Animal Companion Confusion

[Technik4]

1. Do animal companions become magical beasts, and thus require reworking their stats from the MM?

1a. If not, what distinguishes them from regular animals? Are they just an animal that happens to have Type: Magical Beast?

2. Do animal companions with bonus HD get larger? If so, when?

3. Can a PC choose non-standard MM feats for his animal companion? For instance, can he choose Endurance instead of Alertness as a 1st level feat for his Dire Badger? Could he then choose Diehard when the badger has advanced enough HD?

4. Can a druid cast Cure Moderate Wounds (or any cure spell) and have it affect both himself and his familiar (ie- they both heal 2d8+x hp)?

5. Can you ever choose to give your animal companion class levels instead of advancing its animal (or magical beast?) HD?

6. Can your animal companion and familiar be the same animal if you are a multiclassed druid/sorcerer (a hawk for instance)?

Thanks for any answers...

Technik

 

[Hypersmurf]

1. Do animal companions become magical beasts, and thus require reworking their stats from the MM?

1a. If not, what distinguishes them from regular animals? Are they just an animal that happens to have Type: Magical Beast?

From the PHB Errata:
Animal Companion
Player’s Handbook, page 36
Contrary to the text, a druid’s animal companion is not
treated as a magical beast; it remains an animal.
Trim the first paragraph of the sidebar so that it reads as
follows:
A druid’s animal companion is superior to a normal
animal of its kind and has special powers, as described
below.

2. Do animal companions with bonus HD get larger? If so, when?

No.

4. Can a druid cast Cure Moderate Wounds (or any cure spell) and have it affect both himself and his familiar (ie- they both heal 2d8+x hp)?

Yes. (The 3.5 Share Spells rules contradict the Tome and Blood (3E) section on Share Spells, so thankfully, we can ignore T&B. Those rules were bizarre.)

5. Can you ever choose to give your animal companion class levels instead of advancing its animal (or magical beast?) HD?

No. Unless it's Awakened... in which case it can't be an Animal Companion any more

6. Can your animal companion and familiar be the same animal if you are a multiclassed druid/sorcerer (a hawk for instance)?

Not by the RAW, but you might be able to set something up with your DM...

-Hyp.

 

[Egres]

2. Do animal companions with bonus HD get larger? If so, when?

No.

Just to show that Hypersmurf's reply isn't unsupported, i'm going to quote here the Main 3.5 FAQ:

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 Monster Manual, 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.

 

[Technik4]

Thanks guys. But my old animal companion who I chose to awaken would be eligible to be my cohort if I took Leadership right?

Technik

 

[TroyXavier]

That should work with DM's approval.

 

[Tatsukun]

4. Can a druid cast Cure Moderate Wounds (or any cure spell) and have it affect both himself and his familiar (ie- they both heal 2d8+x hp)?

Wait, do Druids get familiars now? Or do you mean a Druid / wizard or some such thing?

-Tatsu

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Wait, do Druids get familiars now? Or do you mean a Druid / wizard or some such thing?

Probably just meant to say animal companion, since AC's get Share Spells now, just as familiars do. Then again, perhaps you're correct. There was talk of a hawk companion/familiar...