You can find the original article on my blog
The images look better there, Nexus stretched them somehow :(
Foreword
Before we take a look at the mods themselves, I want to take a minute to talk about Grumpy who sadly passed away in 2005 but his modding legacy is still here. Most of the beast companions mods here are based on his script, improved on by other modders.
The mods are listed in alphabetical order.
Abigail's Petshop by Yati An old mod but one that still does things no other mods does. This mod adds a pet shop just south of Seyda Neen. The pet selection is LARGE, it includes beasts you'd expect such as wolves and guars but also offers farm animals (chicken, ducks...) and even more exotic ones (elephant, dragon). The pets level up (and grow) as they fight, you can feed them to help them grow faster. The mod even offers a teleportation spell.
On the downside, the landscape south of Seyda Neen is heavily modified so compatibility is an issue. All in all, I would recommend this mod if you 1/don't have a heavily modded Seyda Neen 2/ want more unusual pets.
Avni the Ash-hound by Tewlowlow Avni is one of the more recent beast companions and has fancy Lua code to prove it :) Lua code means that Avni follows better than older beast companions, she can be teleported to you at the press of a button and does not have a clunky dialogue window. Avni is also adorable and requires food regularly. As she grows to trust you, you will be able to issue more orders. I also really enjoyed the lore: Avni is not just there waiting for you, there's a little bit of a story there.
Bear Companion by Baratheon79
Baratheon79 is another prolific modder of the PES-era. His bear companion mod makes use of Grumpy's beast script, so the bear will warp to the player and get stronger as the player levels up. Head to Frostmoth to find your tiny snow bear cub and watch him grow. Note that this is a fighting pet, not a pack animal, so no companion share feature.
Jac made a similar mod, Snow Bear Cub that you can found in Seyda Neen.
Cliff Racer Companion by Natakiro
Another beast companion based on Grumpy's scripts but with its own texture. Natakiro later released a Hulking Fabricant companion with the same colour scheme as the cliff racer. The mod places a big bell to recall your pet. The bell is not pretty. Keep in mind that cliff racers notoriously get stuck in trees, a companion cliff racer is no exception.
CM Partners by Cutthroat Mods
This mod adds more than 100 npcs willing to join you if they like you and if your level is at least as high as theirs. In addition, a few creatures are willing to follow you and fight for you regardless of your level. There's a cliff racer, and an ogrim, a goblin, a daedroth, maybe others, I forgot!
Creatures are hand-placed, so you'll always find the Ogrim on the road to Caldera and the Daedroth near Suran. Creatures don't level up but can be healed via dialogue. They have companion share.
The scripts are based on Grumpy's but heavily modified to add new features (I will outline those in the NPC companions modlist next week).
Corgi Companion by Melchior Dahrk
Dragon Companion by Kagz
I personally don't like this model at all but I'm adding the mod in case someone likes it. Based on Grumpy's script, so expect a Spot, but much bigger ;)
Durzilla by DonnerGott
Emma and Grumpy's mods
Here are some common features for all of the beast mods: they warp to the player, they swim but don't levitate unless they are specifically beasts of burden, they will not carry your stuff. You can ask around if you have lost your pet, it will teleport back to you, some have a ring to summon them, some give more lines of dialogue to NPC/companions created by Emma.
Companionable Cats
They're cute and they'll follow you. That is all. I recommend my Peaceful Pets mod for those: you don't want your cute kittens to run to battle and their death.
Dog Companions
Same things, but with dogs. Companions like Constance will comment on the dogs.
Wolf Companion, Spot
Spot is THE reference when it comes to beast companion mods. You have 3 esp to choose from, one for each wolf model available (white, black and brown).
Pack Guar, Lulu
From Emma, on Emma's website
Pack Donkeys
They're donkeys and they carry your stuff.
Familiar Grimlock by MentalElf
Ok, all right, the models have aged but the concept is cool, you have an egg from which you summon your familiar. Pretty cool for a Telvanni sorcerer.
Also, shoutout to MentalElf who's given us some very cool and innovative mods (The Horror mod, The Trouble with Millie, Hazel and Rupert, mannequin shop) as well as TESFILES, which was up until very recently the best way to package a mod.
Nowadays, you'll want to use Greatness7's tool, availble on the Morrowind Modding Community.
Fox Companion Rey by Abot
Friends and Foes by me
The scope of Friends and Foes is large, I basically wanted to have the best of Morrowind Comes Alive, Starfire's NPC additions and CM Partners. I think I managed it, but I'll let you be the judge of this.
As far as creature companions are concerned, I have modified and built on CM Partners:
- A much large choice of creatures
- removed the ForceGreeting you had when you approached the creature
- Cleaned up the script
- Creatures are not hand-placed, instead, they randomly will spawn in regions that make sense: the skeleton in tombs, the scrib in the Ascadian Isles, etc.
Gizmo can be shrunk or augmented, he can pacify nearby guars, he'll fight and carry your stuff, with upgrades, he can even forage and repair your gear.
Guars by Abot
Hircine's Quest by AliceL93 and myself
A quest mod on Solstheim, where you eventually get a pet fox (among other rewards).
Kolka the Wolf by Tizzo
Much like a great-great-grandfather Spot, Kolka will do tricks for meat and she comes with 3 esp to choose her colour. In addition, Tizzo has taken great care to make her a balanced companion.
Tizzo was working on an addon for Kolka to make the bonewolf model availalbe as well as Hircine, aspect of Speed.
Little Hazel and Rupert by MentalElf
Together with Lulu, Hazel and Rupert are the major pack guar mods. A unique feature for them: you can send them ahead to more than 20 locations.
Lord of the Dragons by Max
I have not tested this one, but I did use Pegas Horse Ranch, also by Max. The Dragons in this mods have similar scripts. As you know riding scripts can be a little janky but that's just the way it is for now! This mod uses the same dragon models are Reign of Fire (see below).
Mechanized Minions by Dinmenel
Your favourite Dwemer enthusiast and Telvanni will teach you how to create Dwemer creatures. You will need material to do so, hammers to repair your minions. The creatures follow and fight for you but they do not level up.
Morte by Jac
A mod for all the Planescape Torment enthusiasts that add Morte, the talking skull. Morte is chatty, you will recognise some of his lines from Planescape Torment. He has a one time upgrade as well. His script is based on Grumpy's and improved by Melian (Teleportation mod, Comes-By-road, Scripting for Dummies.)
Paxon, the Pack Rat by Tizzo
Paxon will obviously carry your loot, he can also shed some light.
Reign of Fire by Razhkul and Gluby
Shock Centurion by Vorwoda
This mod expands on the Telvanni quest where the player learns to summon a Shock Centurion. The Centurion you normally get is a glorified summon that lasts until destroyed. With this mod, you will gradually improve it to give it the features you expect of a follower: wait/follow commands, companion share, teleportation options, water walking and levitation as well as self-repair.
TelShadow Companion by Safebox
TelShadow Companion used a modified script from Tizzo's mods
Tetra the Pack Guar by Tizzo
Tizzo was my guest during a livestream, we talked extensively about Paxon, Tetra and Kolka
The Guar Whisperer by Merlord
The Guar Whisperer is designed to work flawlessly with Ashfall: you can see your ashfall gear (wood, tent, axe, bedroll) carried by your guar. They can also carry a lantern attached to their pack.
Ulf by Stripes
Ulf is a dog with features (warp, fight, tricks) much like Spot with an important difference: Ulf will grow up in size and stats once a day if you feed him rat meat. He also has his texture.
Vaba-Amus Companion Character by TheDrunkenMudcrab
Waalx Guenhwyvar by Waalx
War Kagouti Companion by Melchior Dahrk
I recommend you check out Companion Management Mods, they make even the most basic follower (vanilla escort quest, anyone?) half decent.
Stay tuned as I put together a list of NPC companions. That will take a bit longer as companions tend to have more unique features.
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