awakened familiars...

[Moe Ronalds]

And an Awakened animal can take class levels... so your Awakened cat Sor-1 familiar could have a familiar of his own, who could... well, the chain could get rather long

-Hyp.

You could have a whole nation of familiars, ran by the sorcerer!!!

Of course, after a while some of the familiars would be so pathetic that their familiars would be fleas and germs....

Yeah, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.

 

[Nifft]

I'd allow it, but only if the character took the Leadership Feat, and took his familiar as his Cohort.

-- Nifft

 

[Deadguy]

I'd allow it, but only if the character took the Leadership Feat, and took his familiar as his Cohort.

-- Nifft

That's a pretty fair approach. Maybe also require Improved Familiar if the creature is exceptional physically. Neat idea Nifft!

I have a PC Wizard who wants to get some more out of his viper familiar and doesn't want to take Improved Familiar, thus getting a new companion.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

Druids can have awakened companions

I'm not sure about this. I thought I had read differently. Once you awaken it, it remains friendly to you, and might choose to continue to hang around with you, but it is no longer subject to your will in the same way that it was before. Now it has a will of its own, and is regarded as a true NPC. I don't think it counts against the druid's HD allowance for companions anymore either, but I'm not sure about that.

 

[Obsolete]

Candidus- read masters of the wild pages 34 and most importantly page 38

except from page 38 MotW

Heading Awakened Animal

While normally a creature with such a high intelligence
isn't subject to animal friendship, an animal awakened by a
druid remains her companion as long as she treats it with
respect, as discussed above. The animal continues to
count against the druid's Hit Dice limit for animal companions.
For a time, the awakened animal can even exceed
the druid's level. (For example, an awakened dire bear suddenly
has 14 HD, but it remains with a 12th-level druid).
Until the druid once again exceeds the animal in Hit
Dice, however, she cannot gain new animal companions.
As a general rule, an awakened animal continues to
assist the druid, at least as long as she continues to include
it among her companions. When she elects to
leave that animal behind (by befriending a new one), it
soon departs. The animal remains friendly with the druid
and may assist her from time to time, but it no longer accompanies her on adventures.

so as you can see Awakened Animals can indeed be animal companions and it even temporarily allows you to exceed your HD limit per level