Are "awakened" animals considered magical beasts?

Sonofapreacherman · Mar 4, 2003

The druid spell awaken gives no details about any possible transformation that occurs to an animal after becoming the recipient of this spell, and yet such a transformation must occur.

My first thought is to make them magical beasts for the purposes of skills points and BAB, but is there any errata on this subject?

Nifft · Mar 4, 2003

I haven't seen any, and IMHO it's the biggest disappointment of Savage Species. I'm hoping for a Web Enhancement.

-- Nifft

Hypersmurf · Mar 4, 2003

Just remember - if they change type, they're no longer eligible to be Animal Companions, to receive the benefits of spells like Animal Growth, etc...

-Hyp.

Caliban · Mar 4, 2003

They no longer fit the definition of animals. (They have an Int greater than 2).

Sonofapreacherman · Mar 4, 2003

That's fine. This particular animal was awakened by a sylvan creature and then set loose. The point was to give him his freedom.

I just thought a rule like this would naturally be covered in the official rules. I still can't find anything.

Caliban · Mar 4, 2003

Sonofapreacherman said:
That's fine. This particular animal was awakened by a sylvan creature and then set loose. The point was to give him his freedom.

I just thought a rule like this would naturally be covered in the official rules. I still can't find anything.

It's not in the official rules.

According to the Sage, it's now a magical beast because it has an Int greater than 2, and it has the magical ability to speak.

When I asked Sean K Reynolds, he said it was still an animal. I asked him to confirm it with WOTC R&D, and the final answer was that technically it is now a magical beast.

Sean K Reynolds said that there should be a new category (Enhanced Animal) that would allow the awakened creature to be immune to mental effects that target animals (since it no longer has the mind of an animal) but would still allow physical effects that target animals (since it still has the body of an animal).

But since that category doesn't exist in the current ruleset, the "official" answer is that it is a magical beast.

Hypersmurf · Mar 4, 2003

I'm going to throw some support in Sean's direction.

Type changes are always very clearly noted. And magic can yield some strange results where types are concerned.

For example, a human polymorphed into a gelatinous cube is still of type 'humanoid', despite the fact that "a humanoid usually has two arms, two legs, and one head". Granted, it says 'usually', but still.

A 10th level Oozemaster is of type 'ooze', and despite the fact that "Oozes have no Intelligence scores", his Intelligence does not change.

It seems somewhat harsh to charge a druid XP to awaken an animal companion, only to have it no longer qualify to be a companion any more... and arguably his most useful buffing spell, Animal Growth, stop working.

-Hyp.

Edit - although I see Masters of the Wild says that even though it's not an animal, Animal Friendship still works. Yurgh.

Spatula · Mar 4, 2003

Well, Animal Friendship has an Instantaneous duration, so it seems that it would still be "in effect" even if the target's type changes. Although you shouldn't be able to cast it on an awakened animal.

Gez · Mar 4, 2003

Beside, the awaken spell does state that the animal is friendly toward you.

It would have been much better if they didn't restrained animals with Int scores. 1 for barely sentient creatures (lizard), 2 for superior ones (most mammals), 3 for very intelligent ones (dolphins, chimpanzees would fit in that category).

Steverooo · Mar 4, 2003

Animal INT

The AD&D rules on animal INT are just plain ridiculous. Always have been. Look in a good pets book, sometime, and you'll see the real world IQs of some breeds of dogs and cats rated as high as 60-70... That's 6 or 7 INT, in 3e terms! Dolphins, porpoises, chimpanzees, and gorillas have been able to make at least limited use of human-designed languages (sign language for the primates, computer symbols for the dolphins). That certainly implies an IQ in the 80 range (INT 8, in 3e).

So I say house rule it that they are animals, awakened, or not, regardlessof IQ. "Magical Beasts" should be like "Magical Humanoids"; they should have some magical abilities. An awakened tree is still just a plant!...