Dead AC and Reincarnate

[nyjastul69]

So the forum ate my original lengthy post. I hate that.

My dire bat AC died. I reincarnated him as a dire badger. My character is an 8th level druid allowed to apply natural bond on a single classed druid.


A reincarnated creature recalls the majority of its former life and form. It retains any class abilities, feats, or skill ranks it formerly possessed. Its class, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, and hit points are unchanged.

These will remain unchanged regardless of it's new form, correct?


Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores depend partly on the new body. First eliminate the subject’s racial adjustments (since it is no longer of his previous race) and then apply the adjustments found below to its remaining ability scores. The subject’s level (or Hit Dice) is reduced by 1. If the subject was 1st level, its new Constitution score is reduced by 2. (If this reduction would put its Con at 0 or lower, it can’t be reincarnated). This level/HD loss or Constitution loss cannot be repaired by any means.

I can easily enough recalculate the racial bonuses. Is his new HD 6 or 7? Dire bats start with 4 HD. Dire badgers start with 3 HD.

Unfortunately for my new situation the flyby attack feat is useless unless I can give it a fly speed. I think wings of fire can do this. What are some others? I'm going to ask my DM about possibly retraining that feat.

Also, a dire badger will attack unto it's, or it's oppents, death once damaged. Is there any way to redirect him to a different opponent? Calm Animals might work, but that is useless for this purpose as it's not dismissable.

For reference the tricks my character's AC knows are: attack x2, defend, down, fetch, guard, heel, seek and stay. My characters feats are: natural bond, companion spellbond, touch of healing and natural spell.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[atemu1234]

Its hit dice would be that of a Dire Badger, but (unless I am mistaken by my reading) its HP would not change.

[nyjastul69]

That was my thought as well. 3 dire badger levels, +4 for being 8th level, -1 for the effect of reincarnate.

ETA: I never actually gave my AC an ability bump based on HD alone. I only gave it bumps due to the AC chart. It is deserving of those as well, correct? I can't believe I missed that.

[Bronk]

These will remain unchanged regardless of it's new form, correct?


They would, if it had any class levels of its own. However, a druid's animal companion is an average animal of it's type, that is then modified by your druid class, not it's own class levels.

You had an average 4HD dire bat, and were high enough level that it got another 4HD granted to it from your druid class. When it died, it wasn't your animal companion anymore, it's just a deceased average dire bat, so it wouldn't have to retrain flyby attack, it's already lost it.

You reincarnated it as a dire badger, a 3HD animal. It loses another HD due to the reincarnation spell, making it a 2HD animal. The dire bat had two feats, alertness and stealthy. It would lose the second feat due to the HD loss, but gain track as a dire badger bonus feat. Then you could take it as your animal companion again, granting it another 4HD, and it would gain another feat at 3HD and yet another at 6HD.

You might be able to convince your DM to count the HD loss from going from a 4HD dire bat to a 3HD dire badger as the HD cost for the reincarnation. That would be nice of them. In that case you'd probably end up with the dire badger 'toughness' feat instead of the bat's 'stealthy' feat.

You could also try to convince your DM to let you train it as a warbeast for another HD. It can't hurt to ask.

You could also, if you wanted, just let it go and be free, or keep it as a pet or something like that, and call another dire bat to be your new animal companion. That would save you from having to rework your character sheet, and there's no penalty to your druid like there would be for losing a wizard's familiar.

Edit: Hmm, actually, as an odd 2HD dire badger, it isn't eligible to be taken as an animal companion anymore. You'd really have to convince your DM to let it keep all three HD to take it again!

[Psyren]

Also, a dire badger will attack unto it's, or it's oppents, death once damaged. Is there any way to redirect him to a different opponent? Calm Animals might work, but that is useless for this purpose as it's not dismissable.

I assume you're playing Pathfinder since you mention "natural bond." In PF, the badger's blood rage says:


When the creature takes damage in combat, on its next turn it can fly into a rage as a free action. It gains +2 Constitution and +2 Strength, but takes a –2 penalty to its AC. The rage lasts as long as the battle or 1 minute, whichever is shorter. It cannot end its rage voluntarily.

Format: blood rage; Location: Special Attacks.

So while it can't stop once it's started, it does not have to start either. So if it stubs its toe on a tree root it won't shred that tree into toothpicks unless you want it to.

[Venger]

I assume you're playing Pathfinder since you mention "natural bond."

natural bond is from complete adventurer, so I'm not sure why you'd assume this.

yeah, your DM should probably let you retrain flyby, especially since you went to the effort of actually rezing your pet instead of just summoning a new one for free after 24 hours. that's real dedication

[nyjastul69]

Sorry, this is a 3.5 game. My plan is turn the dire badger into my new animal companion. I can't really see a problem with spending 24 hrs to 'summon' this one. If so, it would still get the benefits of being the companion of an 8th level druid, correct? Less the cost of reincarnate of course. And yeah, I'm pretty dedicated to my AC.

[Venger]

Sorry, this is a 3.5 game. My plan is turn the dire badger into my new animal companion. I can't really see a problem with spending 24 hrs to 'summon' this one. If so, it would still get the benefits of being the companion of an 8th level druid, correct? Less the cost of reincarnate of course. And yeah, I'm pretty dedicated to my AC.

ok well, that's a power druids have, you don't need to spend a reincarnate on him. yes he has all your AC's powers.

[Bronk]

Sorry, this is a 3.5 game. My plan is turn the dire badger into my new animal companion. I can't really see a problem with spending 24 hrs to 'summon' this one. If so, it would still get the benefits of being the companion of an 8th level druid, correct? Less the cost of reincarnate of course. And yeah, I'm pretty dedicated to my AC.

You can reincarnate your old one, and use that with your DM's permission, or you can get a new one, even a new one just like the old one, and retire the old one.

The druid animal companion ability states only that "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."

It isn't exactly like a summoning spell necessarily, it just sort of shows up in a way decided by the DM. Nothing is stopping you from keeping the old one around though.

Any AC you have will get your 8th level druid benefits added on.

[nyjastul69]

ok well, that's a power druids have, you don't need to spend a reincarnate on him. yes he has all your AC's powers.

The original died and I reincarnated into a dire badger which I intend to be new AC. I realize I could just spend 24 hrs and get a new one. But it's not the same. I was crestfallen when it died.