Awakened Cat Wizard? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Awakened Cat Wizard? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
The Quarterling
05-12-04, 10:48 PM So I want to make an awakened cat who is a wizard. What I want are some opinions on how to go about this. So assuming you use the awakened cat template over at Enworld and the awakened animals thread here. How would you make a wizard cat? Can a cat even manipulate its appendages to cast spells? Would you need to take metamagic feats to make this viable? Ie. Eschew Materials, Silent Spell, Still Spell, etc. Also I know you cannot have awakened animals as familiars, but what if a familar became awakened. Would it cease to be a familiar, or is this just not possible? Ie are familiars immune to awaken. If it is possible, how do you reconcile the Int bonus a familiar gains? I am very interested in playing an awakened cat character who was once a wizard's familiar. Me an my DM are trying to figure out how this would done. Any help would be appreciated guys.

Another thing I am wondering is what kind of familiar would a cat wizard take? A rat? :angel: Seems like it would be too tempting to have it for lunch? What do you think about a cat taking a human commoner as a familiar? That would reconcile the cat's poor ability to carry things and purchase equipment, housing, etc.

Weird topic, I know. But come on guys let's see what we can come up with!
green_yawgmoth
05-12-04, 11:31 PM In Savage Species there is a feat called Surrogate Spellcasting that lets non humanoids cast spells. It's nifty.
Korone
05-12-04, 11:56 PM A human commoner as a familiar?
This, would be funny.

NPC: Hi there commoner! Where are you going?
Familiar: I follow my master.
NPC: Your master? I see no one..
Cat: HEY, look down you dump ass!
NPC: :eek:
Conaill
05-13-04, 12:09 AM Yup, if you can, Surrogate Spellcasting is the way to go!

Two caveats:

(1) It has a Wis 13+ prerequisite, which may be a problem for many animals. The standard cat for example only has a Wis 12. Of course, for an Awakened Cat *PC* you get to roll the stats, so make sure you get that Wis 13.

(2) Surrogate Spellcasting only replaces the normal humanoid Somatic and Verbal components. You'll still need to use Material components unless you have Eschew Materials.

As for some of your other questions... An Awakened animal can no longer be your familiar, but there's nothing that says you can't cast Awaken on a familiar. As with animal companions, an ex-familiar will lose it's familiar benefits over time (as suggested by the Sage). And a good familiar for an awakened cat wizard would be anything that has *hands*! Spider monkey familiar would be a good choice. I believe there's some size restrictions for familiars, so you may need the Improved Familiar feat, or just come up with a Diminutive monkey version.
TieraStarr
05-13-04, 12:11 AM In Tomb and Blood they list familiars for tiny or smaller masters: bat, ferret (+2 reflex), hedgehog (+1 nat AC), mouse (+2 move silently), screech owl (+2 move silently), shrew (has a poisonous bite), sparrow hawk, thrush (speaks one language), toad (+2 Con).

Updating to 3½, I would assume those +2 move silently bonuses would increase to +3, and that +2 Con would be replaced by +3 hp.

However, I think going smaller would be fun. How about Jiminy cricket? or a hummingbird? or a flee?
Edymnion
05-13-04, 12:12 AM You can't Awaken your Familiar, because familiars are Magical Beasts, not Animals. They aren't valid targets for the Awaken Animal spell.

But, for the sake of argument, lets use Druids/Rangers and their Animal Companions. If you've got an Animal Companion and you Awaken it, the animal will strike off on it's own unless you take the Leadership feat and take it as a Cohort.
Conaill
05-13-04, 01:01 AM Yeah, you're right... I forgot about the Magical Beast thing. Guess the wizard could dismiss his familiar first, wait for it's Int to drop back below 3, and then Awaken it. (Presumably with the consent of the familiar of course. The initial descent back into animal state isn't going to be pleasant, but it knows there's a reward at the end of the process.)

As for Animal Companions (easier case, since they stay Animals, per the Sage), they wouldn't necessarily have to "strike off on their own". They merely become friendly NPC's, under control of the DM.
Conaill
05-13-04, 01:03 AM Oooh... awakened cat wizard with a mouse familiar!

Classic. :D
eonblueapocalypse
05-13-04, 02:31 AM A Screech Owl would be cool. +2 Move Silently along with the ability to communicate with the Screech Owl would give you a great scouting duo.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Quarterling 05-12-04, 10:48 PM	So I want to make an awakened cat who is a wizard. What I want are some opinions on how to go about this. So assuming you use the awakened cat template over at Enworld and the awakened animals thread here. How would you make a wizard cat? Can a cat even manipulate its appendages to cast spells? Would you need to take metamagic feats to make this viable? Ie. Eschew Materials, Silent Spell, Still Spell, etc. Also I know you cannot have awakened animals as familiars, but what if a familar became awakened. Would it cease to be a familiar, or is this just not possible? Ie are familiars immune to awaken. If it is possible, how do you reconcile the Int bonus a familiar gains? I am very interested in playing an awakened cat character who was once a wizard's familiar. Me an my DM are trying to figure out how this would done. Any help would be appreciated guys. Another thing I am wondering is what kind of familiar would a cat wizard take? A rat? :angel: Seems like it would be too tempting to have it for lunch? What do you think about a cat taking a human commoner as a familiar? That would reconcile the cat's poor ability to carry things and purchase equipment, housing, etc. Weird topic, I know. But come on guys let's see what we can come up with!
green_yawgmoth 05-12-04, 11:31 PM	In Savage Species there is a feat called Surrogate Spellcasting that lets non humanoids cast spells. It's nifty.
Korone 05-12-04, 11:56 PM	A human commoner as a familiar? This, would be funny. NPC: Hi there commoner! Where are you going? Familiar: I follow my master. NPC: Your master? I see no one.. Cat: HEY, look down you dump ass! NPC: :eek:
Conaill 05-13-04, 12:09 AM	Yup, if you can, Surrogate Spellcasting is the way to go! Two caveats: (1) It has a Wis 13+ prerequisite, which may be a problem for many animals. The standard cat for example only has a Wis 12. Of course, for an Awakened Cat PC you get to roll the stats, so make sure you get that Wis 13. (2) Surrogate Spellcasting only replaces the normal humanoid Somatic and Verbal components. You'll still need to use Material components unless you have Eschew Materials. As for some of your other questions... An Awakened animal can no longer be your familiar, but there's nothing that says you can't cast Awaken on a familiar. As with animal companions, an ex-familiar will lose it's familiar benefits over time (as suggested by the Sage). And a good familiar for an awakened cat wizard would be anything that has hands! Spider monkey familiar would be a good choice. I believe there's some size restrictions for familiars, so you may need the Improved Familiar feat, or just come up with a Diminutive monkey version.
TieraStarr 05-13-04, 12:11 AM	In Tomb and Blood they list familiars for tiny or smaller masters: bat, ferret (+2 reflex), hedgehog (+1 nat AC), mouse (+2 move silently), screech owl (+2 move silently), shrew (has a poisonous bite), sparrow hawk, thrush (speaks one language), toad (+2 Con). Updating to 3½, I would assume those +2 move silently bonuses would increase to +3, and that +2 Con would be replaced by +3 hp. However, I think going smaller would be fun. How about Jiminy cricket? or a hummingbird? or a flee?
Edymnion 05-13-04, 12:12 AM	You can't Awaken your Familiar, because familiars are Magical Beasts, not Animals. They aren't valid targets for the Awaken Animal spell. But, for the sake of argument, lets use Druids/Rangers and their Animal Companions. If you've got an Animal Companion and you Awaken it, the animal will strike off on it's own unless you take the Leadership feat and take it as a Cohort.
Conaill 05-13-04, 01:01 AM	Yeah, you're right... I forgot about the Magical Beast thing. Guess the wizard could dismiss his familiar first, wait for it's Int to drop back below 3, and then Awaken it. (Presumably with the consent of the familiar of course. The initial descent back into animal state isn't going to be pleasant, but it knows there's a reward at the end of the process.) As for Animal Companions (easier case, since they stay Animals, per the Sage), they wouldn't necessarily have to "strike off on their own". They merely become friendly NPC's, under control of the DM.
Conaill 05-13-04, 01:03 AM	Oooh... awakened cat wizard with a mouse familiar! Classic. :D
eonblueapocalypse 05-13-04, 02:31 AM	A Screech Owl would be cool. +2 Move Silently along with the ability to communicate with the Screech Owl would give you a great scouting duo.