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Tyrex
2016-04-01, 12:16 PM
Okay, so I'm using a homebrew class to get an undead companion. It gives the zombie extra hit die every few levels. Do these hit die effect the amount of feats my zombie would have or is that strictly a level based thing. The "improving monsters" section of the hypertext implies that feats are gained by hit die and not actual level. I just want other people to tell me if I have my facts straight before the thing comes out of the work shop.

ThePurple
2016-04-01, 01:14 PM
Okay, so I'm using a homebrew class to get an undead companion. It gives the zombie extra hit die every few levels. Do these hit die effect the amount of feats my zombie would have or is that strictly a level based thing. The "improving monsters" section of the hypertext implies that feats are gained by hit die and not actual level. I just want other people to tell me if I have my facts straight before the thing comes out of the work shop.

Assuming you're using 3.X rules (which is what I'm guessing by context), can unintelligent undead like zombies even *get* feats other than toughness? Judging by the other 3.5 zombies that have a bunch of additional hit dice, I would venture to guess that, no, they do not because they are not intelligent just like golems (which do not get feats), but I don't think there are any rules that expressly forbid it. As such, it's probably up to your GM.

If you are using a homebrew class, it's probably best to have that class feature explicitly state the exact benefits the companion receives as its hit dice increase in number to order to prevent ambiguity.

Tyrex
2016-04-01, 01:17 PM
Assuming you're using 3.X rules (which is what I'm guessing by context), can unintelligent undead like zombies even *get* feats other than toughness? Judging by the other 3.5 zombies that have a bunch of additional hit dice, I would venture to guess that, no, they do not because they are not intelligent just like golems (which do not get feats), but I don't think there are any rules that expressly forbid it. As such, it's probably up to your GM.

If you are using a homebrew class, it's probably best to have that class feature explicitly state the exact benefits the companion receives as its hit dice increase in number to order to prevent ambiguity.

Would it change of the zombie WAS intelegent? All the class says is hit die. I've been trying to figure out everything a hit die ties into and came across a part where it said a monster gained feats acording to hit die. Because I could not find anything else I came here.

Xefas
2016-04-01, 02:39 PM
Would it change of the zombie WAS intelegent? All the class says is hit die. I've been trying to figure out everything a hit die ties into and came across a part where it said a monster gained feats acording to hit die. Because I could not find anything else I came here.

Yes, if the zombie was intelligent, it would gain feats like a character does. So, if it had 9 hit dice, it would have 4 feats (one at 1st level, another at 3rd, 6th, and 9th). Notice how a dog (Int 2, 1 hit die) has the Alertness feat by default in their stat block. Meanwhile, a brown bear (Int 2, 6 hit dice) has the Endurance, Run, and Track feats.

Compare to a Huge Monstrous Spider (n/a Int, 8 hit dice) that has no feats.

RedWarlock
2016-04-01, 05:27 PM
Yeah, in 3.x, pretty sure that's the rule. Mindless creatures don't get skill points or feats, while Int 1 or higher do.

ThePurple
2016-04-01, 05:40 PM
Yeah, in 3.x, pretty sure that's the rule. Mindless creatures don't get skill points or feats, while Int 1 or higher do.

Is there actually a written rule saying that mindless creatures can't gain feats by increasing their hit die or is it just a rule of thumb? It's been a long time since I was heavily focused on 3.X, but I can't recall anything specifically saying that.

Jormengand
2016-04-01, 05:59 PM
Zombies lose all other feats anyway due to the template saying that outright.

Douglas
2016-04-01, 06:07 PM
Is there actually a written rule saying that mindless creatures can't gain feats by increasing their hit die or is it just a rule of thumb? It's been a long time since I was heavily focused on 3.X, but I can't recall anything specifically saying that.
Mindless creatures do not gain feats or skills, although they may have bonus feats or racial skill bonuses. (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#nonabilities)