If a new player starts the game as a Ratcatcher, does their SbVD also get two free Trick cards? Much like Wizards and Priests get free spells and such? Or must the Ratcatcher player spend their purchased talents to manually buy those Tricks?

Thanks!

The wording in the text is difficult at best to interpret. But I agree with your take: the ratcatcher begins play with a SBVD that selects two talents for free (one of which might be, say, Warning Bark).

I was unsure myself (and maybe I'm still interpreting it incorrectly) but there is elaboration on animal companions in Liber Fantatica VII which makes the same assumption:

http://www.liberfanatica.net/LF7download.html

The author rather helpfully delineates between active and inactive talents for beginning animal companions.

Action cards, subsequent trick cards (talents) must be purchased.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! I figured that was how it worked, and it's how I'm going to do it for the new player this weekend.

I have this same issue. As a ratcatcher, I don't think you should get the tricks for free. I don't see where you found that in the liber fanatica, if you could point me to the page or paragraph. I think the tricks are more powerful than the actions, though. I think it should be more similar to the wizard and priest characters, who either get free or invest to get a needed skill, then receive the related actions free. This means as ratcatcher, you should invest to get animal handling advanced skill, and pick 4 of the 6 pet action cards.

Also I don't really agree with the fact that the liber fanatica makes the animal companion into a talent that anyone can get, since this is the only advantage a ratcatcher career has. If you finish the career and don't take the dedication bonus, you lose that career card, which says you get the dog. A player should have to enter, and complete the ratcatcher career with the dedication bonus to keep the dog follower forever.

However, the card says you pay for both talents and actions the same as regular.

Your Small But Vicious Dog may learn Tricks talents that socket into this Follower sheet. You acquire Tricks just like any other Talent cards. Your Small But Vicious Dog also gives you access to Pet action cards, which you purchase with advances.

So the argument in question is whether to treat the basic pet action cards the same as the basic spell or basic blessing actions.

As I read it, the SbVD gets two trick talent slots for free, not trick talent cards. I believe they just wanted to clarify that out of the three trick slots on the SbVD sheet, two slots are for free.

If a new player starts the game as a Ratcatcher, does their SbVD also get two free Trick cards? Much like Wizards and Priests get free spells and such? Or must the Ratcatcher player spend their purchased talents to manually buy those Tricks?

Thanks!

I'm quite certain the Ratcatcher doesn't get any free tricks. Page 156 of the Player's Guide repeatedly states they start with "two Trick talent slots " (emphasis mine, but the original text says slots not cards) and goes on to say that "You acquire Tricks just like any other Talent cards." It also says Pet Actions must be purchased with Advances.

On a related note, page 39 of the Player's Guide clarifies that Initiates (Rank 1 Priests) do not necessarily start with free spells and actions. They only get them if they spend character creation points on specific advanced skills. They included an updated sidebar in the Player's Guide to clarify what free cards Wizards and Priests get, but that sidebar makes no mention of Ratcatchers getting anything free. I take that absence as further confirmation that Ratcatcher's get nothing free (except the Dog itself, which is clearly stated on the Ratcatcher's Career Ability card and on pg 156 of the PG).

However, the card says you pay for both talents and actions the same as regular.

Your Small But Vicious Dog may learn Tricks talents that socket into this Follower sheet. You acquire Tricks just like any other Talent cards. Your Small But Vicious Dog also gives you access to Pet action cards, which you purchase with advances.

So the argument in question is whether to treat the basic pet action cards the same as the basic spell or basic blessing actions.

What "basic pet actions" are you talking about? I just looked at the cards that came in my Player's Kit, and their corresponding entries in the Player's Guide, and none of them have the "basic" keyword.