Collecting Animal Companions

[Tvtyrant]

Animals whose intelligence goes over 3 stop being an animal and becomes a magical beast. An animal companion who stops being an animal stops being an animal companion.

So by casting Fox's Cunning on a Druid's animal companion, you make it stop being an animal companion. A Druid has the ability to summon a new animal companion with a 24 hour ritual, so a Druid can replace their old animal companion with a new one without losing the actual old one.

So the goal is to war train animal companions, use Fox's Cunning to break connection with them, and then use handle animal on your free horde of animals!

Someone probably already thought of it, but I think its a cool trick.

[TuggyNE]

Assuming, of course, that fox's cunning can actually change their type and doesn't just sit there doing nothing.

[Curmudgeon]

Fox's Cunning has a much shorter duration than the 24 hour period required for the ritual to summon another animal, so the original companion reverts to companion animal status.
If a druid releases her companion from service, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished. Why would you need to go to the trouble of temporarily changing the companion's type, anyway? Anyway, once the creature is no longer a companion, it loses all the attributes that are Druid class features.

[Just to Browse]

The idea is that it's friendly to you and will do the things you ask, which is a bit of a stretch because some DMs will certainly see that rules-abuse and make the animal run away or attack you or something.

Also, the fact that it gains intelligence of 3+ at all makes it not an animal, and thus not available to be an animal companion, and I don't think you just automatically get it back as an animal companion as soon as the spell ends... I also don't know if the type automatically becomes magical beast or some such. This really sounds like a divide-by-zero error.

[Ashtagon]

Once the fox's cunning ends, the two animal companions will duke it out, immortal-style. There can be only one. :smalltongue:

More seriously, the fox's cunning will expire before the animal companion summoning ritual can be complete.

Personally, I would say the animal companion reverts back to being an animal companion once the spell ends, simply to avoid offensive uses of fox's cunning against enemy druids.

If you complete the animal companion summoning ritual, any existing animal companion departs as a friend (friend, not follower), and any animal companion who is temporarily not an animal companion for any reason remains not an animal companion when that temporary reason expires.