Intimidating wolf companion

[Mr. Sillybiscuits]

Is it worth it to give my Druid's wolf companion Intimidate? I'm currently level two, so her Charisma score is still a 6 (a nasty -4 from the core stat), but I really like the idea of the snarling wolf intimidating a thug or bandit. Especially she gets to be Large. Is there a way to circumvent her poor Charisma stat so she can Intimidate without dumping all of her ability increases into Charisma?

[Tirq]

Well, when it gets large, it gets a +4 bonus to intimidate. Also, if you get the Weapon Focus feat, you can get Dazzling Display. Other good feats include Persuasive/Skill Focus. Easy Bonus to Intimidate.

[Mr. Sillybiscuits]

Aha, completely missed that "+4 to smaller targets" bit on the skill! Thanks!

[The Elusive Jackalope]

I would also recommend Intimidating Prowess to expand upon Tirq's advice; much better than either Persuasive or Skill Focus (Intimidate) for a wolf companion.

[Stockvillain]

If you prefer a more sneaky version, may I recommend using "Stealthy" followed by "Sow Terror" feat from Classic Monster Revisited. No Intimidate check needed. You could even combine the two for pre-fight Shaken condition coupled with an up-front Intimidate check to further demoralize the enemy.

[Tirq]

Hey, thanks Jack for adding on that. I forgot that one, and it would make the Wolf even more intimidating... I might have to make one... And let's not forget that 1 cracked(?) Ioun Stone is cheap, and gives a +1 to a skill! Plus its a tiny rock spinning around a large grey wolf, what's not scary about it?

[Mr. Sillybiscuits]

Sow terror is really, really neat, but can a wolf use that? The description specifically mentions bugbears, and mentions tactics that don't sound like things a wolf would do.

[Toadkiller Dog]

Don't forget that before you can start taking those feats you need to bump the wolf's Int to 3.

[Mr. Sillybiscuits]

I had planned on doing that anyway, so she can understand Common.

[Tirq]

"NO! Down Fluffy! Stop scaring the nice merchant! I'm sorry, she's really nice, I don't know what's come over her! DOWN!"

Teehee

[Toadkiller Dog]

Mr. Sillybiscuits wrote:

I had planned on doing that anyway, so she can understand Common.

Take a look at this blog post. Lots of people think that when animal has an Int 3 it doesn't have to be Handled anymore, this clears it up.

[james maissen]

Toadkiller Dog wrote:

Mr. Sillybiscuits wrote:

I had planned on doing that anyway, so she can understand Common.

Take a look at this blog post. Lots of people think that when animal has an Int 3 it doesn't have to be Handled anymore, this clears it up.

Really the mess was allowing animals to obtain INT 3 (or higher) in the first place and remain type animal.

The article does do a decent job of trying to rein that in, but people do tend to read too much into what the article says as opposed to what it doesn't say.

-James