Familiars and Animal Companions

With the events of "The Longest Year", one side effect is a change to how Familiars and Animal Companions are viewed.

For purposes of this post, Familiars and Animal Companions will be referred to as "Companions". Additionally, there may be an addendum to statements based on whether your companion is monstrous in nature.

'''OOC Note: A future-project will feature a more PnP-style Companion system that will allow a more extensive amount of work to select a true companion that is purely non-combat. Until that point, Companions should be treated as outlined below.'''

For mechanical changes see:
 * Familiar Changes
 * Animal Companions

Summoning a Companion:
There is no longer a steep effort to obtain familiars/companions. Companions are now summoned directly from the Astral Plane of existence and do not "die" in the sense that normal beings "die". When a companion suffers too many wounds, they retreat to the Astral Plane of their own volition to heal. While the summoner always summons the same creature from the Astral Plane, a spell similar to "Summon Creature 1" summons a different creature each time it is cast, this is what creates a different bond than a typical summon.

Roleplay in Town:
Companions should not be used in towns or civilized areas. The limiting of magic have made people even more on-edge to the concept and it would be exceptionally rare to have a trained wild animal following you in town. Companions that are used in town will be treated like the creatures they are.
 * Monstrous Creatures: Monstrous Creatures (PsuedoDragons, Hell Hounds, etc) seen in town will likely be hunted down and killed.

Roleplaying Companion Death:
As mentioned above, companions are now linked to the Astral Plane and return to said plane when their wounds grow too extreme. Players may be concerned for the well-begin of the companion, however only the summoner would still feel the lingering connection with their companion.