Can a player be a special mount/Animal Companion?

[Nerdguy88]

Title says it all. If a character is playing a paladin/druid/ranger/ect and they gain a special companion that is intelligent, would another player be able to play as that companion?

[Fouredged Sword]

Well, they CAN. You can play anything the DM lets you play and it has stats.

I'm not sure you SHOULD if there is a better option. I mean, I could see it to fold in a guest who won't be in the game very long and just wants to play for a session, or as a transition for a new player who is still making their character sheet or waiting for you to fold their character into the game.

I wouldn't ask a player to do so long term though. It just wouldn't be very fun.

[Uncle Pine]

Animals normally lack a LA because they make poor characters (Int < 3). Even awakened animals (Int > 3) don't have a listed LA, relying on DM fiat to set one for them. Celestial/fiendish/etc. animals still lack a LA, even if those templates provide LA rules and celestial/fiendish/etc. animals have an Int score of 3 and thus can take levels in PC classes, because an LA of - adjusted by a +2 modifier is still -.
So no, as far as I know special mounts and animal companion can't be made into Playing Characters. However, players who build their characters to have a ubermount and then play as the mount using the "Playing Character" as nothing more than a support (and a way to evade one attack/round thanks to Ride) are not unheard of.
You could have one player build a character with the ubermount and another one build his own character, a Barbarian for example, and then have the former play the ubermount while the latter rides it. And then you have the actual "Playing Character" of the first player, who chills in the shadows because he isn't really necessary.

[Flickerdart]

There are rules in the back of the DMG for paladin mounts that are not on the standard list. The gist of the rule is anything vaguely rideable with CR less than paladin's level minus 3 (or minus 4 if it flies) is fair game.

So a paladin with a friend wanting to play a monster with no LA could just pick one that fits the bill, slap on some advancement HD, templates, or levels to fill up the cap, and roll out. It doesn't really matter to the game whether the mount is controlled by the paladin's player or someone else.

[Telonius]

In some cases (depending how badly they dump Intelligence), high-level Paladins and Sorcerers can have mounts and familiars that have a higher Int than they do. I could totally see playing that up: the Raven that has a Sorcerer familiar. :smallbiggrin: