Is it normal for a 9th level Bear Shaman Druid to have a bloody great Bear as an amimal companion AND an Awakened Elephant trampling all over the place?
Not to mention the standard action medium Bear Attack squad that swamps the battlefield!!
Overpowered? or on par?
That depends on the group. I wouldn't want a player have that much dice time because it detracts from the other players' time, but assuming there were only 3 other players I would just increase the number of bad guys. Dungeons would cause them lot of trouble though due to the size of the elephant and the bear.
an awakened elephant is under no obligation to follow him. it basically falls under the cohort rules.
I'm not sure what you mean b bloody grate bearvthough. his animal companion should be medium sized.
as far the summons go if your high enough level to have awakene elephants I'm notvsure why normal medium bearscare avthreatbto bad guys.
That depends on the group. I wouldn't want a player have that much dice time because it detracts from the other players' time, but assuming there were only 3 other players I would just increase the number of bad guys. Dungeons would cause them lot of trouble though due to the size of the elephant and the bear.
We're in book 3 of Kingmaker... not too many dungeons!
Awakened Animal becomes a NPC controled by the DM.
While initaly acting favoriable to the caster. But this is no different that a NPC friend being initaly favoriable to a PC friend, until such time as the PC does something to cause a Reaction change.
Does anyone have any experience of DMing a PC with Awakened critters?
Does anyone have any experience of DMing a PC with Awakened critters?
Awakened animals, as already stated, are NPCs. They now have a sentient personality and their own desires and goals.
The first thing that comes to mind is that elephants normally live in hot savannas or jungles. Where did this elephant come from in the first place? Since Kingmaker takes place in the River Kingdoms, the first winter that elephant is exposed to is going to really upset it. Elephants don't like the cold. It may well want to leave, and demand that its druid friend help it to return to its own lands.
The druid might offer elaborately constructed quarters where the elephant can be warm and well fed. The elephant then scoffs and says it will not be caged to stand around and do nothing. It wants to go to Garund where there are miles of land to roam, good food to eat, and nasty things aren't poking it with spears and arrows constantly.
Just because the druid awakened it, doesn't mean the elephant is going to willingly risk itself for the druid's sake, not without reason (i.e. the Leadership feat, coercive magics, really good Diplomacy rolls, etc.)
In other words, if you think the elephant is too powerful, you're within rights as GM to make it go away.
Awaken Animals
Is best used to create guardian animals, for the natural area that they live in.
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In other words, do not think about what Awaken Animal does for you.
Think about what you can do for the animals and plants in the area by Awakening them.
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Awaken Animals
Is best used to create guardian animals, for the natural area that they live in.
= Have a Special Grove = Awaken some tree, to protect the area and other tree in the area. = Have a problem with hunter, hunting down lion in the plains = Awaken the Alfa Lion, so that he can use his knowledge to lead the other lions out of the traps, or outsmart the hunter. .....................
In other words, do not think about what Awaken Animal does for you.
Think about what you can do for the animals and plants in the area by Awakening them.
That's always been my impression as well. Awakening some trees and instructing them to become adepts (making them also druids is a bit cheesy, IMO), so that they can more effectively protect / heal / preserve their section of woodland is a great way to leave behind an interesting encounter area. (and, in a game that has some sort of cooperative / ceremonial casting rules, a grove of low-level adepts can sometimes pull off some surprising stunts, by pooling their power)
If a PC wanted to keep some awakened critters around as flunkies, I'd make him pay for Leadership (and, depending on the nature of the critter, might even make him forgo the followers, if his 'cohort' is a bit buffer than the Leadership rules would normally allow).
If he wanted to awaken some critters and leave them behind to guard his home territory or whatever, I'd let that slide, so long as he didn't try to sneak-abuse that generosity by arranging for them to conveniently be handy for him to throw into dangerous situations.