Post/Author/DateTime	Post
HauptSin 09-04-06, 12:01 PM	Are there any established rules towards playing an awakened Animal as a character, with class levels and all that jazz? I remember somewhere reading that they suggest against it, mainly for Gear and Language reasons, but that's about it. Any tips?
Insane Pixie 09-04-06, 12:50 PM	You could always play an Awakened animal. (Awakened by the Awaken spell.) It gives them 2 HD of Magical Beast, as well as Int and Cha (better) sccores. I've had a player play an Awakened Monkey, it turned out really well. (We used the variant out of one of the Dragon/Dungeon mags that pegged it at ECL0.)
HauptSin 09-04-06, 01:58 PM	Yeah, that was my plan. My problem was the whole Racial modifiers thing, mainly. After many headaches and a lot of reading, I found it in the DMG, though. Next question: Somatic spell components need actual hands, right? Not just, say, paws? >_>
Insane Pixie 09-04-06, 02:46 PM	There's a feat called "Surrogate Spellcasting" is Savage Species that takes care of that.
LordTyger 09-04-06, 03:17 PM	As far as languages, I recall reading somewhere that if a creature has a high enough Intelligence, they can understand/speak languages.. of course, that's still up to the DM, mostly. On one hand, the most intelligent dog will never be able to give a coherent speech in English. On the other hand, if you are Awakened, well, it's magic, and so who's to say that the magic may allow for speech?
Insane Pixie 09-04-06, 03:21 PM	An awakened tree or animal can speak one language that you know, plus one additional language that you know per point of Intelligence bonus (if any). Up to your DM, really. I'd just say Common.
freeholder 09-04-06, 03:41 PM	The only problem I would have with playing an animal is that I couldn't really play and effective wizard because of the sub-par intelligence score adverage. 3d6 instead of 4d6 and no choice.:eek: But playing a barbarian, druid or ranger would lead to some preaty awsome backstory
HauptSin 09-04-06, 04:37 PM	Well, I'm actually making an Awakened Cat Monk, going for Dragon Disciple, but I need the ability to cast Arcane spells, so I picked a level of Sorceror, mainly so that I could at least get True Strike. Problem is, that's the only non-somatic 1st level Sorceror spell I could easily find... Though I guess that one feat *would* allow me to cast Shocking Grasp and Magic Missile.
Talisman 09-05-06, 03:28 PM	Somatic spell components need actual hands, right? Not just, say, paws? >_> Depends. If you can find a spellcasting cat (or cat-like creature), it's somatic components will be adapted for paws. Non-humanoid creatures that cast spells (such as dragons and nagas) typically have S-C's adapted for their body types. On the other paw, if you're learning from a humanoid, you'll probably need Surrogate Spellcasting.
dnddreamer 09-06-06, 10:28 AM	One of my friends played a Seer Cat. He went Psionics because of the whole Somatic spell components issue. It worked great. The only issue he had was the no opposable thumb issue (couldn't open doors, couldn't hold items except in his mouth, etc...). It's a cool role-playing effort.
bhu 09-06-06, 06:32 PM	Ive been asked to do awakened animals in my campaign, and after looking it over Im seriously considering just doing Racial Substitution Levels like they've done for the newer races.
Darth Sephiroth 09-06-06, 10:04 PM	Up to your DM, really. I'd just say Common. I believe it starts with Common+Int Mod, bonus languages must be from the caster of Awaken. I'm currently playing a Cat Draconic Sorcerer with wings