Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JackSnape 07-15-07, 05:40 PM	I'm planning a treat for a Bbn who has a high handle animal skill, and always has at least 1 dog-type pet. His current pet "Killer" (he likes intentionally uninspired names) is a riding dog with the magebred and warbeast templates. I want to use an NPC Druid to awaken Killer. I plan on making the adventure have a point where the PCs decide wheather to kill the druid or go on a quest for her and telling the Bbns player that the druid will awaken the dog while they're on the quest (in or out of game not decided.) I'll also tell the player that the awakened animal will be able to take levels in it's own right, but won't hang out as an NPC very long unless the BBn takes the leadership feat. Anway I think I know the player well enough to guess she'll go for the awakened animal, so what problems am I likely to encounter should I end up with an awakened animal as a cohort?
Shinryouga 07-15-07, 06:03 PM	Consider that an awakened animal still has problems with interacting in humanoid society due to not having hands. On a purely mechanical level, the cost of barding and amulets of mighty fists (since it can't wield a weapon) are much higher than magic weapons and armor for a humanoid creature of the same size (not so much the barding, but definitely the amulet). But if the animal goes into a spellcasting class, you need to decide if it can substitute the somatic components with its own, or if it needs a feat similar to natural spell. Mainly, the lack of hands will be a problem, but as a cohort, it shouldn't come up so much as it would with a proactive PC.
JackSnape 07-16-07, 06:00 PM	Thanks Shinryouga, I hadn't considered costs of magic items. Anyone else? I'm a bit nervous about bringing a cohort that isn't humanoid, have other DMs had success with this?
mtbOgre 07-16-07, 11:23 PM	Thanks Shinryouga, I hadn't considered costs of magic items. Anyone else? I'm a bit nervous about bringing a cohort that isn't humanoid, have other DMs had success with this? Haven't tried it myself but I'm curious what class the animal cohort might take levels in? Fighter? Barbarian? Thief? I suppose druid might be appropriate but maybe you would need to limit it to spells that skip a material component.
runestar 07-17-07, 12:01 AM	See if you can arrange for a permanent greater magic fang to be cast on the awakened dog - it is cheaper than amulet of mighty fists, but faces the risk of being dispelled. Or buy a wand of greater magic fang +5, and have the rogue use 1 charge/day - it lasts for 20 hours per use anyways. However, you might still face the problem of overcoming alignment/metal-based drs. Barding is not cheap, so see if you can have the mage cast mage armour or something. They can use most of the magic eq you can use, so bracers of armour, amulet of NA, rings of prot are good to go. As for hands, I think there is a magic item called gloves of man in either SS, lords of madness or master of the wild. It should let your dog manipulate items as though it had hands. Regarding speech, find some way of accessing telepathy, either through rary's telepathic bond + permanency, or that torc in master of the wild. Nothing much that cannot be worked around with access to the right magic gear.:)