Simple Awaken questions

[Kamikun]

Hey all. I've played a druid for a while (first in 3.0, now in 3.5), and after reading a bit about some druid/Awaken stuff that I would have never had the sociopathic tendencies to think up (though I can be very creative and cunning if need be), I had a few clarifying questions. I like to think of myself as somewhat knowledgeable about druids, but these seem so outlandish that I wanted confirmation.
1) Is it true that a druid could have another druid cast Awaken on the first druid while the first druid is in a Wild Shape? (For a druid to cast it on themselves, it would take an epic level druid (casting time of 24 hours, wild shape lasts 1 hour/level), and so I'm not too worried about that scenario)
2) If the scenario in 1 happens, would the bonus take effect on that druid permanently, while the druid stays in that casting of wild shape, or whenever the druid takes the wild shape of that animal?
3) Awaken states that an animal who is affected by Awaken cannot become an animal companion. Can Awaken be cast on an animal that is already an animal companion?

I apologize if these have already been asked/answered (I'm sure they have somewhere!) or if they're blindingly obvious and I am just too distracted to find it.

[ranagrande]

1. No, Wildshape does not change the Druid's type, so unless the Druid was already a plant or an animal to begin with, it cannot be Awakened.

2. N/A

3. Yes, but then it stops being an animal companion. An Awakened animal becomes a Magical Beast, and so is no longer eligible to be a companion.

[Kamikun]

1. No, Wildshape does not change the Druid's type, so unless the Druid was already a plant or an animal to begin with, it cannot be Awakened.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I read through everything in the PHB and it says that Wild Shape DOES change the Druid's type (and subtype!) to that of the animal/plant. With that in mind, would it work?

[Urpriest]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I read through everything in the PHB and it says that Wild Shape DOES change the Druid's type (and subtype!) to that of the animal/plant. With that in mind, would it work?

You're wrong. Wild Shape has a huge amount of errata.

[Coidzor]

Considering the lack of clarification in the rules text for Awaken, there are no simple questions involving it.

[Kamikun]

Hrmm. Please quote it from 3.5 PHB (I'm assuming it's in the Wild Shape description) and I'll see if I can find it myself!
I read through Wild Shape (which is like Polymorph, with errata), Polymorph (which is like Alter Self, with errata), and Alter Self, and the conclusion that I, and the infamous Welknair, reached, was that Wild Shape would indeed grant creature type and subtype.
I don't mean to be a jerk who's attempting to be infallible here, I'm just trying to understand a (somewhat broken and confusing) ability, without success.

[tyckspoon]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I read through everything in the PHB and it says that Wild Shape DOES change the Druid's type (and subtype!) to that of the animal/plant. With that in mind, would it work?

Everything shape-changing related has been through some rather massive errata; Wild Shape and Polymorph work pretty differently to how they used to (for Wild Shape, the big change was moving it from being based on the Polymorph spell, which does change Types, to being based on the Alternate Form special ability, which does not. Specifically to stop players buffing themselves with things like Awaken and Animal Growth.)

If you decide to ignore that and use Polymorph-based Wildshape, then yes, you can Awaken a transformed Druid. The effect will be permanent; spells do not check target viability continuously, only at time of casting. And Instantaneous duration means that once it's done, it's done for good. Note that it will largely be a debuff, however- you get +1d3 Charisma, which a Druid has no particular use for, your Intelligence gets randomized on a fairly harsh die roll (although this bit can be Maximized if you want), and you get +2 HD. 2 Animal HD. These suck. You don't get Wildshape, Spellcasting, Animal Companion, or Miscellaneous Druid Class Features progression out of them. They have poor associated skills and skillpoints. They basically only give you a BAB bump and saves, which you would also have gotten from levelling in Druid.. and they count against your ECL, so you are now 2 levels of Suck ahead of the rest of your party and will be significantly delayed in attaining your next useful level.

[Urpriest]

Hrmm. Please quote it from 3.5 PHB (I'm assuming it's in the Wild Shape description) and I'll see if I can find it myself!
I read through Wild Shape (which is like Polymorph, with errata), Polymorph (which is like Alter Self, with errata), and Alter Self, and the conclusion that I, and the infamous Welknair, reached, was that Wild Shape would indeed grant creature type and subtype.
I don't mean to be a jerk who's attempting to be infallible here, I'm just trying to understand a (somewhat broken and confusing) ability, without success.

The errata specifically says that Wild Shape is like Alternate Form (with errata), and has nothing to do with Polymorph.

Read the SRD entry, it will show you the way. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/druid.htm#wildShape)

[Kamikun]

@tyckspoon Thank you! That is EXACTLY what I was looking for and it answered my question. I was aware of the debuff status, I was simply wondering if it could be done.
@Urpriest It appears that our confusion comes from us reading different documented versions of the Wild Shape. Your info is correct for your version, but not for mine, as tyckspoon mentioned. Thanks for your help though!
Questions have been resolved, going to delete the thread! Thanks for your help, guys.

[Coidzor]

Some more discussion on the subject. (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19528526/updated_Master_of_Many_Forms_Bible__official_wild_ shape_rules)