What happens when animating a slain animal companion as undead?

[Coidzor]

Does it magically transform into the statblock of a normal example of the creature before applying whatever modifications for becoming a kind of undead that uses a template?

Does it revert to the statblock for a 1st level Animal Companion?

Does one simply apply the template to the creature as it was before its death, so it has the size and HD for skeletonization or zombification that it gained from being an AC?

Is it a complete unknown that varies from GM to GM based upon whether they've had their coffee and the day of the week?

[CasualViking]

IMO, the increased HD are part of the class ability, and therefore bestowed on the animal through the link. When that link is severed - and animation certainly does that - the extra HD go away. If you take the opposite stance, that the extra HD are intrinsic to the animal, they should really be considered a kind of class levels - which are lost in the simpler undead. 3.0 had the HD being intrinsic to the animal before the link, and it was terrible.

[Coidzor]

So all opinion, no concrete rules text, then?

So best to pretend the AC evaporates into mist when you kill enemy Druids.

[icefractal]

I think I would go with "counts as a normal animal of the type".

My reasoning would be that an animal companion wolf is describes (rules-wise) as still being a wolf, just one with different stats than normal. A magic item that only functioned for wolves would function for it, for example. So when reanimated, you get a wolf skeleton the same as other wolf skeletons.

[Psyren]

So all opinion, no concrete rules text, then?

The rules are that animal companions are, well, animals. If it stops being an animal, why would it keep being an animal companion? Seems like that would sever the bond.

Awaken is similar - it becomes a magical beast, so it's not an animal anymore.

[Vizzerdrix]

The rules are that animal companions are, well, animals. If it stops being an animal, why would it keep being an animal companion? Seems like that would sever the bond.

Awaken is similar - it becomes a magical beast, so it's not an animal anymore.

Watchspider is a magical beast that can be selected to be an animal companion. I always thought that was an interesting little thing. (Would they gain animal or MB HD, i wonder)

[Psyren]

Watchspider is a magical beast that can be selected to be an animal companion. I always thought that was an interesting little thing. (Would they gain animal or MB HD, i wonder)

I'm not seeing this on the PFSRD, can you link to it?

[Vizzerdrix]

The PFSRD? No idea what that is. Watchspider can be found in Waterdeep City of Splendors book.

Ah. I failed a spot check. This is a pathfinder topic. Fishbunny AWAAAAAY!

[Psyren]

The PFSRD? No idea what that is. Watchspider can be found in Waterdeep City of Splendors book.

Ah. I failed a spot check. This is a pathfinder topic. Fishbunny AWAAAAAY!

Perception check - you were still here after all. :smallbiggrin:

[Coidzor]

The rules are that animal companions are, well, animals. If it stops being an animal, why would it keep being an animal companion? Seems like that would sever the bond.

Awaken is similar - it becomes a magical beast, so it's not an animal anymore.

The rules are also that they're weird creatures that aren't normal creatures.

So do they become normal examples of their race after dying, in many cases changing in size to leave a larger or smaller corpse?

[Extra Anchovies]

The question here is whether a creature's corpse retains the creature's hit dice as an intangible value. After a bit of searching, it seems there isn't much evidence one way or the other - Speak With Dead allows a save "as if [the body] were alive", Animate Dead refers only to the HD of the resulting undead, and most similar effects are equally elusive in their language. There is, however, the Animating Fog (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/traps-hazards-and-special-terrains/hazards/horrifying-hazards/animating-fog-cr-6), a natural hazard which can animate "up to 30 HD of corpses". This establishes with certainty that a corpse retains the HD that it had in life (at least for the purposes of Animating Fog), while all other corpse-affecting stuff dances very widely around the question, so I think it's safe to assume that Animating Fog is an example of the general case. Thus, a 12-HD animal companion produces a 12-HD corpse, which can be animated as a 12-HD undead.

[Psyren]

The rules are also that they're weird creatures that aren't normal creatures.

So do they become normal examples of their race after dying, in many cases changing in size to leave a larger or smaller corpse?

Their size doesn't change because dying doesn't make them stop being animal companions - after all, this is why they can be raised. You have to abandon them completely for them to lose this designation.

[Jack_Simth]

Short answer? It's poorly defined, so it's heavily DM dependent.

The creature is a class feature. To my knowledge, no specific mention is made of what happens when you attempt to reanimate someone else's class feature. It might evaporate, not having an actual game existence of its own. It might animate based on what it was on death, complete with all Druid bonuses (potentially including Share Spells, although that's much less useful in PF). It might animate based on the default of its kind (and thus, the dead Roc animal companion is MUCH bigger as a zombie). It might turn into a carnivorous waffle iron. OK, that last one is unlikely.