A Stardew Valley mod that allows the creation of custom companions, which can follow the player or be added to maps as creatures.
Custom Companions only requires SMAPI, which enables support for spawning custom creatures via the map back tile property.
Json Assets is only required if the content pack being added utilizes rings to add followers.
See the wiki for detailed instructions on how to create content pack for Custom Companions.
See this section in the wiki for exact details on how to spawn via a map tile property.
Some example companions are included in this repository, which can be found here or downloaded here.
You're free to use any of the example ring assets in your own content pack, so long as credit is given.