals and personalities that let them form a close trust and friendship. The creature and the human complement each other, with both serving a needed role such as one being a combatant and the other support or one offering offense and the other defense. The Partner critter offers the most balanced relationship, the two being equal in status and ability. The relationship may be informal or magically enforced but is almost always mutually consenting or at least accepted.

The Summoned
Magically conjured monsters, The Summoned are powerful intelligent beings bound by a magical contract to serve a human. Demons, Angels, Spirits, Robots, The Summoned can be anything the summoner wants, being called from another realm or created through some means to solve a problem the human is having. They are far more powerful and some even more intelligent than the human calling upon them, and thus do not answer the human without either enticement, compulsion, or a mixture of the two. Demons follow contracts, spirits magical laws, and robots answer to their programming, the human calling upon them will have something arranged beforehand to ensure their service but it is not foolproof. The Summoned usually only exist temporarily, only called upon to fullfill a specific task before being sent back to whence they came in order to avoid the chance of complications arising. They are strong and useful, smart enough to act on their own and follow very complex order, but they lack any inborn loyalty and may even be actively malevolent. In order to assure reliability they are bound by magic to follow your orders but can often be worked around by them if their loyalty isn't secured through other means.

The Caged Beast
A hyper dangerous monster kept on a short leash. Hyper aggressive the Caged Beast will lash out at anything it can, including it's master, and so a single slip can quickly lead to them being hoisted by their own petard as their monster turns on them the moment it's unleashed. They are powerful beasts, some even magical, but mad with rage. If they are intelligent they are malevolent, seeking destruction and death if ever freed from their bonds. More often the shackled pet of a prideful villain the Caged Beast is not unknown to be bound to heroes. Unintelligent ones are usually less actively malevolent and violent and more apathetic and quick to violence, requiring a skillful touch from a trainer to guide them to keep them in check and make use of them. For more intelligent ones, they are not separate entities but rather some form of evil that is being kept sealed away and often the source of the heroes power. They are a powerful asset but one that can only be used as a last resort.

The Guardian Beast
A powerful and kind protector, the Guardian Beast is a benevolent patron who has chosen to uplift a human, or group of humans, and gift them either a bit of it's power or it's protection. Often some form of divine spirit or ancient and wise monster the Guardian Beast is much older, much wiser, and much more powerful than the human, and is the benefactor of their relationship. They don't seek to gain much from the relationship, often simply asking for token offerings if nothing else. Because of the nature of the arrangement the Guardian Beast is not at the beck and call of the human to solve their problems, instead the human has been gifted some form of power (such as summoning lesser variants) instead with the Guardian Beast only answering their call in the most dire of situations. As they are a protector the Guardian Beast does have the human's wellbeing in mind but depending on their role they may be still be willing to let them perish if their bond is rather impersonal. Guardian Beasts are strong and offer power, intelligent enough to guide their partner when needed, and often have some attachment and desire to see them grow, however they are not bound to obey and seek to keep their assistance to a minimum, they may even have some form of magical compulsion that prevents them from helping as well.

The Contractor
An enigmatic and rather suspicious source of power, the Contractor is a mysterious being that seeks to form contracts with humans and offer them power in exchange for a service. While no doubt strong they're greatest asset is their mind, being crafty and cunning, they are more than capable of tricking unwitting humans into unfavorable bargains. A Contractor can be trusted to fulfill the letter of their agreement, but only that. The seek a desperate human, offer them a contract to exchange service for service and once they achieve their end of the bargain come to collect. They are not incapable of kindness, but usually are unwilling or unable to break the rules of their covenant as they are beings of Law. They are powerful for sure but often limited, either requiring some form of sacrifice or having restrictions in place of how their allowed to act. They are incredibly intelligent, smarter than a human by far, but are not infallible. Contractors are usually professional, maintaining a neutral relationship with their partner and seek to offer neither unnecessary aide nor hindered. Their word is their bond, while they are not really loyal to their human partner if they have made an agreement then nothing will keep them from doing their utmost to fulfill their promise.

Roles
Based on their relationship and the nature of the setting your creature companion can fall into a number of roles. Most creatures are rather limited in what they can do and only be able to fit into a singular niche while others may have more varied attributes and be able to fulfill more than one role. While the Creatures of the party may fulfill a majority of the roles, one should not forget that the humans are also contributors and may also fit into any of the given roles as well, picking up the slack where a specialized partner may lack.

The Advisor
The Advisor acts as one of the decision makers, helping to determine what the group should do both in and out of combat. Often this is the role of the Guide, but can be fulfilled by other intelligent companions and is often a role the human plays.

The Combatant
The primary fighter who engages the enemies in fights. Generally it is best to have the strongest members take this role, but it can also be fulfilled by a number of weak creatures or a singular one in a limited fashion. As they are often the stronger of the pair creatures are the ones who take this role, though if there is multiple creatures some may choose to specialize outside of this role if it's already filled.

The Support
A companion who offers support to the combatants. They act as protectors, a means of recovery, or provide some advantage that will allow them to come out on top in a brawl. Support is another role that is usually left to the human, who uses their intelligence to create openings or find exploitable weaknesses. Some may even have magic to offer their assistance.

The Helper
Rather than aiding in combat the Helper companion serves as a more general purpose assistant. Aiding in other areas such as information gathering, item collection, or simply being another pair of hands that can act independently. Humans or weak creatures tend to fill this role.

The Pet
A beloved companion, the Pet is the heart of the group serving as emotional support and sometimes a source of motivation. They can often serve to diffuse volatile situations or bridge an understanding between a PC and NPC over a shared affection.

Summons or Sidekicks?
So, now you have your own little menagerie following your around and that begs the question: Where do you keep all the little buggers? Traveling around with a herd of monsters isn't exactly stealthy or easy, some may not even be capable of fitting into certain buildings or otherwise be incapable of just sticking by your sides at all times. And how do you manage all those actions if you have half a dozen little beasts running around you at a given time? Well there's a couple of solutions.

The first is to make your beasts individual summons, allowing you to call out and store any of them as you need them. Magic is often the simplest answer for how, simply casting and dismissing some form of summoning spell or ritual, but technology can also be used instead. You could have a device that stores your creatures away in a pocket dimension, or perhaps just some form of teleporter that brings them out from your home base. The creature may even have it's own means of coming to your aid, hearing your cries for help or existing inside you to be summoned if you are in need.

Summoning devices are common, usually in the form of talismans, scrolls, or used capturing devices. These are cheap and easy to use but come with their own drawbacks. Summons held in devices usually have a more limited awareness of the world as they tend to kept in stasis or otherwise unable to observe the happenings of their device. The creatures that are housed within it are also bound to the holder of the device, which may not always be you, as even intelligent companions may be forced by magical contract to obey whoever holds it.

Summons are the solution for a group of monsters, simplifying their potential impact by limiting their physical presence.

The second solution however is to simply just have a singular sidekick. When dealing with just a single creature companion Sidekick becomes a better option, allowing them to act more often and independently as needed. This gives them a greater ability to interact with with their partner as well as other characters. While they lack the ability to be summoned to their partner's side they are unlikely to need it as they will usually be by their masters side and do not require the human to spend actions to summon before they can act. This also allows the user to avoid common complications that my pop up with summoning, such as being deprived of their companion if the power is somehow nullified.

Usage
Mons are often a central aspect of their universe, being a core part of how it functions and help shape society as a whole. In some settings Mons are forces of nature that may occasionally bond to a human on their whims letting them shape the world with their great power. In others they are more common place creatures existing in the place of mundane pets and livestock serving a useful function. They can be powerful weapons of war, gussied up show dogs, a substitute for ubiquitous technology, or a means to compete with each other in sport. Exactly what role they fill in society as a whole is determined by the setting, with darker settings making them powerful dangerous creatures and more light hearted settings keeping them as pets and using them for entertainment.

Competition is often at the heart of a Mons series, with a central premise usually involving some form of tournament or challenge needed to reach the top. Humans and Creatures working together, working in synergy and forming bonds and coming into conflict with other teams as they try and rise up the ranks. Exactly what the conflict is can be anything, from a straight forward fight, to a more complicated sport, it may even be something such as puzzles, quests, or something as laid back as pageant shows. What matters is that it's a team effort.

The name of the game is teamwork, Monster and Trainer forming a harmony as they use their combined skill to overcome whatever challenge comes their way. The human will often stand back and command their partner, engaging and strategy and trickery while trying to ferret out the weakness of their opponent. Within these controlled matches trainer skill shines, exploiting rules, determining strategies, devising traps, and avoiding obstacles. However they are limited in how much support they can give their partner, and are bound by arbitrary rules and regulations.

Often a match is determined a number of cumulative successes on a trainer skill check, using bonuses and penalties based on how their partner stacks up to their competition's own. Races could be based on speed, matches based on damage vs toughness, puzzles by intelligence, etc. The first to reach a number of successes without a given amount of failures wins a round and a number of rounds would win a match. A clean and simple alternative to a fight.

Battle, real battle, however would be far less bound by regulation and simple checks. With creatures acting as independent combatants, the human would have to take a far more active role to contribute. Calling out orders and making use of any abilities they may have as well to fight alongside their partner. A number of teamwork features, support powers, and specific Trainer Skill checks could tilt the scales, letting their creature come out on top.

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