optimizing a... dog?

[arkangel111]

Alright so here is the story.

In a group I was in awhile back the DM made the mistake of severely cutting our WBL. Seriously we literally were taking EVERYTHING from the rooms and we couldn't afford to give more than a +1 weapon to our fighter (lvl 12 i think) and a few Bags of holding (to carry more stuff!)
Anyways I was a druid and pretty much gave up all of my wealth just to help out the party. We ran into an encounter in an underground river area, due to the terrain my wolf companion got stuck on the boat while everyone climbed off to get the the creatures.
An unlucky few rolls later the party had TPK'd (I was grappled and the party was killed quickly followed by me being overwhelmed by them). Except for my companion who was floating away on the boat. I had used his stat boost to up his intelligence score however and given him a Magic item that lets him speak (forget what its called but some sort of bead he had to swallow).
Anyways I thought it would be cool to reintroduce my wolf companion as a PC. I imagine the tie that gave him the class abilities would wear-off slowly and not immediately, perhaps giving him enough time to track down a druid to awaken him.

Worst case scenario the DM will make me use him as an awakened wolf, and best case let me select stats normally, adjusting stats (somewhat) for race despite being an awakened animal. Now the real question is what to make him? I am not 100% sold on anthropomorphic and would rather run him as a wolf with class levels.

TL:DR? I have an awakened wolf I want to make a PC.

So what can we/should we do with him?

Sources allowed (I am mostly looking for ideas so everything is welcome except dragon mag)

[MaxiDuRaritry]

A psionic manifester is probably your best bet, since you don't have to worry about somatic and material components for spellcasting. If you want more of a martial bent, either a psychic warrior or a swordsage would be great, especially if you've got a high Wisdom score.

[Nibbens]

So... The wolf finds and revives the druid...
...
...
Is it just me, or does this seem like the most plausible scenario for a wolf to have a druid "animal" companion?

[dysprosium]

If you are open to third party material, then Skirmisher Publishing's The Noble Wild could be right up your alley.

It discusses not awakened animals but animals that are superior to their "normal" counterparts. A former druid animal companion would fit that scenario.

The book itself describes how an animal could be a PC and interactions with humanoids.

[ExLibrisMortis]

An awakened wolf is a 4 HD magical beast, and those are decent hit dice, but of course the lack of class features sucks, and you mostly can't use weapons.

You're looking at stat boosts of +2/+4/+4/+0/+2/-2, +2 NA, d10 hit die, full base attack, good fortitude and reflex, darkvision and low-light vision, and scent plus Track as bonus feat.

The easy solution: ardent with Practiced Manifester, and enjoy your full manifesting wolf. You're still not great in melee, with just the bite attack, but you can do BFC/blasting.

Still relatively easy: take pouncebarian 1 (or the feral template), then levels in totemist, and proceed to shred enemies with natural attacks.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

How forgiving is your DM when it comes to things like refluffing? Would he care if you took your wolf and turned him into something that can be a "wolf" while (mechanically-speaking) being something entirely different?

For instance, instead of taking 4 animal HD, would he allow you to take the Anhur divine minion (http://www.realmshelps.net/faerun/lore/magicbooks13.shtml) template (fluffed as a wolf, rather than as a lion) on an LA 0 (with or without LA buyoff) non-wolf race (like, say, changeling or something) and maybe go shapeshifting druid (from the PHB II)? Then you could fluff your divine minion form as your "real" form, while the shapeshifting druid's beast form can represent your wolf's ability to shapeshift into a humanoid-type form (and it would handily explain his new humanoid type, if needed). You can either eschew your "actual" race completely, never changing back from wolf form and hybrid beast form, or you can explain that, while regular druids wild shape into animals, you're using similar nature magic to turn into a human/elf/dwarf/whatever.

Yes, it's doing things exactly backwards, but it still works just as well way better.

[Ahus]

I'm inclined to agree with Ardent / Practiced Manifester as a base but I might give up a ML for Slayer with a favored enemy of whatever killed your former master... You loose out on a couple of Mantles and a ML you have Better BAB, Skills, HD, and a bunch of stealth related Class features.

[Efrate]

Any incarnum class, totemist especially. I'm not certain but I think there is at least one soulmeld that gives you arms, so grab that and eschew materials and be another druid. Makes sense. If you want to save on feats there is an item called I believe arms of the naga in savage species that magically gives you arms. Also if the item you were given was a pearl of speech common, it has a limited duration, but planar handbook, or MotP has non verbal spell so you can use wolf yips to cast.

Unarmed swordsage variant would work extremely well. You can take snap kick and use your bite as a secondary attack and be a ninja wolf, or focus on setting sun maneuvers and fling your enemies all over the place with the bite of awesome. Or both.

EditL Forgot awakening turned you into a magical beast. Can't use the cool animal buffs on yourself, I don't think. Your creature type supercedes your subtype I think.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

EditL Forgot awakening turned you into a magical beast. Can't use the cool animal buffs on yourself, I don't think. Your creature type supercedes your subtype I think.If you happen to be a totemist/druid, the aspect of the wolf spell changes your type to animal.

[othaero]

maybe go shapeshifting druid (from the PHB II)? Then you could fluff your divine minion form as your "real" form, while the shapeshifting druid's beast form can represent your wolf's ability to shapeshift into a humanoid-type form (and it would handily explain his new humanoid type, if needed).


You could say your original druid's bond was so strong with his wolf that when he died he was able to force his consciousness into the wolf.

[Efrate]

A very lenient DM might allow that for a familiar, because you have a spell like/supernatural connection, but its in now way rules legal. Druid companions are friends. They are animals trained and taught things, and improve, but that mystical connection isn't there. Its boy and his dog. Dog is well trained, he can command it with a brief gesture or a lone word because they've worked together so long, but there isn't that level of magical connection. No empathy, telepathy, or any connection. He used magic to make it talk, so it could report, but that it. Buddies, not bonded souls.

[The Glyphstone]

A very lenient DM might allow that for a familiar, because you have a spell like/supernatural connection, but its in now way rules legal. Druid companions are friends. They are animals trained and taught things, and improve, but that mystical connection isn't there. Its boy and his dog. Dog is well trained, he can command it with a brief gesture or a lone word because they've worked together so long, but there isn't that level of magical connection. No empathy, telepathy, or any connection. He used magic to make it talk, so it could report, but that it. Buddies, not bonded souls.

They get the Share Spells feature at level 1, so there is definitely a magical bond of some kind between a druid and their companion. Not as strong as that of a familiar, sure, but it exists, and could be a justification.

[Soranar]

Might be a weird option but have you considered an unarmed swordsage?

Technically unarmed strikes are made with any part of the body so being a wolf won't be an issue + you're a ninja wolf now

[Efrate]

Fair point about share spells, though I think it goes against the spirit of animal companion. Especially seeing how if one dies you just go to the woods to get another at no cost, whereas a wizard has to make a fort save to not lose XP, then wait a year and a day to get another one. Druids get more nice things, who would have thought.

[Sapreaver]

Why not have the wolf become a druid and enter the prc that let's it focus more on animal companions until your not one wolf.... but a pack.
You can pretend to be a Digimon and digivolve in to a dire wolf and eventually an elemental so there is some fun stuff there as well if you like Digimon.

Or druid in to master of many forms or what ever it's called and pretend to be a human when your actually a wolf.

I'd definitely try to be something that can revive your former character just because the rp is legit and then once it's revived you can take leadership and have your former character as a cohort to your wolf while both have animal companions.

[Efrate]

Reincarnate your old companion into something, take him as an animal companion if the dice roll that way. Circle of Life. Ask your DM to let your former master come back as a wolf. It would be funny. Otherwise cohort works, and who doesn't want a druid buddy to hang out with and be all extra awesome.

[ATHATH]

Could the wolf be an animal companion for a new character?

Make a Pixie Druid with your wolf as its animal companion, and fluff it as the wolf's "Navi".