What happens if Animals get higher Int.

[DrkMagusX]

I was thinking of playing a arcane Heirophant. The animal gets a higher INT from the class and I was curious how this affects how the animal behaves.
Does the animal start to learn like a child and such?
Can the animal understand as well as a average human?
Does the animal get a language?

How does skills increase when it goes from a 2 int to a 7?

If I had a Ape Animal Companion could I give it feats to wield weapons?

I m not looking at min/maxing the class for best casting. As I seen the character in my head the animal has always been a friend to the character since being a child.

Just give me some answers and advice.

[Jeff the Green]

Does the animal start to learn like a child and such?

Probably not. Kids would probably have very low Wisdom, animals don't. Also, animals generally grasp things like object permanence, etc.


Can the animal understand as well as a average human?

If its intelligence is high enough, yes.


Does the animal get a language?

RAW, I think only if it spends the skill points to do so, and even then probably couldn't speak it unless it's something like a parrot. Apes and monkeys might be able to "speak" drow sign language.


How does skills increase when it goes from a 2 int to a 7?

It doesn't, since skill points aren't retroactive.


If I had a Ape Animal Companion could I give it feats to wield weapons?

Yes.

[Gavinfoxx]

They become Magical Beasts. Next question!

[Pickford]

They become Magical Beasts. Next question!

You might also tell him to refer to the Monster Manual on page 311.

Also: Heirophant in the DMG on 188-189 doesn't grant any int bonus to an animal companion.

Where are you getting this?

Found it, nm. (missed the 'arcane' bit)

[DrkMagusX]

Ok under animal Companion rules :

"An animal companion gains additional skill points and feats for bonus
HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice (see the Monster
Manual)."

I understand the feat part. Now for the Monster Manual look.
hmm 2 plus Int Mod per HD. Ok I answered my own question lol

It states as long as it has a INT of at least 1 it gains at least 1 Skill point per Hit Dice. So since its still in the Neg. I m gonna say it gains a skill point for every Hit dice increase from the Druid Animal Companion bonus to HD.

Now I doubt my Animal companion can take craft skills to aid me but once I get his INT high enough maybe then. Just got to find a good list of Optional animal companions for first level druids.

If anyone wants to add to the Mannerisms of Animals with increased INT pls do. I will be starting another thread on the effects of using Alter Self on my newly Magical Beast animal companion familiar.

[Harrow]

You might also tell him to refer to the Monster Manual on page 311.

Also: Heirophant in the DMG on 188-189 doesn't grant any int bonus to an animal companion.

Where are you getting this?

Found it, nm. (missed the 'arcane' bit)

Arcane Heirophant, a wizard/druid hybrid prestige class, combines your animal companion and Familiar, giving the former a higher intelligence score

Edit : edit-swordsaged. adding topic relevant information to remain relevant

Once something goes past the 3 INT mark, it acts just like any other intelligent creature. Yes, they are supposed to not be as smart, but mechanically there's not a lot of difference for things with 3 intelligence rather than 30 outside things specifically keyed off of it. Technically, something with INT 1 can take Martial Study or Shape Soulmeld, but most DM's won't stand for it. But when you hit 3 INT, all bets are off. They act like people. Not necessarily educated people, but they get to learn Common, follow complex orders, that kind of thing. Now, I think by RAW most animals are physically incapable of speech, not mentally (which is pretty accurate) but they should be able to understand it perfectly.

[KillianHawkeye]

I think the ususal answer to this question is "They inevitably turn on the humans that created them and either go on a killing rampage or attempt to escape to the open wilderness where they can multiply and eventually take over the world."

See for examples:

Planet of the Apes
Deep Blue Sea
various Sci-Fi channel monster movies

[BWR]

Or you can play them as the same basic type of animal, just with a lot more intelligence.
Like a cat. Give it human intelligence, and is it going to be anything but an intelligent super-cute murdering lazy psycho?
Chances are it will still enjoy hunting and playing with its prey, still like sleeping 14 hours a day, and beg pitifully if there is a hint of fish around, spend a lot of time grooming itself.
It might not attack printers or red dots on the floor, but probably it will start questioning why it only gets cat food when it could have fish.

[Arc_knight25]

Increase of Int of animal companions/Familiars definiately has its RPing benifits. But also with that increase they get more skill points as well as the ability to learn more tricks (i.e Guard, fetch, steal) which are great for finding different ways out of non-comabt encounters.

[DrkMagusX]

With a INT of 7 or higher I don't think you get Tricks anymore since the animal now understands complex actions on its own.

[lunar2]

@languages. creatures that can't speak are the minority, not the norm. an animal with 3 intelligence that learns common can speak common, although they would likely have an extremely garbled accent. look at awakened animals, that learn common + potentially other languages, with no note that they can't actually speak them.

@weapon proficiencies + other stuff. normal, untrained animals do not have these, but trained animals might have these feats instead of their normal feats. so yes, even a normal ape animal companion can pick up simple/martial weapon proficiency, shape soulmeld, or other abnormal feats. you just have to say you trained him to do it. same with craft skills, actually. it's cross class, and their -4/-5 int mod makes actually using the skill difficult, but they can have ranks in it, and can use the skill for, for example, aid another.

@ semi related question. if an animal is advanced to a multiple of 4 hd, it gains an increase to one ability score, as normal. is there any rules text actually stopping an Int 2 animal from increasing its Int? does merely increasing its Int in this way change it to a magical beast, or is it still of the animal type?

[Rubik]

I think the ususal answer to this question is "They inevitably turn on the humans that created them and either go on a killing rampage or attempt to escape to the open wilderness where they can multiply and eventually take over the world."

See for examples:

Planet of the Apes
Deep Blue Sea
various Sci-Fi channel monster movies"What are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?"

"What we do every night, Pinky. TRY AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCpdDS3L2xs)

[Coidzor]

@ semi related question. if an animal is advanced to a multiple of 4 hd, it gains an increase to one ability score, as normal. is there any rules text actually stopping an Int 2 animal from increasing its Int? does merely increasing its Int in this way change it to a magical beast, or is it still of the animal type?

Nothing that specifically forbids an animal from increasing its Int, though some will read the description of the type (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#animalType)that way. ("Intelligence score of 1 or 2 (no creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher can be an animal).")

Simply increasing its intelligence is not stated to change its type to Magical Beast, so it's basically a big blank area left up to individual DMs/games, IIRC.

[lunar2]

reading that type description, we run into a problem. it doesn't say that animals can't have an Int of 3 or higher, it says that creatures with that Int can't be animals. similar statements, but not the same. i think the most correct ruling, if that were to come up, would be to change the creature type to magical beast (augmented animal), since the rules text doesn't prevent the creature from having that score, but it does prevent it from retaining its animal type.