This is an idea I've been playing around with. What if we made "pet" a special item type that provides a small bonus.
The first and most obvious one is a dog. The dog gives you a small bonus to your hunting and combat skills.
A crow gives you a bonus to your "adventurer" skill.
A cat gives you a bonus to spell-casting (since they can see in octarine)
This one might be a little much but a horse could give you a bonus to travel speed and combat.
An adventurer can have just one pet. Collecting them all and turning into a traveling petting zoo would be ridiculous. Maybe if we use the unique item code for pets they can also be named.
Now here's the tough part, your pet can die. Dogs and horses can be killed while hunting rogues. A crow can be killed by a predator while trying to find shinys for you. Finally when using a cat as a familiar for spellcasting there's a chance they'll become *ahem* part of the spell. Finally, any time a noble arrests an adventurer, they'll have the option to kill the adventurers's pet. Think of it. One day Johannes Wicker is just minding his own business then a mean noble beats him up and kills his dog. A few years and three recommendations later and he's back for revenge.
I think pets would provide a fun way to customize a little more. As long as their bonuses remain small there shouldn't be a risk of them seriously impacting gameplay.
