Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Disturbed1 03-02-04, 03:05 PM	ok, so when i am able to, i am planning on casting awaken on my wolf animal companion. when i get to the lvl to be able to cast the spell, ill be lvl 9 druid(and he will have 9hd, he got to start with 3 instead of 2). so i cast it on him, and he isnt my animal comanion anymore. does he reatin the bonuses that he receivd for bein my companion? also, once awakened, i can tehn give him class lvls, correct? assuming he keeps the bonuses, do i give him a class lvl for each hd he has? or just start form there? what class would you suggest? thx for the help dis1
Seeker95 03-02-04, 08:44 PM	Originally posted by Disturbed1 also, once awakened, i can then give him class lvls, correct? No. You can't give him anything except his freedom. Once he is awakened, your DM can do whatever s/he wants to do with him. An awakened animal companion becomes an NPC. It is not a cohort (but can be). It is not a companion. It is not a Player Character. It is an NPC. (Note: Your DM might be convinced into letting you run the awakened animal companion as a Player Character. But unless s/he allows players to play one than one character at a time, I wouldn't recommend it.)
bitnine 03-02-04, 08:54 PM	An awakened animal can't serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount. Yeah, that looks fairly clear. Although, hm. Is there anywhere that specially mentions that you can't have an awakened animal serve as a cohort?
Zherog 03-02-04, 09:18 PM	Nope. An awakened companion can indeed fill the role of cohort (assuming you have the leadership feat, of course).
Disturbed1 03-03-04, 09:42 AM	well that MIGHT have answered one of my 3 questions.... so, once awakened, he goes back to having 3hd? and once again do i give him class lvls for each hd he has, or just start from where he is? what class would you usggest? i have the leadership feat, so dont post if that is all your gonna say.... thx dis1
Zherog 03-03-04, 10:55 AM	I'm not clear exactly what happens to the bonuses the animal received while your animal companion, to be completely honest. As a DM, I would be inclined to allow the creature to keep them., but it's something I would have to do a bit of research on before I made a final decision. What I do know is the creature would not start with any class levels after being awakened. However, since it would be an NPC, it could then begin gaining XP, and can use that XP to gain character levels on top of it's racial hit dice. As for what classes to give it levels in, that really depends on the creature. For a wolf, I would consider either fighter or barbarian levels.
Disturbed1 03-03-04, 11:00 AM	that helps thx i was thinking that he would keep them, cause thats like the effect of what he gains for adventuring with me for so long. i was thiking fig/barb as well, but fig seems to go off of weaps too much(id run out of feats that would work for him), but maybe a barb, i was also thinking rogue, maybe a combo fo the 2!!!!!!!!!!!! one more question. once awakened, it cant become a lengenday animal can it? cause its type sint animal anymore correct? thx again dis1
Krelios 03-03-04, 11:12 AM	Unfortunately, awakening him removes the special abilities he got from being your companion just like it would if you set him free any other way. He goes back to 3 (normally 2) HD and regular wolf stats with the increased intelligence. He might also be upset now that he understands that you've weakened him, but your DM will have to decide whether the wolf prefers his physical boost (from being your Animal Companion) or his mental one and play that out appropriately.
Zherog 03-03-04, 12:16 PM	See, I found the boon of feats from Fighter levels to be a plus for the wolf. Just remember that his bite is his weapon, so when picking feats such as Wepaon Focus, Weapon Specialization, etc, he's going to select Bite as the weapon.
Disturbed1 03-03-04, 05:19 PM	well poo to the stat part about that, ill have to talk to my dm about that first then, maybe wait a while longer, and hope i can get him turned intoa lengendary animal :P also, for the fighter feats, i realize those are good, but weapon focus and speci and greater for the 2 of those are only 4 feats, after that, there isnt much of anything good that he can get, most have to do with actual weapons, or shields, well most of the ones in the phb anyway, ima look at that list again though, never know what i mgith find dis1
NoGoat 03-04-04, 01:44 AM	Stuff like Improved Trip is great on animals........
Bromabaz Silvertwister 03-04-04, 02:49 AM	I think you can keep the hit dice, and BAB, but any other add on's are gone. And get leadership before you awaken Barky, or you might lose him. and a Monk wolf is great to have on your side. no perminet magic cast on them, and they go up in power without having to spend much on armor/weapons.
Disturbed1 03-04-04, 09:32 AM	didnt even think about the trip things, and sunder might work too, hmmm..... also, i thopught about monk, but doesnt it say that they are suppose to have studied in a monastary not like its a requirement or anything, but wouldnt really make much sense thx for the help dis1