leadership and cohorts as relates to intelligence in 3.5

[heymejack]

Hypothetically, is there any way to increase the intelligence of a creature for purposes of making them your cohort?

as a paladin mount he gets it, and with enough animal companion hit die, it could be done i suppose, putting the bonus ability scores for every 4 hit die in int.

or maybe just put a _____ of intelligence on a creature that is already your trained but non-intelligent mount. presumably, the animal (say a horse) already has some bond with you it's trainer/handler, and upon gaining sentience, is more than happy to continue adventuring. but also gaining levels.

one day, I intend to play a halfling on a deinonychus, in a heavily dungeon based campaign. a landspeed of 60, medium size. sounds sweet.

[Greenish]

Awaken.

[dsmiles]

Awaken.

+1 (obligatory text)

[Badgerish]

The "Awaken" Spell or the "Wild Cohort" feat. gets you an animal cohort but no followers. Available from level one.

edit: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a

[heymejack]

so i gotta find/pay a druid to awaken my dino. cool, thanks.

[Hawriel]

Why would a druid awaken your animal? Just because you pay him to? Economic greed is not exactly a druidic trait.

[Vangor]

Why would a druid awaken your animal? Just because you pay him to? Economic greed is not exactly a druidic trait.

He needs to maintain the balance sheet

[Greenish]

Why would a druid awaken your animal? Just because you pay him to? Economic greed is not exactly a druidic trait.

Then again, druids are human humanoid intelligent creatures with different personalities and goals. There may very well be greedy druids charging for making rain or not terrorizing the village. There may be druids trying to collect money to buy and save a particular plot of forest from foresters, or to finance a monolith supercomputer, or to pay for the next pint.

And of course in Eberron there's House Vadalis.

[Ernir]

so i gotta find/pay a druid to awaken my dino. cool, thanks.

For hilarity, lend the Druid a rod of Maximize Spell beforehand.

[dgnslyr]

For hilarity, lend the Druid a rod of Maximize Spell beforehand.

That's... awesome beyond words. I want to see a Druid with a raptor with a base INT rivaling the party's wizard. I think I know how those raptors managed to eat all those silly humans in Jurassic Park now.

[Demons_eye]

He needs to maintain the balance sheet

Damn it you made me spill my pop.....

[Jack_Simth]

Hypothetically, is there any way to increase the intelligence of a creature for purposes of making them your cohort?

Sort of. Without rules-bendery on the part of your DM, you're not going to be able to have a true Animal cohort.

See, your Cohort needs an ECL - Awaken doesn't give the critter an LA for an ECL, animals don't have an LA, and the Animal Type specifies: "no creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher can be an animal", so you're a no-go there.

The Wild Cohort feat (as mentioned) will probably work for you, assuming the biggest portion of what you want is a ride that doesn't go splat the first time you get caught in an area effect (horses are a BAD investment at level 10, unless they're boosted by a class ability or some such).

Polymorph Any Object could potentially do it... but then the beast isn't an animal anymore (although you could go the other way, turning an existing cohort into a suitable mount... which fixes the LA issue).

[FelixG]

Why would a druid awaken your animal? Just because you pay him to? Economic greed is not exactly a druidic trait.

because according to the PHB you can pay for spell casting services, now it doesnt say that druids spells arnt included, so it is only reasonable that there are druids out there that sell their services (like other adventurers for example!)

Taverns are full of armed hobos adventurers waiting to make a buck

[heymejack]

well, the wild cohort feat does pretty much exactly what i need

of course, the awakened raptor cohort is better, but i'll definitely get less eye-rolling from behind the screen with the wild cohort. if i WAS going to do the awaken thing, i'm sure there is some way i could find to work it in.

for one thing, again, the pc is from a tribe of halflings on dinos. not too much of a stretch to say they've got a druid among them? probably even in a position of power, like chief or shaman or something.

and if not, i go on an adventure where I help defend the druid's forest from marauding _____. and pay him. and do some landscaping, maybe groom his animal companion for him. i'm sure we can figure something out.

does an awakened animal become a magical beast, and therefore bump up to a d10 hd?

[Bogardan_Mage]

does an awakened animal become a magical beast, and therefore bump up to a d10 hd?

Yes. In the spell description it says "Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal)."

[Greenish]

Yes. In the spell description it says "Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal)."

Augmented subtype means the HD doesn't change.

"A creature with the augmented subtype usually has the traits of its current type, but the features of its original type."

Magical beast (augmented animal) has the following features:

• 8-sided Hit Dice.
• Base attack bonus equal to ¾ total Hit Dice (as cleric).
• Good Fortitude and Reflex saves.
• Skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die.

And the following traits:

• Darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision.
• Proficient with its natural weapons only.
• Proficient with no armor.
• Magical beasts eat, sleep, and breathe.

As per the types and subtypes section.

[QuantumSteve]

because according to the PHB you can pay for spell casting services, now it doesnt say that druids spells arnt included, so it is only reasonable that there are druids out there that sell their services (like other adventurers for example!)

Taverns are full of armed hobos adventurers waiting to make a buck

The PHB give prices for NPC casting, it doesn't say you can always find every class of caster to cast [i]every[i/] spell.

[FelixG]

The PHB give prices for NPC casting, it doesn't say you can always find every class of caster to cast [i]every[i/] spell.

It also doesn't say you cant find it, if you want it done there is likely find it as long as its in the community's price range. If you cant find a druid to cast a 5th level spell in a metropolis or large city your GM is just trying to screw with you at that point.

[Lhurgyof]

It also doesn't say you cant find it, if you want it done there is likely find it as long as its in the community's price range. If you cant find a druid to cast a 5th level spell in a metropolis or large city your GM is just trying to screw with you at that point.

Metropolis? Druid? Something smells fishy here...

[Greenish]

Metropolis? Druid? Something smells fishy here...

I have found that often the best way to respect and revere nature is to do it from a distance.