arwink
Clockwork Golem
In terms of control, it is a 5th level spell, and it does cost xp. The logistics of it pyramiding out of control are kind of mind boggling. You need a 9th level druid to awaken something, and if he keeps casting the spell, he's not going to stay a 9th level druid for long.
In addition to your points on the logistics of pyramiding the effect, take into account that 250xp is pretty much the equivelent of creating a 6000 gp magic item, albeit without the gp cost. I don't have a copy of masters of the wild, but I think druid could easily create one or two collars of magic fang for every creature he awakens. This too would undoubtably help the creatures under his or her charge, but it doen't mean their going to do it. Just because this is a possibility, doesn't necessarily mean its smart to do it.
Personally, I see awaken as being a linear thing. A druid may awaken one or two creatures over his lifetime, when the situation demands it. If trained, they too will probably only awaken one or two creatures in their lifetimes, and so on. A single line of awakend 'descendants' at best, a very slow pyramid at worst. You can probably bet that druids serving nature as a philosophy or god force aren't going to be happy with a kind of wholesale alteration of the wilds as they know it.
Finally, whose to say the animals are all that happy to be awakened. How many times have you looked at a pet and envied their lifestyle. Although an awakened creature may make good use of its powers, it is also granted consciousness enough to think through what it lost and it may not wish to do that to all of natures creatures, even if it has the choice.
Awakened creatures are great fun to create and use. Realistically, they're just like creating any other NPC. They have their own motivations, and you get to play around with some pretty strange personalities. It's just a case of getting used to thinking outside the square.
In addition to your points on the logistics of pyramiding the effect, take into account that 250xp is pretty much the equivelent of creating a 6000 gp magic item, albeit without the gp cost. I don't have a copy of masters of the wild, but I think druid could easily create one or two collars of magic fang for every creature he awakens. This too would undoubtably help the creatures under his or her charge, but it doen't mean their going to do it. Just because this is a possibility, doesn't necessarily mean its smart to do it.
Personally, I see awaken as being a linear thing. A druid may awaken one or two creatures over his lifetime, when the situation demands it. If trained, they too will probably only awaken one or two creatures in their lifetimes, and so on. A single line of awakend 'descendants' at best, a very slow pyramid at worst. You can probably bet that druids serving nature as a philosophy or god force aren't going to be happy with a kind of wholesale alteration of the wilds as they know it.
Finally, whose to say the animals are all that happy to be awakened. How many times have you looked at a pet and envied their lifestyle. Although an awakened creature may make good use of its powers, it is also granted consciousness enough to think through what it lost and it may not wish to do that to all of natures creatures, even if it has the choice.
Awakened creatures are great fun to create and use. Realistically, they're just like creating any other NPC. They have their own motivations, and you get to play around with some pretty strange personalities. It's just a case of getting used to thinking outside the square.
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Awakening for me feels as taboo as Resurrection/Raise Dead, it's not something to be done lightly, and chances are, if I was running a campaign, I'd have a hard time with PCs trying to awaken it, since I can't seem to justify performing a ceremony of Awakening.
