Animal Companions

OK.. so an animal is defined partly by having an Intelligence of 1 or 2.

Now, what if due to ability score advancement an Animal Companion has its Int score increased to 3.

Is it still an animal? Does that effect the number of tricks it can learn?

OK.. so an animal is defined partly by having an Intelligence of 1 or 2.

Now, what if due to ability score advancement an Animal Companion has its Int score increased to 3.

Is it still an animal? Does that effect the number of tricks it can learn?

Its still a animal and you no longer need to teach it tricks.

Where can that be found, that it states such?

Greetings, fellow travellers.

My understanding is that after being chosen as an animal companion the animal is no longer concerned to be an animal as per the rules.

Anyways, the assumption with an ac having an INT of 3 is, that it's now able to understand (human) speech. In the 3.5 Player's Handbook it is stated:

"A creature of humanlike intelligence has a score of at least 3."
(page 9)

This means: you do not need to teach it tricks anymore, you just give your ac an order/ask it to do something via a verbal command (free action!).

Ruyan.

__EDIT__ In the PFRPG the above quoted sentence has been changed to: "Any creature capable of understanding speech has an intelligence of at least 3" - which doesn't change what I wrote concerning the new possibilites you gained to get your ac to do what you want it to do.

Greetings, fellow travellers.

My understanding is that after being chosen as an animal companion the animal is no longer concerned to be an animal as per the rules.

Anyways, the assumption with an ac having an INT of 3 is, that it's now able to understand (human) speech. In the 3.5 Player's Handbook it is stated:

"A creature of humanlike intelligence has a score of at least 3."
(page 9)

This means: you do not need to teach it tricks anymore, you just give your ac an order/ask it to do something via a verbal command (free action!).

Ruyan.

__EDIT__ In the PFRPG the above quoted sentence has been changed to: "Any creature capable of understanding speech has an intelligence of at least 3" - which doesn't change what I wrote concerning the new possibilites you gained to get your ac to do what you want it to do.

+1

This is all true.

Many thanks guys... Most appreciated.

I have a gnome ranger who will be happy to hear this one. Beware the gnome understanding wolverine.. LOL

Many thanks guys... Most appreciated.

I have a gnome ranger who will be happy to hear this one. Beware the gnome understanding wolverine.. LOL

Coolness.

Also, an Animal Companion with an INT of 3 or more can put ranks in any skills and select any feats, besides the normal animal skills and feats.

Animal Skills

Animal companions can have ranks in any of the following skills: Acrobatics* (Dex), Climb* (Str), Escape Artist (Dex), Fly* (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Perception* (Wis), Stealth* (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim* (Str). All of the skills marked with an (*) are class skills for animal companions. Animal companions with an Intelligence of 3 or higher can put ranks into any skill.

Animal Feats
Animal companions can select from the following feats: Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Armor Proficiency (light, medium, and heavy), Athletic, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Diehard, Dodge, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Improved Natural Attack, Improved Overrun, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mobility, Power Attack, Run, Skill Focus, Spring Attack, Stealthy, Toughness, Weapon Finesse, and Weapon Focus. Animal companions with an Intelligence of 3 or higher can select any feat they are physically capable of using. GMs might expand this list to include feats from other sources.

Yup, which started the questioning about tricks and whether it was still an "animal".

But, all is happy with the world... unless one of the Powers That Be state otherwise. :oP

It still won't understand any languages without a skill point spent in Linguistics, other than the small number it picked up earlier as part of its training in tricks. Bumping an animal companion to Int 3 doesn't automatically teach it common, it merely grants the capacity to learn it.

Above post is correct. You would need to put one of its skill ranks in Linguistics and give it a language.

Twould be a small price to pay... hehehe

So what would you have to do so that your animal companion can speak back to you?

In my specific example, I have a paladin who is going to get a Drakkensteed (from the 3.5 Dragon Magic book) as a mount. The paladin already speaks draconic, and it was my intention to give the 'steed a skill rank in linguistics to understand draconic. Does this mean it can speak the language, too?

An Awaken spell would grant actual speech... but then it would no longer be a companion/familiar.

So what would you have to do so that your animal companion can speak back to you?

In my specific example, I have a paladin who is going to get a Drakkensteed (from the 3.5 Dragon Magic book) as a mount. The paladin already speaks draconic, and it was my intention to give the 'steed a skill rank in linguistics to understand draconic. Does this mean it can speak the language, too?

I think the paladin's mount has special rules for speach -- might be wrong.

Without magical assistance, they cannot speak. They do not have the physical capability to talk for the most part

It still won't understand any languages without a skill point spent in Linguistics, other than the small number it picked up earlier as part of its training in tricks. Bumping an animal companion to Int 3 doesn't automatically teach it common, it merely grants the capacity to learn it.

I dont see why you would otherwise how could you train it to do tricks in the first place & be able to execute it before gaining int 3?

in RL does your own dog have an int of 3 & has learnt to spoken english (or whatever national language you know) so it can do tricks? I very much doubt it but it can still understand it

I would rule & all my groups have played it that an animal companion can understand the "owners" language only eg. if my druid or ranger is human it can understand but obviously not speak common but not any other language unless I give it linguistics so if there are other party members say a dwarf & an orc they could only give it commands if they speak common to it - no problem for the dwarf but an orc may not be able to speak common assuming the companion wants to obey the command as well - understanding & complying with are different things

I dont see why you would otherwise how could you train it to do tricks in the first place & be able to execute it before gaining int 3?

in RL does your own dog have an int of 3 & has learnt to spoken english (or whatever national language you know) so it can do tricks? I very much doubt it but it can still understand it

IRL your pet knows a few select words and phrases you have taken a good deal of time to teach it. Yes it understands the pattern of those words, but that doesn't mean it understands the ENTIRE language. You can't tell your dog who only knows how to "sit" to go "fetch the newspaper." The point in Linguistics is so that your dog can learn to understand the ENTIRE language.

I would rule & all my groups have played it that an animal companion can understand the "owners" language only eg. if my druid or ranger is human it can understand but obviously not speak common but not any other language unless I give it linguistics so if there are other party members say a dwarf & an orc they could only give it commands if they speak common to it - no problem for the dwarf but an orc may not be able to speak common assuming the companion wants to obey the command as well - understanding & complying with are different things

I think this could go either way. PCs know at least one language no matter how low their INT score is. It is not a result in studying Linguistics, but rather a result of growing up with exposure to those languages. I could see granting an Animal Companion the basic language of its master for free upon reaching INT 3, simply due to exposure. It is an extension of the PC after all and PCs get at least one basic language. I understand why it might take a point of Linguistics also, but I think it's more a DM call than a rules question (unless there are rules on animals learning languages that I haven’t seen). The Animal Companion could easily have learned that language automatically through exposure, the way a PC does, or since it is past level 1 the DM might require a point in Linguistics to fully learn the language.

Without magical assistance, they cannot speak. They do not have the physical capability to talk for the most part

This is not necessarily true. There are plenty of animals out there who can and have learned to mimic certain words or phrases. If such an animal had a high enough INT to actually know and understand the language then I don't see why it wouldn't be able to speak also.

For the sake of the game, there are plenty of fantasy and even RL examples of animals which were either able to speak or able to make noises mimicking speech. As for fantasy examples, how about the movie Willow or The Never Ending Story; both had examples of regular animals who could speak due to heightened intelligence. Let's not forget Narnia, where all kinds of animals are intelligent and can talk. Even in RL there are plenty of YouTube videos depicting dogs making sounds that mimic words in their master's language. Are they intelligent enough to know what they are saying? Probably not, but it proves that they can mimic language with their noises, at which point the only thing standing between them and real speech is intelligence.

Further support is the Awaken spell. All this spell does is awaken its subject to a "human-like" state of awareness, which apparently grants the automatic knowledge of one language which the caster of the spell knows. The creature is also able to speak that language. Now it does turn Animals into Magical Beasts, but from the description in the spell, I think that has more to do with magic being the catalyst for heightened intelligence rather than any "abilities" the heightened intelligence grants. Also, the fact that this spell has no effect on Animals with an intelligence already higher than 2 suggests that the effect the spell grants through magic has already been attained by an animal with INT 3 or more through other means.

All these things considered, I would grant the animal a capability of speaking at least broken language. Would it have full command of the language? No, it still only has INT 3. But it should be able to mimic the sounds of speech enough to allow the master to understand what it is trying to say. Unless you, as the DM, decide that intelligent, talking animals are just too far-fetched for your fantasy world.

+1 to the camp of "if it has int 3, spend a skill point in Linguistics, it now understands that language to the best of its Intelligence"

And I agree that it could learn to speak crudely. Int 3 is a limited vocabulary, maybe 30-40 words tops. Single word sentances, two if lucky. Words that are important to an animal. "Sleep. Food. Warm. Cold. Water. Master. Me. Them. Bad. Good. Close. Far. One. Two. Three. Night. Day. Left. Right. Stop. Go. Get. Give."

Maybe about ten more words, and thats about all I would let Int 3 get by with. Granted, some types of animals it seems more likely for speech, dogs, cats, birds. Lizards, snakes, horses, a little less so.

Which brings it back to Shadowlord's closing comment: is intelligent, talking animals too much for your fantasy world?

I think this could go either way. PCs know at least one language no matter how low their INT score is. It is not a result in studying Linguistics, but rather a result of growing up with exposure to those languages. I could see granting an Animal Companion the basic language of its master for free upon reaching INT 3, simply due to exposure. It is an extension of the PC after all and PCs get at least one basic language. I understand why it might take a point of Linguistics also, but I think it's more a DM call than a rules question (unless there are rules on animals learning languages that I haven’t seen). The Animal Companion could easily have learned that language automatically through exposure, the way a PC does, or since it is...

Normally a Human gets common as a starting language.

So a dog gets Canine/Dog as a free language normally.
Ofcourse if you let common sense rule and the dog is raised by humans it should recieve common as a free language upon gaining three int (when raised by humans).

But when it is a wild dog it should not! IMHO

Well, what I did was allow her companion to understand a single language, gnome, as she felt this would have been her primary language when training him earlier in her career.

The companion can communicate some things to her through simple body language:
Yes - nods head
No - shakes head
Can count to ten by pawing the ground
May note directions by pointing his head in said direction when asked.
Etc...

now if she wants to to be able to communicate more effectively, such as by scratching words in the dirt, she would need to teach it such (via skill points in linguistics).

Giving that while in wild shape a druid, that could normally speak any number of languages can do nothing but make strange animals sounds, I think an animal companion can learn to understand any number of languages but can never hope to speak a single one.

Giving that while in wild shape a druid, that could normally speak any number of languages can do nothing but make strange animals sounds, I think an animal companion can learn to understand any number of languages but can never hope to speak a single one.

I'm in agreement here as well, though i love the idea of a talking magical companion to some extent, i beleive it misses out on the core features of being an ANIMAL companion. I've always thought of mine (not played pF persay yet but in D&D anyways) as beloved pets, and prefered them non speaking for rp reasons, after all whats better then sending your faithful and loyal, but 3int wolf into a dangerous situation (such as down a trapped corridor) only to have him come back, drop the item in your hand, lick yur hand after you rub his head, only to turn your back on him and turn around to find him pissing on your bed role (wolf grinning on the inside"i told you not to send me places you wont go yourself in the past! take that you ****")

just for kicks, if the animal spent the point in linguistics, doesn't it mean the animal also can write in the selected language?

if that's true, doesn't that mean the animal using 1 of its appendages can write in the sand: "dude, you are making everything too complicated!!!!!"

You're right talast. You guys are making this too complicated. The real use for animal companions have an INT of 3 is so they benefit from bardic performance.