Improving Animal Companions

[sullivan]

...Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic on the Animal Companion and get it to read the various stat-boosting Tomes...

Whoa, whoa, whoa. My instincts tell me that just isn't going to fly by itself. You'd first have to bump up it's Int to 3, and even then I don't think I'd allow it. It's a Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic, not a Helm of Helm of Comprehend Languages, Read Magic, Be Capable of Abstact Thought, and Gain Self-Awareness. Even familiars with their Int 6+ possess a mental mindset that are not built for such things.

 

[Jack Simth]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. My instincts tell me that just isn't going to fly by itself. You'd first have to bump up it's Int to 3, and even then I don't think I'd allow it. It's a Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic, not a Helm of Helm of Comprehend Languages, Read Magic, Be Capable of Abstact Thought, and Gain Self-Awareness. Even familiars with their Int 6+ possess a mental mindset that are not built for such things.

It's a quirk of the rules, and should rightly be squashed by a DM - but it is, however, RAW:

Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic: Appearing as a normal helmet, a helm of comprehend languages and read magic grants its wearer the ability to understand the spoken words of any creature and to read text in any language and any magical writing. The wearer gains a +5 competence bonus on Decipher Script checks to understand messages written in incomplete, archaic, or exotic forms. Note that understanding a magical text does not necessarily imply spell use.

Faint divination; CL 4th; Craft Wondrous Item, comprehend languages, read magic; Price 5,200 gp; Weight 3 lb.

The helm grants literacy,

Tome of Clear Thought: This heavy book contains instruction on improving memory and logic, but entwined within the words is a powerful magical effect. If anyone reads this book, which takes a total of 48 hours over a minimum of six days, she gains an inherent bonus of from +1 to +5 (depending on the type of tome) to her Intelligence score. Once the book is read, the magic disappears from the pages and it becomes a normal book. Because the tome of clear thought provides an inherent bonus, the reader will earn extra skill points when she attains a new level.

Strong evocation (if miracle is used); CL 17th; Craft Wondrous Item, miracle or wish; Price 27,500 gp (+1), 55,000 gp (+2), 82,500 gp (+3), 110,000 gp (+4), 137,500 gp (+5); Cost 1,250 gp + 5,100 XP (+1), 2,500 gp + 10,200 XP (+2), 3,750 gp + 15,300 XP (+3), 5,000 gp + 20,400 XP (+4), 6,250 gp + 25,500 XP (+5); Weight 5 lb.

while ANYONE READING one of the tomes gets the bonus. It's completely insane, but by RAW, it should work - although you wouldn't want to try Clear Thought on your Animal Companion (animals can't have an INT score over 3, and it has to remain an ANIMAL companion) - Leadership and Influence, Understanding, Bodily Health, Gainful Exercise, and Quickness of Action are much better choices.

 

[dreaded_beast]

The reason I ask is that one of my players, a druid, wants to improve his animal companion, as in better stats.

I was wondering if I gave his animal companion the 'elite array' of stats, would that unbalance the game by any noticeable amount?

I was going to have him quest for an 'upgraded' version of the animal he wants.

 

[werk]

awaken

magic fang or greater magic fang

 

[Klaus]

The reason I ask is that one of my players, a druid, wants to improve his animal companion, as in better stats.

I was wondering if I gave his animal companion the 'elite array' of stats, would that unbalance the game by any noticeable amount?

I was going to have him quest for an 'upgraded' version of the animal he wants.

Well, IMC I allowed the ranger to "evolve" his wolf companion into a dire wolf. Although effective druid level gets diminished, the advanced animal options have better stats overall (a wolf has, iirc, Str 13, vs. the dire wolf's Str 27).

Instead of trading an animal for another, you fluff it into being a ritual that evolves the companions form.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I could see sticking with the regular Wolf and buildling the Spring Attack feat chain for fun, except that Dire Animals have much better Will saves. That makes the trade up far, far to sweet to ignore.

 

[Ovistavin]

In a campaign I am playing in the DM let me roll the stats for my wolf companion. So my wolf has a Dex of 22 with a 7th level Druid. When I run my own campaign again (the group rotates DMs each with there own campaign) I have no problem rolling the stats for animal companions. I was allowed to roll my own because I know the rules better than everyone else and I don't take advantage of that fact (I am an equal opportunity rules lawyer).

 

[CapnZapp]

Just hitting a 16 year old post.

Sure.

Edit: I'm giving myself a "strange thread resurrection reward" here since the actual necromancer (apparently Cplwally did go ahead and reveal itself as a spambot) is gone, and now I can't delete my reply