animal companion hd and size increases

[Torpin]

do animal companions, special mounts... et cetra increase in size when they receive an amount of bonus HD that would normally increase their size if it was done as per advancement

[Falontani]

If it's druid animal companion or paladin special mount granting the hd, no. If it is class levels, no. Anything else, should be yes.

[Particle_Man]

I don't think a bard's inspire greatness would temporarily make the animal bigger either.

[DrMotives]

I don't think a bard's inspire greatness would temporarily make the animal bigger either.

"My heart swells with pride! Also, the entire rest of my body"
- Clever Hans, the fighter's warhorse

[Menzath]

Yeah there is odd wording for a few different things and creatures(monsters) getting more HD.

But as far as I know bonus HD aren't HD advancement. But increases to HD are and count towards being a different size category, as per pg.291 of the monster manual and size increases.

Druid and paladins list the HD as bonus.

Familiars list it as normal HD for the creature, but considered to have either it or the owners HD to see if things effect it, and have HP equal to 1/2 of the owners regardless of it's own HD.

So I dont see alot of things that give an actual increase to get HD.

[Thurbane]

This question has been asked and answered many, many times - no, they don't increase in size from AC bonus HD.

The stickied Simple RAW thread at the top of this forum is a good place to ask such questions. :smallsmile:


When you add Hit Dice to a druid’s (or ranger’s) animal companion as the master’s level goes up, does the animal get any bigger? For instance, when a druid has a wolf companion, the wolf starts out with the standard 2 Hit Dice and is size Medium. By the time the druid is 3rd level, the wolf has 2 bonus Hit Dice. According to the wolf entry in the MM, an “advanced” wolf with 4 Hit Dice would be Large. Is the example companion wolf also Large?
An animal companion doesn’t get bigger when it adds extra Hit Dice for the master’s levels. The advancement entries for creatures, and the rules for advancing monsters, refer to unusually powerful specimens that are simply tougher (and perhaps bigger) than normal for their kinds.