Awakened animal - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Awakened animal

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
chimerus
Jan 13, 2009 12:34:11 Anyone got any information on using awakened animals as PCs? There were two I was looking at in particular, the Eagle (MM 272) and Raven (MM 278). The Awaken Spell is (PHB 202) grants 2HD, language, stat bonuses.

I was thinking of using the Raven as a spellcaster, the Eagle would be some martial class like barbarian, warblade, scout maybe.
EDIT: I went with monk for the eagle's class! unarmed and unarmored!

Racial mods worked out using Savage Species. Items in parentheses are granted by Awaken.

Raven:
STR -10, DEX +4, INT -8 (+3d6), WIS +2, CHA-4 (+d3)
Tiny size.
Low-Light Vision, Weapon Finesse, base creature can speak.
Speed: Ground 10ft. Fly 40 ft. (Avg.)

Eagle:
DEX+4, CON+2, INT-8 (+3d6), WIS+4, CHA-4 (+d3)
Small size, progresses to Medium.
Low Light Vision, Weapon Finesse, +1 Natural armor, +8 spot.
Speed: Ground 10ft. Fly 80ft. (Avg.)
#2
mahrke
Jan 13, 2009 12:54:44 Keep in mind that the racial adjustment to INT isn't -8, it simply sets their INT to 2, as animals always have an INT of 1 or 2.
#3
umopapisdn
Jan 13, 2009 15:22:31 The coolest things to do with an awakened animal PC is to either get a familiar/animal companion of the same animal, or pretend to be the familiar/animal companion of a party member. And if you can boost your CHA, you can take leadership and pretend to be your cohort's familiar.
#4
emy
Jan 13, 2009 15:24:22 Unfortunately, there are no rules for animals or awakened animals as players. Certain magical beasts with high mental stats have a listed level adjustment, but they're the exception. Any animal PC races would have to be houseruled in as with this velociraptor swordsage. There are the "anthropomorphic animal" stats listed in Savage Species -- but they aren't actually animals. They're monstrous humanoids.

If you want a way to effectively play as an animal within the normal rules, there's always the Druid route. Just stay wild shaped 24/7. Or if you feel like something more odd, a Kaorti Fiend of Possession ubermount build. Just possess your mount instead of riding it.

edit: I take it back.
Not Kaorti.
Magic-Blooded Lesser Aasimar Divine Minion of Sebek.
So +1 LA, no racial hit dice, outsider type, [evil] subtype, some resistances, SLAs, wildshape into a crocodile, +4 charisma
Since the FoP abilities are Cha based :D
#5
chimerus
Jan 13, 2009 16:03:19
The coolest things to do with an awakened animal PC is to either get a familiar/animal companion of the same animal, or pretend to be the familiar/animal companion of a party member. And if you can boost your CHA, you can take leadership and pretend to be your cohort's familiar.

LOL that sounds pretty awesome! like having mirror image on all the time! I heard that getting your own familiar wasn't a very good idea tho, as it could drain your exp. Besides, there are some interesting class substitutions for wizard's familiar in PHB 2. Stuff like 10ft. teleport and mirror image.

Yea, I took a look through SS. Anthropomorphic animals... neh.

DM I usually game with starts us at about lvl 3.

and whoa.. thats a looooong race lol. where are those classes from? because that sounds pretty sweet for only +1 LA!

Oh, I probably would take flyby attack with the birds. wicked sweet.
#6
phaedrusxy
Jan 13, 2009 16:10:47 That's not the way their stats work. You don't get a (-8+3d6) racial modifier for Int. You roll 3d6 for Int. It doesn't work very well with point buy. Maybe use the Elite Array, and put the 8 in Int (which gets dropped to a 2)?

Also, awakened animals make nice psionicists, especially Ardents since they use Wisdom as their manifesting stat.
#7
emy
Jan 13, 2009 20:54:23 Also -- since we're already in houserule territory -- you might want to ask the DM if you can take class levels instead of those 2 animal hit dice you'd get when Awakened. I mean, some racial HD are pretty good (Outsider, Dragon), but Animal HD are weak, especially compared with class levels.

and whoa.. thats a looooong race lol. where are those classes from? because that sounds pretty sweet for only +1 LA!

Fiend of Possession is from Fiend Folio.

Magic-blooded is from Dragon Magazine 306. It's in the 3.0 template index on crystalkeep too. Among other minor things, it gives -2 Wis, +2 Cha.
Lesser Aasimar are from the back of the Player's Guide to Faerun. They're the same as normal Aasimar except with +0 LA instead of +1, and Humanoid (Planetouched) type instead of Outsider.
Divine Minion is from this web article. Choose Sebek as a patron to make you an Outsider (Evil), and qualify for Fiend of Possession.
Alternatively, anyone with the Otherworldly feat (PGtF) for the Outsider type and the Ritual of Alignment from Savage Species for the (Evil) subtype can qualify easily.

I'd only recommend using Fiend of Possession to play an animal character if your DM doesn't want to make houserules for awakened animals. Fiend of Possession is better used for other things. :p

There are also some magical beasts that could probably pretend to be animals. Beguilers come to mind (Forgotten Realms: Shining South).

(whew, getting kinda faerun-y in here.)
#8
alphabravo
Jan 14, 2009 7:53:39 No, a awakened Raven PC would have Str -10, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha -2

Int is +0, because "Roll 3d6 for Int" is short for "Generate Int as a normal stat", and Cha is -2 because 1d3 averages to 2, and you don't want to use randoms.
#9
chimerus
Jan 14, 2009 10:04:23 that sounds alright. having set adjuctments sure makes point buy and char creation easier.

with a racial mod of str-10, if i left str at 8 from point buy, would it default to 1?
#10
emy
Jan 14, 2009 13:52:08 Not quite. Ability scores below 10 are handled differently than those above 10 for monster PCs.
#11
chimerus
Jan 14, 2009 15:19:20 I... Dont quite understand. its str score as a monster is 1, so as a pc it ranges from 3 to 11?
#12
phaedrusxy
Jan 14, 2009 15:26:12
I... Dont quite understand. its str score as a monster is 1, so as a pc it ranges from 3 to 11?

No, the table on the left is for Int only. Int cannot be below 3 for a playable character. The table on the right is for everything else. Your Str would still be 1 if you put an 8 in it.
#13
chimerus
Jan 14, 2009 15:30:28 yea, table on the right. I think i get what you are saying now, if the raven score as a monster was two, then if i used it as a pc and used point buy of 8, I would get a skill of 2, not get 8-10, correct?
#14
phaedrusxy
Jan 14, 2009 15:45:24 Right.
#15
tytalus
Jan 15, 2009 4:22:01
I heard that getting your own familiar wasn't a very good idea tho, as it could drain your exp.

Familiars and animal companions do not (1) gain their own experience (2) reduce the owner's or the party's XP.

They are class features and thus considered to be part of the PC that they belong to.
#16
chimerus
Jan 15, 2009 16:18:07 by dying, i meant. i heard you lose exp when they die, and they only have half of your meager hp.
#17
NiteCyper
Jan 15, 2009 20:39:57 I think symbotic creature template (LA +1) might work as well. It's horribly powerful, from what I hear, though. That Fighter with the Quasit guest at CR 2 example build in the Symbiotic Creature Handbook seemed like a powerhouse.
#18
atomickitkat
Jan 16, 2009 10:05:19 Geomancer. Because nothing says funny like an Eagle with Eagle Claws Drifts, thus looking like an Archaeopteryx.:P
#19
widow
Jan 18, 2009 7:17:12
Magic-blooded is from Dragon Magazine 306. It's in the 3.0 template index on crystalkeep too. Among other minor things, it gives -2 Wis, +2 Cha.
Lesser Aasimar are from the back of the Player's Guide to Faerun. They're the same as normal Aasimar except with +0 LA instead of +1, and Humanoid (Planetouched) type instead of Outsider.
Divine Minion is from this web article. Choose Sebek as a patron to make you an Outsider (Evil), and qualify for Fiend of Possession.
Alternatively, anyone with the Otherworldly feat (PGtF) for the Outsider type and the Ritual of Alignment from Savage Species for the (Evil) subtype can qualify easily.

I'd only recommend using Fiend of Possession to play an animal character if your DM doesn't want to make houserules for awakened animals. Fiend of Possession is better used for other things. :p

The creature's type changes to outsider, and any alignment subtypes it has changes to match the corresponding alignment subtypes of its deity.

I wish that template added an alignment subtype, but it only changes pre-existing alignment subtypes. One way around this is to play a bladeling with the chaotic subtype, but that is an addition +1 LA. I would still go with the Kaorti. They have the evil subtype, but that does not require you to be evil in alignment (although you will still be treated as such for spells and effects). My favorite if everything is available is still:

Kaorti 2HD/2 LA/ 1 Bloodline/1 Telepathy/1 Fiend of Possession (FoP)/1 Bloodline/4 FoP/ 1 Bloodline/ 1 FoP/1 Fiend of Corruption/ 2 Uncanny Trickster (advance bloodlines)/1 Thrallherd/1 Uncanny Trickster

Bloodline is from unearthed arcana. The main use in this build is it progresses all class abilities that are level based. 6 FoP+3 blood+2 more from Uncanny trickster lets you make a +11 item (Ever Dancing from the epic book is nice, be a fly sword). Fiend of Corruption and FoP both give the ability to boost stats, so it can just ride a creature too. Thrallherd from the psionics handbook gives you a cohort that is a complete slave and easy to replace (your ride). Take the martial stance feat from the book of 9 swords to pick up Hide as a class skill.

Another option is the Diabolus from dragon 327. It is an outsider with the chaotic subtype, which with the Divine Minion template would change to evil. Only problem is it was updated in the Dragon Compendium to have a +1 LA.

For awakened animals, I always wanted to rock out a horse with the Horseshoes of the Flame magic item from savage species. It gives you +10 Int, +6 Cha, +2 Dex, fly speed good 90', and 1d4 fire damage on your hooves. These bonuses are all unlisted and can be activated 3 times a day for 7 hours each time. It would make for a nice psion.

Sorry if I ninja'ed the thread off topic. I love FoP's.

Edit: For you monk Eagle Idea, how about monk/Psychic warrior. Both run off of Wisdom. The monk can give you the unarmored bonus and evasion, while Psychic warrior's claws of the beast will lead to some hellish claw damage on that eagle. Don't forget to take Practiced Manifestor to push up that Manifestor level. There is also a necklace in savage species that lets you apply weapon enchantments to natural attacks (remeber unarmed attacks also can count as natural weapons so even if you don't go with the PW, you can still use with your monk). Another option would be Monk 11 followed by Kensia (Complete warrior) which would also allow you to enchant your claws or Unarmed attacks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 chimerus Jan 13, 2009 12:34:11	Anyone got any information on using awakened animals as PCs? There were two I was looking at in particular, the Eagle (MM 272) and Raven (MM 278). The Awaken Spell is (PHB 202) grants 2HD, language, stat bonuses. I was thinking of using the Raven as a spellcaster, the Eagle would be some martial class like barbarian, warblade, scout maybe. EDIT: I went with monk for the eagle's class! unarmed and unarmored! Racial mods worked out using Savage Species. Items in parentheses are granted by Awaken. Raven: STR -10, DEX +4, INT -8 (+3d6), WIS +2, CHA-4 (+d3) Tiny size. Low-Light Vision, Weapon Finesse, base creature can speak. Speed: Ground 10ft. Fly 40 ft. (Avg.) Eagle: DEX+4, CON+2, INT-8 (+3d6), WIS+4, CHA-4 (+d3) Small size, progresses to Medium. Low Light Vision, Weapon Finesse, +1 Natural armor, +8 spot. Speed: Ground 10ft. Fly 80ft. (Avg.)
#2 mahrke Jan 13, 2009 12:54:44	Keep in mind that the racial adjustment to INT isn't -8, it simply sets their INT to 2, as animals always have an INT of 1 or 2.
#3 umopapisdn Jan 13, 2009 15:22:31	The coolest things to do with an awakened animal PC is to either get a familiar/animal companion of the same animal, or pretend to be the familiar/animal companion of a party member. And if you can boost your CHA, you can take leadership and pretend to be your cohort's familiar.
#4 emy Jan 13, 2009 15:24:22	Unfortunately, there are no rules for animals or awakened animals as players. Certain magical beasts with high mental stats have a listed level adjustment, but they're the exception. Any animal PC races would have to be houseruled in as with this velociraptor swordsage. There are the "anthropomorphic animal" stats listed in Savage Species -- but they aren't actually animals. They're monstrous humanoids. If you want a way to effectively play as an animal within the normal rules, there's always the Druid route. Just stay wild shaped 24/7. Or if you feel like something more odd, a Kaorti Fiend of Possession ubermount build. Just possess your mount instead of riding it. edit: I take it back. Not Kaorti. Magic-Blooded Lesser Aasimar Divine Minion of Sebek. So +1 LA, no racial hit dice, outsider type, [evil] subtype, some resistances, SLAs, wildshape into a crocodile, +4 charisma Since the FoP abilities are Cha based :D
#5 chimerus Jan 13, 2009 16:03:19	The coolest things to do with an awakened animal PC is to either get a familiar/animal companion of the same animal, or pretend to be the familiar/animal companion of a party member. And if you can boost your CHA, you can take leadership and pretend to be your cohort's familiar. LOL that sounds pretty awesome! like having mirror image on all the time! I heard that getting your own familiar wasn't a very good idea tho, as it could drain your exp. Besides, there are some interesting class substitutions for wizard's familiar in PHB 2. Stuff like 10ft. teleport and mirror image. Yea, I took a look through SS. Anthropomorphic animals... neh. DM I usually game with starts us at about lvl 3. and whoa.. thats a looooong race lol. where are those classes from? because that sounds pretty sweet for only +1 LA! Oh, I probably would take flyby attack with the birds. wicked sweet.
#6 phaedrusxy Jan 13, 2009 16:10:47	That's not the way their stats work. You don't get a (-8+3d6) racial modifier for Int. You roll 3d6 for Int. It doesn't work very well with point buy. Maybe use the Elite Array, and put the 8 in Int (which gets dropped to a 2)? Also, awakened animals make nice psionicists, especially Ardents since they use Wisdom as their manifesting stat.
#7 emy Jan 13, 2009 20:54:23	Also -- since we're already in houserule territory -- you might want to ask the DM if you can take class levels instead of those 2 animal hit dice you'd get when Awakened. I mean, some racial HD are pretty good (Outsider, Dragon), but Animal HD are weak, especially compared with class levels. and whoa.. thats a looooong race lol. where are those classes from? because that sounds pretty sweet for only +1 LA! Fiend of Possession is from Fiend Folio. Magic-blooded is from Dragon Magazine 306. It's in the 3.0 template index on crystalkeep too. Among other minor things, it gives -2 Wis, +2 Cha. Lesser Aasimar are from the back of the Player's Guide to Faerun. They're the same as normal Aasimar except with +0 LA instead of +1, and Humanoid (Planetouched) type instead of Outsider. Divine Minion is from this web article. Choose Sebek as a patron to make you an Outsider (Evil), and qualify for Fiend of Possession. Alternatively, anyone with the Otherworldly feat (PGtF) for the Outsider type and the Ritual of Alignment from Savage Species for the (Evil) subtype can qualify easily. I'd only recommend using Fiend of Possession to play an animal character if your DM doesn't want to make houserules for awakened animals. Fiend of Possession is better used for other things. :p There are also some magical beasts that could probably pretend to be animals. Beguilers come to mind (Forgotten Realms: Shining South). (whew, getting kinda faerun-y in here.)
#8 alphabravo Jan 14, 2009 7:53:39	No, a awakened Raven PC would have Str -10, Dex +4, Con +0, Int +0, Wis +2, Cha -2 Int is +0, because "Roll 3d6 for Int" is short for "Generate Int as a normal stat", and Cha is -2 because 1d3 averages to 2, and you don't want to use randoms.
#9 chimerus Jan 14, 2009 10:04:23	that sounds alright. having set adjuctments sure makes point buy and char creation easier. with a racial mod of str-10, if i left str at 8 from point buy, would it default to 1?
#10 emy Jan 14, 2009 13:52:08	Not quite. Ability scores below 10 are handled differently than those above 10 for monster PCs.
#11 chimerus Jan 14, 2009 15:19:20	I... Dont quite understand. its str score as a monster is 1, so as a pc it ranges from 3 to 11?
#12 phaedrusxy Jan 14, 2009 15:26:12	I... Dont quite understand. its str score as a monster is 1, so as a pc it ranges from 3 to 11? No, the table on the left is for Int only. Int cannot be below 3 for a playable character. The table on the right is for everything else. Your Str would still be 1 if you put an 8 in it.
#13 chimerus Jan 14, 2009 15:30:28	yea, table on the right. I think i get what you are saying now, if the raven score as a monster was two, then if i used it as a pc and used point buy of 8, I would get a skill of 2, not get 8-10, correct?
#14 phaedrusxy Jan 14, 2009 15:45:24	Right.
#15 tytalus Jan 15, 2009 4:22:01	I heard that getting your own familiar wasn't a very good idea tho, as it could drain your exp. Familiars and animal companions do not (1) gain their own experience (2) reduce the owner's or the party's XP. They are class features and thus considered to be part of the PC that they belong to.
#16 chimerus Jan 15, 2009 16:18:07	by dying, i meant. i heard you lose exp when they die, and they only have half of your meager hp.
#17 NiteCyper Jan 15, 2009 20:39:57	I think symbotic creature template (LA +1) might work as well. It's horribly powerful, from what I hear, though. That Fighter with the Quasit guest at CR 2 example build in the Symbiotic Creature Handbook seemed like a powerhouse.
#18 atomickitkat Jan 16, 2009 10:05:19	Geomancer. Because nothing says funny like an Eagle with Eagle Claws Drifts, thus looking like an Archaeopteryx.:P
#19 widow Jan 18, 2009 7:17:12	Magic-blooded is from Dragon Magazine 306. It's in the 3.0 template index on crystalkeep too. Among other minor things, it gives -2 Wis, +2 Cha. Lesser Aasimar are from the back of the Player's Guide to Faerun. They're the same as normal Aasimar except with +0 LA instead of +1, and Humanoid (Planetouched) type instead of Outsider. Divine Minion is from this web article. Choose Sebek as a patron to make you an Outsider (Evil), and qualify for Fiend of Possession. Alternatively, anyone with the Otherworldly feat (PGtF) for the Outsider type and the Ritual of Alignment from Savage Species for the (Evil) subtype can qualify easily. I'd only recommend using Fiend of Possession to play an animal character if your DM doesn't want to make houserules for awakened animals. Fiend of Possession is better used for other things. :p The creature's type changes to outsider, and any alignment subtypes it has changes to match the corresponding alignment subtypes of its deity. I wish that template added an alignment subtype, but it only changes pre-existing alignment subtypes. One way around this is to play a bladeling with the chaotic subtype, but that is an addition +1 LA. I would still go with the Kaorti. They have the evil subtype, but that does not require you to be evil in alignment (although you will still be treated as such for spells and effects). My favorite if everything is available is still: Kaorti 2HD/2 LA/ 1 Bloodline/1 Telepathy/1 Fiend of Possession (FoP)/1 Bloodline/4 FoP/ 1 Bloodline/ 1 FoP/1 Fiend of Corruption/ 2 Uncanny Trickster (advance bloodlines)/1 Thrallherd/1 Uncanny Trickster Bloodline is from unearthed arcana. The main use in this build is it progresses all class abilities that are level based. 6 FoP+3 blood+2 more from Uncanny trickster lets you make a +11 item (Ever Dancing from the epic book is nice, be a fly sword). Fiend of Corruption and FoP both give the ability to boost stats, so it can just ride a creature too. Thrallherd from the psionics handbook gives you a cohort that is a complete slave and easy to replace (your ride). Take the martial stance feat from the book of 9 swords to pick up Hide as a class skill. Another option is the Diabolus from dragon 327. It is an outsider with the chaotic subtype, which with the Divine Minion template would change to evil. Only problem is it was updated in the Dragon Compendium to have a +1 LA. For awakened animals, I always wanted to rock out a horse with the Horseshoes of the Flame magic item from savage species. It gives you +10 Int, +6 Cha, +2 Dex, fly speed good 90', and 1d4 fire damage on your hooves. These bonuses are all unlisted and can be activated 3 times a day for 7 hours each time. It would make for a nice psion. Sorry if I ninja'ed the thread off topic. I love FoP's. Edit: For you monk Eagle Idea, how about monk/Psychic warrior. Both run off of Wisdom. The monk can give you the unarmored bonus and evasion, while Psychic warrior's claws of the beast will lead to some hellish claw damage on that eagle. Don't forget to take Practiced Manifestor to push up that Manifestor level. There is also a necklace in savage species that lets you apply weapon enchantments to natural attacks (remeber unarmed attacks also can count as natural weapons so even if you don't go with the PW, you can still use with your monk). Another option would be Monk 11 followed by Kensia (Complete warrior) which would also allow you to enchant your claws or Unarmed attacks.