The awaken spell: playing God?

[Umbran]

No, because Animate Plants does not have an xp cost to cast it. That makes a major difference in spell design.

That's a biggie. There's another - Animate Plants gets the plants to do what the caster wants. Awaken creates a free-willed being that does what it wants. It may or may not do what the caster wishes. You can have an Animated Plant do somethign suicidal, but your Awakened oak may choose the better part of valor

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

I will give you the animated object, was at work and didn't catch that, thought Henry's quote was the entire thing. Still not terribly sure how balanced that is, but then I am not known for a balance freak. You're right and I'm wrong, will endeavor to do more research next time. I was under the impression that it gave it the ability of an animated object in so far as it's leaves, roots and limbs could move. I couldn't see it having the strength to pull up what might me over a mile of roots for a grown oak, but then logic has never nec been the backing of spells. I always pictures awakened trees like the willow in harry potter, while the ents in jrr were treants and a race of themselves. I can see how that might not be the case now that I think about it. Thanks

 

[SkidAce]

By the RAW it appears that an awakened tree can move. I think it's a wording loophole, and will go with the moving limbs yet stationary tree.

my two cents...YMMV.

 

[Gez]

A third biggie: animate plants' duration is 1 round/level. Awaken is Instantaneous.

And a smallie: animate plants can also be used as an superior entangle spell. Awaken can only awaken (even if its plants or animals).

 

[Henry]

By the RAW it appears that an awakened tree can move. I think it's a wording loophole, and will go with the moving limbs yet stationary tree.

my two cents...YMMV.

Even by the single line I quoted, it says it can move its roots. Even if you ignored the "is an animated object" line, I can't think of any plant that WOULDN'T be walking around if it could "move its roots."

 

[Henry]

A third biggie: animate plants' duration is 1 round/level. Awaken is Instantaneous.

And a smallie: animate plants can also be used as an superior entangle spell. Awaken can only awaken (even if its plants or animals).

Another thing that brings down the Spell Level: Awaken makes an independent, self-aware creature. You can't control an Awakened creature the way you can control an Animated plant. If you are going strictly by power, Awaken should probably be an 8th or 9th level spell, one of the more powerful creative forces in the universe. But when determining spell level by that overgod, Gaim Balanze, it is actually much lower level because the PC cannot exert as much control over the world as he could otherwise. He'd have to convince the single plant creature to help him out.

I'm still amused that one of the top NPC's in Eberron is his own holy symbol.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

If trees could scream,
Would we be so cavailer in cutting them down?
We would if they screamed all the time for no good reason.

 

[Chimera]

Even by the single line I quoted, it says it can move its roots. Even if you ignored the "is an animated object" line, I can't think of any plant that WOULDN'T be walking around if it could "move its roots."

Well, they probably would NOT want to move if the process of moving required them to rip off half their roots just to do so. As someone else noted, trees have a lot of roots.

"I can't think of any plant"... Well, what's their motivation? "Move over there? Why? Is the soil better? Is it closer to the river? It would hurt a lot if I did that. There'd better be a good reason."

 

[Gez]

Pulling their roots out of the soil is probably a long and painstaking maneuver, but once it's done, they can move without problems.

Their newfound mobility will also help them in digging a hole and bringing nice compost to fill it after putting themselves in.

As for good reasons... Avoiding a forest fire, moving away from competition, fleeing a undead-infested land, whatever...

 

[jmucchiello]

Another thing that brings down the Spell Level: Awaken makes an independent, self-aware creature. You can't control an Awakened creature the way you can control an Animated plant. If you are going strictly by power, Awaken should probably be an 8th or 9th level spell, one of the more powerful creative forces in the universe.

It's less powerful than Raise Dead. Awaken does make an independent, self-aware creature. It takes an existing creature and grants them self-awareness and intelligence. Raise Dead puts all components of life into a dead body. Awaken is at just the right level.

I agree with the no effect on offspring crowd. The offspring of a animal and an augmented animal is an animal.