If you gave your Dire Bat animal companion Intelligence 3+, how much information would you let it convey to the group from what it sees with Blindsight?
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Assuming an animal with 3+ int, the animal companion should be able to tell the druid almost everything it "sees" with it's blindsight. However there might be alot of misinterpretation as well as require some good DMing to describe the world the way a bat would see things.
That being said, this isn't in the rules, but I would find it very hard as a DM to give an animal companion intelligence greater than 2. I.E. stat increase from levels nor a non-permanent magic item would do it. I'd let the animal wear a headband of vast intellect, however I wouldn't give it speaking capabilities right away - it would have to learn over time. A final option using a tome on said animal.
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This is something to consider, but I noted that it says in the back of the book under "Animals" something like "a creature that gains intelligence over 3 is no longer an animal" or "an animal cannot have an intelligence of 3 or higher" or something like that.
In any case, it seemed to imply that animals are just limited to 1 or 2 intelligence without certain spells, and even then I think those spells change their type to Magical Beast or something.
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This is something to consider, but I noted that it says in the back of the book under "Animals" something like "a creature that gains intelligence over 3 is no longer an animal" or "an animal cannot have an intelligence of 3 or higher" or something like that.
In any case, it seemed to imply that animals are just limited to 1 or 2 intelligence without certain spells, and even then I think those spells change their type to Magical Beast or something.
It actually deals with that in the druid section, not only do they remain an animal but they also eventually gain skill points, they would not get a language unless they took a rank in linguistics or their int got to 12 though; since they have no starting languages. I could definitely see a druid getting something like a telepathic bond spell or similar magic to work around this though, especially since even if it knew a language it most likely would not be able to speak it.
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See, that kind of conflicts a bit. All the Druid section says is "If an animal companion increases its intelligence to 10 or above..." It doesn't indicate that they stay an Animal, although it doesn't say they change either. All I have to go off of is the Bestiary implies that Animals do not go above 2 intelligence. My initial gut reaction would be to say that the animal companion becomes a magical beast as soon as it's intelligence hits 3 or higher (after all, it's not unheard of for a druid to have a magical beast AC, the rangers of Korvosa could do it with hippogryphs).
It's worth getting more information about at the very least. :)
It actually deals with that in the druid section, not only do they remain an animal but they also eventually gain skill points, they would not get a language unless they took a rank in linguistics or their int got to 12 though; since they have no starting languages. I could definitely see a druid getting something like a telepathic bond spell or similar magic to work around this though, especially since even if it knew a language it most likely would not be able to speak it.This is something to consider, but I noted that it says in the back of the book under "Animals" something like "a creature that gains intelligence over 3 is no longer an animal" or "an animal cannot have an intelligence of 3 or higher" or something like that.
In any case, it seemed to imply that animals are just limited to 1 or 2 intelligence without certain spells, and even then I think those spells change their type to Magical Beast or something.
Correct. An animal companion can have int above 2. My question more is how could it tell its Druid what it sees and in what detail. Also ideas to be able to better communicate (other then speak with animal.)
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Correct. An animal companion can have int above 2. My question more is how could it tell its Druid what it sees and in what detail. Also ideas to be able to better communicate (other then speak with animal.)
Best way to communicate is telepathy of some kind, and there are a few cheap ways to do so. Permanency on a telepathic bond spell would be the best, but is a bit prohibitive in cost; the best option is at least 1 rank in linguistics and a ring of communication (Magic Item Compendium). At ~2000gp per ring for a linked telepathy as long as you share a language this would be the best method I could see to use this early in the game. other than that you can try to convince your DM to allow you to invent a language based on what the animal can do based on its shape and give you and it both ranks in linguistics to learn said language.
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Two things:
1. Don't forget that animals can't physically talk. So the only option would be telepathy in addition to learning a language.
2. I always assumed the parts mentioning "animal companions above 2 int" was for Paladins and such. Considering that the Paladin's mount starts with intelligence higher than 2 and therefore should be able to take all feats, have a language known (although not be able to speak it) etc. I assumed it was in there as a way to combine Paladin mount and Druid animal companion abilities.
I was going to mention that fact that animals about 2 Int count as magical beasts as well... until I saw the special bit in the Animal Companion ability. Personally I could see a DM ruling that once an animal gets higher than 2 int it is a magical beast and no longer eligible to be an animal companion.
Two things:
1. Don't forget that animals can't physically talk. So the only option would be telepathy in addition to learning a language.
2. I always assumed the parts mentioning "animal companions above 2 int" was for Paladins and such. Considering that the Paladin's mount starts with intelligence higher than 2 and therefore should be able to take all feats, have a language known (although not be able to speak it) etc. I assumed it was in there as a way to combine Paladin mount and Druid animal companion abilities.
I was going to mention that fact that animals about 2 Int count as magical beasts as well... until I saw the special bit in the Animal Companion ability. Personally I could see a DM ruling that once an animal gets higher than 2 int it is a magical beast and no longer eligible to be an animal companion.
So I looked over the pathfinder bokks for Druid spells. I dont see any telepathic spells that a druid could take...