I just got the Force And Destiny Main Rule Book and the Savage Spirits Expansion Book. So far, I've only seen rules for force users have animal companions/pets (except for the rules to train a mount which is just using a series of survival rolls). Is there any way for non-force users to have pets/companions as well as mounts? I'm sorry, but I can't help but think us non-force users are being kind of screwed over by these rules. I mean, Jabba didn't have the force and yet he had Salacious Crumb, the Sandtroopers could still use and ride Dewbacks, etc...

I think the Beast Rider is what you may be looking for. It is in Stay on Target I believe.

I think the Beast Rider is what you may be looking for. It is in Stay on Target I believe.

Which line is Stay on Target? Age of Rebellion? Edge of The Empire?

Age of Rebellion

Age of Rebellion

Ty for the help so far, but is there a means for non-Force Users to just get a generic animal companion/pet of the non-mount variety as well or just this?

If it's something like a Kowakian monkey-lizard you can just treat it narratively, i.e. the mechanical effects of your PC's Advantages and Threats can be "caused" by the antics of your pet. If you want a companion that's a little beefier, something that can take a blaster round and participate in combat, then mechanically it's an NPC (more-or-less), usually a Rival, with all of the attendant restrictions to its actions and stat block.

Having more than one character is sometimes challenging; as an NPC, your companion's actions are the purview of the GM, whose interpretation of its reaction to a given situation may differ from your own. Many GMs are content to let players control their companions until it's most inconvenient, which can create the feeling of lost agency and lead to hard feelings.

If it's something like a Kowakian monkey-lizard you can just treat it narratively, i.e. the mechanical effects of your PC's Advantages and Threats can be "caused" by the antics of your pet. If you want a companion that's a little beefier, something that can take a blaster round and participate in combat, then mechanically it's an NPC (more-or-less), usually a Rival, with all of the attendant restrictions to its actions and stat block.

Having more than one character is sometimes challenging; as an NPC, your companion's actions are the purview of the GM, whose interpretation of its reaction to a given situation may differ from your own. Many GMs are content to let players control their companions until it's most inconvenient, which can create the feeling of lost agency and lead to hard feelings.

Yes, I'm going to assume this is why there was a limit on the moves a animal companion could do and why even force users potentially had to go through some proverbial hoops to get one, let alone train it properly.

I think the Beast Rider is what you may be looking for. It is in Stay on Target I believe.

Would someone mind giving me a copy of the Talent and Skill list for that class for the time being? Rest assured FF, I will buy the book, I just need a copy of the sheet as a stopgap measure for the time being.

Beast Rider is good at riding beasts, but anyone can ride. It's the rules for riding and converting beasts into mounts you actually need, which are in chapter 3 of SoT. Basically it's exactly like driving a vehicle but uses Survival instead of Piloting.

If it's something like a Kowakian monkey-lizard you can just treat it narratively, i.e. the mechanical effects of your PC's Advantages and Threats can be "caused" by the antics of your pet. If you want a companion that's a little beefier, something that can take a blaster round and participate in combat, then mechanically it's an NPC (more-or-less), usually a Rival, with all of the attendant restrictions to its actions and stat block.

Having more than one character is sometimes challenging; as an NPC, your companion's actions are the purview of the GM, whose interpretation of its reaction to a given situation may differ from your own. Many GMs are content to let players control their companions until it's most inconvenient, which can create the feeling of lost agency and lead to hard feelings.

Yes, I'm going to assume this is why there was a limit on the moves a animal companion could do and why even force users potentially had to go through some proverbial hoops to get one, let alone train it properly.

I think the Beast Rider is what you may be looking for. It is in Stay on Target I believe.

Would someone mind giving me a copy of the Talent and Skill list for that class for the time being? Rest assured FF, I will buy the book, I just need a copy of the sheet as a stopgap measure for the time being.

I believe the droids you're looking for can be found here:

http://beggingforxp.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/StarWars-AoR-TalentTree-color-v4.pdf

It may take some scrolling, but the tree is there.

The way I treat trained combat mounts is based on how the rules are written for Survival checks (that you can use a Survival check to interact/command an animal). If you succeed on your Survival check to command, say, your Tusk Cat, then it acts immediately after your turn and gets a maneuver/action like an NPC would. Otherwise, it would simply do nothing in the scene, which is what is described for Force Bonded creatures that you choose not to command with the Animal Bond talents in F&D. The difference between Survival and the Force Bond: Survival takes your action for the turn, whereas the Force Bond takes only a maneuver.

To add to this, the difficulty of the Survival check is based upon the Animal's willpower, as is shown in Stay on Target in the section on animal training. Particularly well trained mounts should likely give boosts to the handler and poorly trained mounts should give setback. Also, environmental factors should affect rolls as well (if there's a fire you're trying to make the animal pass through, if there's combat happening in the encounter, if the environment is similar to the creature's natural habitat, if there are others of the species nearby, etc...)

If it's something like a Kowakian monkey-lizard you can just treat it narratively, i.e. the mechanical effects of your PC's Advantages and Threats can be "caused" by the antics of your pet. If you want a companion that's a little beefier, something that can take a blaster round and participate in combat, then mechanically it's an NPC (more-or-less), usually a Rival, with all of the attendant restrictions to its actions and stat block.

Having more than one character is sometimes challenging; as an NPC, your companion's actions are the purview of the GM, whose interpretation of its reaction to a given situation may differ from your own. Many GMs are content to let players control their companions until it's most inconvenient, which can create the feeling of lost agency and lead to hard feelings.

Yes, I'm going to assume this is why there was a limit on the moves a animal companion could do and why even force users potentially had to go through some proverbial hoops to get one, let alone train it properly.

I think the Beast Rider is what you may be looking for. It is in Stay on Target I believe.

Would someone mind giving me a copy of the Talent and Skill list for that class for the time being? Rest assured FF, I will buy the book, I just need a copy of the sheet as a stopgap measure for the time being.

I believe the droids you're looking for can be found here:

http://beggingforxp.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/StarWars-AoR-TalentTree-color-v4.pdf

It may take some scrolling, but the tree is there.

Ty for the help everyone; especially the person who gave me the charts.