Greenfield
Adventurer
My character created this creature and immediately gave him a name. (Lysander) He wouldn't treat it/him as a tool or animated skeleton.
In fact, my character feels responsible for him. He can't heal, either naturally or by most common magics. If Lysander goes off on his own, he'll die. Slowly, by attrition, just from the wear and tear of everyday existence.
Yes, it has skills. According to the books, intelligent Animated objects get skills at a rate of 2 + Int modifier per hit dice. Since all of his mental stats rolled up at 10, that means 16 skill points total.
What Lysander doesn't have is a Dex worthy of calling himself a Rogue. Yeah, he has a lot of "racial" modifiers to Hide, but that's about it. Dex of 8 kind of kills it for any other Rogue skills.
I expect that, if the DM allows it, he'll come along as an NPC/Hireling, and will gain Exp at the DM's discretion based on participation. I expect he'll advance with class levels, either as Warrior or Fighter, rather than by size increases or "monster levels"
As for his hit dice v his "level": If he was an actual character, 16 skill points is what he'd have as a 5th level Fighter (2+Int mod x 4 at 1st level, and 2+Int mod x 4 more levels).
I mis-stated his hit points before, by the way. He has 8 D10 + 40, per the book, or 84, not 189 (I don't know where I got that number from). Not too badly out of line for a 5th level Fighter. His BAB, however, is 6.
In fact, my character feels responsible for him. He can't heal, either naturally or by most common magics. If Lysander goes off on his own, he'll die. Slowly, by attrition, just from the wear and tear of everyday existence.
Yes, it has skills. According to the books, intelligent Animated objects get skills at a rate of 2 + Int modifier per hit dice. Since all of his mental stats rolled up at 10, that means 16 skill points total.
What Lysander doesn't have is a Dex worthy of calling himself a Rogue. Yeah, he has a lot of "racial" modifiers to Hide, but that's about it. Dex of 8 kind of kills it for any other Rogue skills.
I expect that, if the DM allows it, he'll come along as an NPC/Hireling, and will gain Exp at the DM's discretion based on participation. I expect he'll advance with class levels, either as Warrior or Fighter, rather than by size increases or "monster levels"
As for his hit dice v his "level": If he was an actual character, 16 skill points is what he'd have as a 5th level Fighter (2+Int mod x 4 at 1st level, and 2+Int mod x 4 more levels).
I mis-stated his hit points before, by the way. He has 8 D10 + 40, per the book, or 84, not 189 (I don't know where I got that number from). Not too badly out of line for a 5th level Fighter. His BAB, however, is 6.