Powergaming w/ Awaken: I have +2 HD!

Ok, one of my druid PCs IMC wants to Awaken himself.

Step 1: Take Natural Spell Feat
Step 2: Wildshape into an animal. Pg 37 PH says that Wildshape functions like Polymorph. Pg 263, Polymorph spell description says that the "subject's creature type and subtype change to match the new form." Therefore, while in wildshape, a human druid is considered an animal instead of a humanoid.
Step 3: Cast Awaken on yourself.

Awaken
Target: Animal or tree touched
Duration: Instantaneous

So by using the logic presented here, a druid can cast awaken on him/herself. Now it gets even better.

Step 4: Druid wildshapes back to human form Type=Humanoid
Step 5: Druid wildshapes to animal, Casts Awaken again

The reason that you cannot cast awaken on an Animal more than once is that it turns into a magical beast, per the spell description. Since wildshape skirts this implicit prohibition, technically you can awaken yourself again and again!

Beyond dealing with an obvious flaw in the rules, I have created the Druid Wildshape smackdown, which I will post in good time. With 133 Hit Dice and a Charisma over 300, awaken is great for those Mystic Wanderer/Contemplatives with Mysticism Domain for Charisma to Ac and saves respectively. The above is with only 1 levels worth of awaken at 16th level. Anyway, something to think/post about

Any self respecting GM would slap that down in a instant. The whole idea behind Awakening is to give a animal the ability to reason and gain class levels. If a animal could already reason then Awakening would not have any affect. Tell your rules lawyer player to think again.

strongbow said:

Ok, one of my druid PCs IMC wants to Awaken himself.

Step 1: Take Natural Spell Feat
Step 2: Wildshape into an animal. Pg 37 PH says that Wildshape functions like Polymorph. Pg 263, Polymorph spell description says that the "subject's creature type and subtype change to match the new form." Therefore, while in wildshape, a human druid is considered an animal instead of a humanoid.
Step 3: Cast Awaken on yourself.

Click to expand...

I believe the flaw in your reasoning is that the animal descriptor is not applicable to creatures with greater than a 3 intelligence. Which is one of the things that differentiates Magical Beast from Animal. I'm not up on the details with all the new and different types and such, but I'm fairly certain that is the case. IIRC I believe that the spell at least used to say something to that effect.

In any case it is at best a totaly munchkin tactic. What ever the literal reading of the rules may be it clearly violates the intent of the rules. After all "Awakening" ie. bringing to sentience a creature that is already sentient is plainly stupid.

From SRD

Awaken
Transmutation
Level: Drd 5
Components: V, S, DF, XP
Casting Time: 24 hours
Range: Touch
Target: Animal or tree touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Click to expand...

Wild Shape (Su): At 5th level, a druid gains the ability to turn herself into any Small or Medium animal and back again once per day. Her options for new forms include all creatures with the animal type. This ability functions like the polymorph spell, except as noted here. The effect lasts for 1 hour per druid level, or until she changes back. Changing form (to animal or back) is a standard action and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this was discussed as soon as 3.5 came out.

Baleful Polymorph is the key here.

And you wouldn't be able to rinse and repeat- spells generally don't stack with themselves. Still, doing it even once is problematic.

A Druid wouldn't be able to Awaken himself (as Camarath pointed out. The casting of the spell would be interrupted by the necessary Wild Shaping of the Druid), but that wouldn'd stop two Druids from Awakening each other's socks off...

Also:

TypesSubtypesAbilities.rtf said:

Animal Type: An animal is a living, nonhuman creature, usually a vertebrate with no magical abilities and no innate capacity for language or culture[...]Intelligence score of 1 or 2 (no creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher can be an animal).

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but this could be bypassed by having the Druid at 16th level, and thus being able to wildshape into a Plant creature, which have no Intelligence limitations.

Slim

This is one of several reasons that I think the new wildshape rules suxxors -- specifically, the change in creature type opens up all sorts of problems.

Daniel

24 hour casting time is no problem.

From the Masters of the Wild FAQ:

If you use an infusion to hold a spell with a long casting
time, will the infusion take an equally long time to take
effect?
No. An infusion takes effect immediately when imbibed
(which requires a standard action), regardless of the spell's
casting time.

Means you don't need Natural Spell either, since an animal can eat an infusion just fine.

-Hyp.

Hrmm. I've got no problem with allowing this as a DM.

So the druid wants to create an infusion of awaken and consume it while in animal form for the added HD and such. Cool. Sounds like a cool tactic and creative use of his spells and abilities. I'd allow it.

The only problem will come when he reverts back to his normal form and those nifty bonuses go away because he is no longer an animal (or magical beast, for that matter).

Not to mention the hit he'll likely take on Wis and Cha when he rolls those new values based on the spell. Hehe.

But hey, it was good while it lasted.

If I were you, I'd be far more worried about him eating an animal growth infusion.