Somatic components and awakened beast

[brehobit]

Can an awakened horse wizard cast spells with a somatic component? Does the lack of hands mean that all somatic component spells require still spell?

Thanks!

 

[Alzrius]

Does the lack of hands mean that all somatic component spells require still spell?

Unfortunately, yes. Page 59 of Savage Species says, "Monsters that can make somatic gestures and speak languages can cast all the spells that a humanoid character can, provided they have the class levels that allow it. Monsters that cannot speak can cast any spells that has no verbal component...or any spell they can prepare with the metamagic feat Silent Spell." The last sentence would seem to indicate that the same holds true for not having hands and the Still Spell feat.

There is hope, however. If your character has a nonhumanoid/nonhuman-like form (such as your awakened horse) and a Wis of 13 or more, they can take the Surrogate Spellcasting monstrous feat in the same book. This basically allows the monster with this feat to make the closest approximations of verbal and somatic components that it can (it must have some kind of limbs to move, and make some sort of vocal noise), and it can thus cast spells (e.g. your horse could stomp its feat and swish its tail for somatic components, and whinney for verbal components if it can't talk). This feat doesn't let the monster use magic items it doesn't have the body parts for (no rings on your horse, for example) or allow it to speak if it can't normally. Likewise, components and foci must still be held, etc.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Just take a bunch of druid levels and the Natural Spell feat.

An Awakened Horse Druid-8 can Wildshape into a horse, and then he can cast spells.

-Hyp.