Animal Companion with Higher Int Gaining NPC Levels

[Bugworlds]

I was pondering about druid animal companions and ran into some questions. Assuming they gain an ability point for every four HD they have, I imagine one may put this into Int. An animal has an Int of 1 or 2, and if it goes above that it is considered a magical animal; which would break the requirements for an animal to be a companion. Assuming the DM allows you to keep your companion despite having a higher int (3+ is considered humanoid-like intelligence, which would be the equivalent of being able to learn language, which animals can learn a small part of in the real world), one could put more ability points towards this as HD were added.

If bonus HD from being a companion count towards this (do they?) one may get the int up to 5, and that's where my big question comes into play. I think the DMG says a mount isn't treated as an NPC until it's int is 5+. If a companion has an int of 5+ may it start working towards getting NPC levels? Either gaining experience from activities it does without the player, or if the player and druid are to stop sharing experience points. Would it be able to get player classes (I imagine not)?

Or am I misunderstanding a key point of something about companions and this idea is a complete blow out?

[sleepyphoenixx]

Any bonus HD the animal companion gets are monster HD. It doesn't get normal experience so it can't get class levels.

[.Zero]

Another opinion is to cast Awaken on your animal companion. By RAW it cannot longer serve you as a companion, but you can still Intimidate/Dominate/Charm/Diplomance your way into transforming him in a forever-loyal being. Again, by RAW, there's no ruling for that, but it seems quite resonable to me that if it still serves and fights for you, it can gain exp, and now you can give it (or maybe *convince* it) to gain PC class levels. Let it take Barbarian class levels, and give it Cleave as soon as possible, then you can continue with War Hulk levels. You now have a new melee bitch and can send your fighter to home.

[sleepyphoenixx]

Another opinion is to cast Awaken on your animal companion. By RAW it cannot longer serve you as a companion, but you can still Intimidate/Dominate/Charm/Diplomance your way into transforming him in a forever-loyal being. Again, by RAW, there's no ruling for that, but it seems quite resonable to me that if it still serves and fights for you, it can gain exp, and now you can give it (or maybe *convince* it) to gain PC class levels. Let it take Barbarian class levels, and give it Cleave as soon as possible, then you can continue with War Hulk levels. You now have a new melee bitch and can send your fighter to home.

You can do that, but then it no longer gets animal companion benefits.
It should also get a share of the experience and treasure as any NPC party member. You could also get it as a hireling, which costs a daily wage and means it doesn't gain experience.
You could also use an awakened animal as a cohort for the Leadership feat but there's usually better races to get what you want.

You can certainly argue for getting a free companion but most DMs will at least enforce the XP share, which most parties will want to avoid.

[2xMachina]

1. Get Animal Companion.
2. Awaken it.
3. Diplomance it to be an ally.
4. Repeat from step 1.
5. Win?

[weckar]

Forest horde techniques are usually limited by the fact that DMs aren't idiots.

[Bugworlds]

I know this certainly is not the best means to the end of having a 'free' companion, but I'm not looking for an alternative. To break it all into steps:
1. Have a companion
2. As it levels with you, give it ability points into it
3. Get the int up to five
4. Have it act as an NPC, while still being a companion

Now, as it has been pointed out the HD it gains are monstrous HD, and normally an animal becomes a magical beast if its int goes above 2. Do monstrous HD allow an ability increase? Are the HD gained from leveling with the player monstrous or otherwise? Normally a companion must be a natural, unmodified animal to be a companion; but can a companion gain something (in this case a type, but could it be an acquired template and still be allowed?) and maintain its companion features?
As a DM I may say it would depend on the situation and altering the companion would mess with the balancing points; buuut, it is the same creature and the bond may not be broken if the alteration is not too great. In this situation it would be allowing the animal, which becomes a companion, which becomes a magical creatures (due to higher int), which becomes a NPC allowing it to have NPC levels. It may need to act as a mount first, though. I need to check the DMG for that.. But my books are out of reach =/