Leadership and Animal Companions

[Synicism]

Here's my question. Can a druid combine the Awaken spell and the Leadership feat to theoretically break the hit die cap on animal companions by making one of them intelligent and taking it as a cohort?

Example:

an 8th level druid has a 6 HD dire wolf as an animal companion. Upon reaching 9th level, he casts Awaken on his friend, giving it 2 extra HD and a 3d6 Intelligence score (average of 10 or 11). For his 9th level feat, he takes Leadership. Can he choose his Dire Wolf as a cohort?

If so, do the Dire Wolf's hit dice count against the druid's animal companion cap?

If they do, what happens when the Wolf starts gaining class levels?

 

[Acmite]

Here's my question. Can a druid combine the Awaken spell and the Leadership feat to theoretically break the hit die cap on animal companions by making one of them intelligent and taking it as a cohort?

Kinda. When the Awaken spell is cast, the animal becomes a magical beast and is therefore no longer subject to the Animal Friendship spell. The animal will (likely) still be friendly, but it cannot count against your HD limit for Animal Friendship. The only way to keep the magical beast as your companion is to take him as a cohort as per Leadership.

You aren't "breaking" the cap since it doesn't apply to an awakened companion. The magical beast can now take class levels, and that will affect the leadership feat.

 

[Speaks With Stone]

Actually, the Awaken spell does not break the Animal Friendship spell. The Animal Friendship spell targets an animal and then is permanent. If the animal changes later, it is still a friend. The MotW specifically mention this.

If you choose to release the Awakened Animal at a later time it will still be friendly, but will follow its own agenda. It could then be kept as a cohort, if you wish to follow those rules.

 

[Synicism]

Actually, the Awaken spell does not break the Animal Friendship spell. The Animal Friendship spell targets an animal and then is permanent. If the animal changes later, it is still a friend. The MotW specifically mention this. If you choose to release the Awakened Animal at a later time it will still be friendly, but will follow its own agenda. It could then be kept as a cohort, if you wish to follow those rules.

Right. So if you take the awakened animal as a cohort, do its hit dice count against your total for Animal Companions?

Or can a druid with Leadership effectively do an end run around the hit dice cap by Awakening one animal and having an intelligent cohort and then taking up to his limit in normal animal companions?

 

[Acmite]

My bad......or is it?

OK, I just read through the section on awakened companions in MotW (p. 37), and it says that awakened companions count against your HD limit.


This 100% contradicts what I was told by the Sage in Sept. 2000 when I asked this question. He said, in no uncertain terms, that the Awaken spell invalidates the animal friendship spell and that a druid must have Leadership to retain the awakened NPC.

But the MotW entry leaves the option open for when the animal (magical beast) is "discarded" --then Leadership could be used to gain the creature as a cohort.

I think I like the Sage's answer better. If you read the two spells in question, what the Sage said makes sense.