#heiracosphinx

Alce, Heiracosphinx, Keythong, Wingless Griffin, Gryff

Hippogriff, Hippogryph

Griffin, Avianfolk, Pantherat, Hiant Moth

Landshark

- cupcakeshakesnake

 The circus and animals have long gone together like peanut butter and jelly, as people enjoy seeing exotic beasts from across the world and the skill of animal trainers helping even the most mundane of animals perform extraordinary feats.

That being said, circuses and animals have, historically, not had the greatest track record, with a long string of cases of animal abuse, negligent conditions, and other inhumane practices marring that history across different companies and troupes.

Thankfully, in a fantasy RPG in which the player characters are circus performers, be it Extinction Curse or something else, they can live out a scenario where their circus would never dream of harming the animals in their care.

While the animal trainer archetype is circus themed, it really only has one feat that ties it to the circus life, and the ability to grant full animal companion mastery to any class can be a great boon to those seeking to fight alongside a bestial companion.

 The dedication for this archetype grants a young animal companion, albeit one that is trained to perform rather than what they are normally associated with skill-wise.

While perfectly adept at interacting with beasts mundanely, many animal trainers pick up the basic magic to speak to beasts, and become adept at convincing them to act on their behalf.

Eventually, their animal companion matures, and furthers it’s training in performance, even able to entrance with such maneuvers.

Masters of guiding animals, the trainers are rarely disobeyed.

There companions also continue to grow, growing into strong or agile examples of their species.

This comes to a full head when they develop fully, specializing in an appropriate way.

Even if you don’t use the circus motif, this archetype is an excellent way to grant an animal companion to a class that otherwise would not get one. Naturally, this works best with classes that gain no access to animal companions normally, but if you really wish you could try blending whatever specialized abilities of a class like druid or ranger with the ability to command and train animals for performances the way the archetype can. These can be anything from acrobatic performers that act alongside their animals, to those that command them to do tricks for onlookers, perhaps even performing magic with them.

 With this archetype, your character is implied to have a particularly strong bond with one specific animal, though as part of a circus, they may also have other animals that they train as well, though one certainly remains more special than the others to them.

  Living in the flooded city of Shariv, Gellin Barter befriended a crocodile whelp in her childhood. Naming him Leviathan, she has trained him to perform all sorts of underwater tricks, the massive reptile leaping high out of the water to bite treats and signal marks, all to earn coin from tourists.

 Not content to stay on the ground, the strix known by her stage name of Peregrin is not content to stay on the ground while commanding her trained eagle, but rather joins her in the air, performing acrobatic diving and flying stunts through hoops and other perilous hairpin turns.