Question about Awaken

[Greenfield]

My character will soon have access to the Awaken Sand spell, and our Druid will soon have Awaken itself available, so I thought I'd tap into the collective wisdom pool here in the forum.

First, can an Awakened creature/plant/pile of sand become a cohort, as per the Leadership feat?

Second, can they attain/go up in character class levels?

Off hand I don't see a "no" to either of those, per RAW, but there are a lot of people here who know RAW better than I do.

 

[kitcik]

This is a fun thread, which ironically was inspired by you.

In answer to both your questions, I don't see any reason why not.

 

[Greenfield]

Thanks.

Another question came to mind though: Anyone know the hardness of sand?

The Awaken Sand spell says to treat the new creature as a Large Animated Object. That listing in the SRD says that it has the same Hardness as the object/material it was made from. The SRD, however, gives no Hardness rating for either Sand or Earth/Soil.

Suggestions?

 

[scott2978]

First question:
The DMG states on page 199 that you can have alternate cohorts that are "non-standard" races. You just use the ECL of the creature in place of a "standard" race's class levels. It also gives guidelines on what the ECL would be for certain creatures. Keep in mind that Awaken adds 2 HD to the creature.

Second question:
If they are a cohort, then they advance in levels just like any other cohort would.

My opinion is that your idea is fully supported by RAW. You could do some things in game to strengthen this in your favor if needed:

• The Awaken spell states that the newly awakened creature is friendly towards you. Play that up.
• Spend some time with the animal before hand (not sure if this would count for a plant or for sand...) train it some tricks, prove to the DM that the creature is well treated by you.
• Use Animal Empathy often to "empathize" with the animal and show it that you care about it's needs.
• Make sure to describe how you are playing with it and caring for it while traveling, camping, in the city, etc.
• Once awakened, the animal has the opportunity to repay you by being a devoted companion: more than just a follower or a pet, it is now elevated to the status of your "partner".

With these tips it should be fairly easy to convince the DM that the animal in question was a faithful friend long before you awakened it.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

This is a fun thread, which ironically was inspired by you.

In answer to both your questions, I don't see any reason why not.

Yay!

Thanks.

Another question came to mind though: Anyone know the hardness of sand?

The Awaken Sand spell says to treat the new creature as a Large Animated Object. That listing in the SRD says that it has the same Hardness as the object/material it was made from. The SRD, however, gives no Hardness rating for either Sand or Earth/Soil.

Suggestions?

Interesting enough, sand doesn't seem to have a hardness.

Looking at Sandstorm, I checked the Wall of Sand spell and Transmute Stone to Sand spell, hoping to find info on the Hardness of sand. Turns out, Transmute Sand to Stone includes Hardness info, Transmute Sand to Glass has hardness info, Wall of Magma has hardness info (after the magma cools), Wall of Salt has hardness info. Wall of Sand and Transmute Stone to Sand are distinctly absent on hardness info.

Wall of Sand, interestingly enough, says that physical attacks don't harm it, instead you can punch a hole that then closes.

It's safe to assume the Awakened sand has HP and will take damage like a construct, but it probably has a hardness of - . Whatever that means.

Have fun with that Cohort, I know I have!!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Sand is mostly made up of various silicate minerals- mostly quartz (Mohs Hardness 7). I'd use quartz's in-game hardness as a starting point.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

My understanding of Hardness is that it factors how much pressure/damage the object can receive before it breaks.

Sand can't break. Short of a particle being ground into even finer particles (and even in that case, shouldn't really be a problem for your new creature), a mass of sand will simply move under pressure and if it is animated, it will move back to whatever shape it desires (now that it has a will). In a mass of sand particles, there is nothing to break.

Still play the hitpoints and figure it can have the sentience beat out of it, or something. It can still "Die" from damage, it simply can't "Break".

Awakened Sand should have the hardness of an Ooze. Whatever that means.

I'm pushing my brain unsuccessfully to think of a scenario where the hardness of your animated object will be called into effect.

 

[scott2978]

I can't imagine when a creature or construct's hardness would ever be an issue. This awakened sand is either a creature or a construct, and neither has a hardness value.

 

[Greenfield]

I can't imagine when a creature or construct's hardness would ever be an issue. This awakened sand is either a creature or a construct, and neither has a hardness value.

A mass of Awakened Sand is treated as a Large Animated Object, as listed in the Monster Manual. (AC 14, 4 D10 + 30, 52 hit points) The Hardness score is effectively its DR.

So yeah, the Hardness would come into play.

And, while it's hard to even see a way to "break" sand, it's equally hard to envision a way to repair it. Such a creature, being a Construct, can't be cured by magical healing, nor would Make Whole or any sort of magical mending be applicable.

Of course, it's also pretty hard to hurt, being immune to most damage spells. If I were the DM instead of the player I'd be tempted to assign it a DR of 5 or 10/Bludgeoning, since slashing or stabbing at sand is usually a waste of time.

If it wasn't magical in nature, I suppose you could cast Transmute Sand to Stone, followed by Stone to Flesh, then use normal healing followed by a reverse of the transmutations, but even those don't work since it's immune to such things.

So a cohort of this nature is extremely limited.

 

[kitcik]

It's "Awaken Sand" not "Awakan Sandstorm," so I see it as like a congealed mass of sand.

I don't see any normal weapon doing damage to that. Bludgeoning might re-shape it a bit, but so what?

By the same token, why should sand have hardness? It's not hard. It's soft.

Maybe DR 10/magic, but that would be pure homebrew.

I would say RAW, hardness is zero. You can easily penetrate sand with a weapon. Whether you want to homebrew a DR due to the unusual properties of sand is up to you.