blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
What do you think would happen if you put a headband of intellect on an animal? I'm interested in story ideas, rules-based answers, and just plain old personal opinions and interpretations. 
Headband of intellect + an animal = ?
Derro
First Post
I think it would gain the subtype augmented. The jump (heh) to 3+ Intelligence is significant. It would be able to gain a class with the right circumstances.
oooh... You could make an X Paragon class and the 3rd level ability would be Awakened.
You'd have to give it more skill points. Maybe skill tricks.
Could it still be trained or is that removed with human-like Intelligence? Ogres are pretty stupid and you can't train them.
A pseudo - Pack of the Wild Hunt with the lead hound as a Direwolf Ranger that has trained the rest of the pack as soldiery. The Huntsman could be an Evil Druid or Barbarian (Wolf Totem).
oooh... You could make an X Paragon class and the 3rd level ability would be Awakened.
You'd have to give it more skill points. Maybe skill tricks.
Could it still be trained or is that removed with human-like Intelligence? Ogres are pretty stupid and you can't train them.
A pseudo - Pack of the Wild Hunt with the lead hound as a Direwolf Ranger that has trained the rest of the pack as soldiery. The Huntsman could be an Evil Druid or Barbarian (Wolf Totem).
pawsplay
Hero
Well, for you one thing, you wander into dangerous territory, rules-wise. Animals have an Int of 2 or less. So any time a spell would affect the creature, you would have to decide whether it treats them as an animal (because they are) or some kind of magical beast (because it affects the intellect and they don't have the mind of a beast).
One notion is that having a low Int is the result, not the cause of an animal intellect, and a croc with Int 5 is simply a very cunning croc, not a stupid person.
One notion is that having a low Int is the result, not the cause of an animal intellect, and a croc with Int 5 is simply a very cunning croc, not a stupid person.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
In 4e, giant spiders have Int 3.
IMO, in 3.x, Int 3+ isn't enough to change the animal's type. Any naturally-occurring animal will have Int 1 or 2, but it can be buffed without changing its type.
Unless you keep the headband on the animal a long time, though, its Int won't help much. It takes a long time to learn a language if your brain isn't built for it. (Just ask anyone trying to learn a new language at age 40! And humans have an advantage there over any non-intelligent animal, for obvious reasons.) It also won't be educated. Schooling can lasts thirteen years minimum in Canada (age 3-16, senior kindergarten to earliest age of legally dropping out) and, honestly, the animal would still be less intelligent than a person.
If the buff lasts long enough, maybe you could change it into a Magical Beast. IMO, it would have to be a buff like Permanency (does that work on stat buffs?) because an item can always be taken off.
IMO, in 3.x, Int 3+ isn't enough to change the animal's type. Any naturally-occurring animal will have Int 1 or 2, but it can be buffed without changing its type.
Unless you keep the headband on the animal a long time, though, its Int won't help much. It takes a long time to learn a language if your brain isn't built for it. (Just ask anyone trying to learn a new language at age 40! And humans have an advantage there over any non-intelligent animal, for obvious reasons.) It also won't be educated. Schooling can lasts thirteen years minimum in Canada (age 3-16, senior kindergarten to earliest age of legally dropping out) and, honestly, the animal would still be less intelligent than a person.
If the buff lasts long enough, maybe you could change it into a Magical Beast. IMO, it would have to be a buff like Permanency (does that work on stat buffs?) because an item can always be taken off.
(Psi)SeveredHead said:
Yes, but if I recall correctly, 4e doesn't have +X to stat items anyway. So, not a good comparison.
This one is rough, but I agree, based on something in the Headband's description:
SRD said:
I'd interpret that to mean that the wearer's intelligence is not actually better for long-term learning. It is smarter for on-the-spot thinking, but not for learning languages and gaining class abilities and such.
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