Celestial Servant Feat

[Seraphimpunk]

the rules for the animal companion still override it.

the creature's type just changes to magical beast for effects, not numerical stat changes.
it doesn't gain increased hit dice. what it gains darkvision, celestial resistances, etc. , and immunity to enemies casting spells that target "animals", and monsters that make animals uneasy / unable to attack them, like movanic devas and bhutas.

if the feat were meant to change all numeric bonuses to magical beast ( HD, skills, etc ), they'd have to have reprinted the animal companion chart for ease of player use. they didn't, so thats clearly not their intent.

[neferphras]

Whether or not you get the HD boost this is still one of the best feats in the game, so just to down power it a little bit i would say no HD boost. its still a ridiculously cool feat.

[Finlanderboy]

Then faq it. If the development team provide an answer then we will have to live with it.

[Pathfinder Design Team]

FAQ: http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gh#v5748eaic9rd5

Celestial Servant: Does this change my companion creature's HD, saves, skill ranks for changing its creature type?

No. All it does is change the creature's type to "magical beast" (which makes it immune to abilities from other creatures which only affect animals) and give it the abilities of the celestial creature simple template (which does not change anything other than what is exactly specified in the template).

[Nefreet]

Good to know. Thanks!

[blackbloodtroll]

Well, that makes non-animal Familiars affected by this feat difficult to figure out still.

Homunculus familiar, for example.

[blahpers]

Sounds like it'd be a magical beast homunculus per FAQ. Which is silly, so I wouldn't rule it that way anyway.

[Nefreet]

O.O

Celestial Servant Quasit.

[blahpers]

No one is above redemption, right?

[Treefolk]

I like this feat. Nothing quite like whipping out the staple gun and affixing some delicious defense onto your AC.

[The Morphling]

Nefreet wrote:

O.O

Celestial Servant Quasit.

I AM *DOING* THE EVERLOVING HELL OUT OF THIS.

LITERALLY - HELL. Except with a Devil, because hell.

[Nefreet]

Aren't Devils from Hell, and Demons from the Abyss?

[The Morphling]

Yes. Are italics invisible to you?

[LazarX]

The Morphling wrote:

Yes. Are italics invisible to you?

"No, but I do have this brain condition which causes me to perceive Britain as upside down when I read a map."

James May, explaining to his Top Gear comrades why he lost a car race against public transport.

[Nefreet]

I see the italics, was just thinking that a Quasit is a Demon, not a Devil.

[Nefreet]

Chalk it up to context being lost via textual communication.

[The Morphling]

Indeed. I was saying that I'd do it with a Devil rather than a Demon - since Quasits are Demons, I'd need an Imp instead to make my "do the hell out of it" pun actually work.

And now the timing is ruined, and it's all your fault! *sobs*

[Nefreet]

*rubs hands together maniacally*

"Excellent".

[blackbloodtroll]

There is the Diabolist Imp Companion.

[The Morphling]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

There is the Diabolist Imp Companion.

It's not an "animal" companion so I don't believe it would qualify for Celestial Servant.

[Nawtyit]

What do you use for it's CR when determining SR? Do you use the PC's level? PC level -1? The chart of HD in the bestiary?

[Are]

Nawtyit wrote:

What do you use for it's CR when determining SR? Do you use the PC's level? PC level -1? The chart of HD in the bestiary?

I would use the PC's level (in the class granting the companion).

[RainyDayNinja]

Nawtyit wrote:

What do you use for it's CR when determining SR? Do you use the PC's level? PC level -1? The chart of HD in the bestiary?

There hasn't been an official rules answer as far as I know, but James Jacobs (who is one of the developers, but admits to not being a rules guy) says to use your Effective Druid Level as the CR. The response is here, but it's spread over several posts.

[blackbloodtroll]

The Morphling wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

There is the Diabolist Imp Companion.

It's not an "animal" companion so I don't believe it would qualify for Celestial Servant.

That's not how that works.

A Druid can have a Vermin or Plant animal companion.

They still count as an "animal companion", even though they are not of the animal type.

[The Morphling]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

The Morphling wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

There is the Diabolist Imp Companion.

It's not an "animal" companion so I don't believe it would qualify for Celestial Servant.

That's not how that works.

A Druid can have a Vermin or Plant animal companion.

They still count as an "animal companion", even though they are not of the animal type.

Show me where it says this?

Even if this is true, the Diabolist class feature never uses the word "animal." It's just a "companion" that advances in "a manner similar to an animal companion."

Definitely not eligible for Celestial Servant.

[blackbloodtroll]

The Morphling wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

The Morphling wrote:

blackbloodtroll wrote:

There is the Diabolist Imp Companion.

It's not an "animal" companion so I don't believe it would qualify for Celestial Servant.

That's not how that works.

A Druid can have a Vermin or Plant animal companion.

They still count as an "animal companion", even though they are not of the animal type.

Show me where it says this?

Even if this is true, the Diabolist class feature never uses the word "animal." It's just a "companion" that advances in "a manner similar to an animal companion."

Definitely not eligible for Celestial Servant.

"Animal Companion" is the name of the class feature, and if you have that class feature, it applies.

This restriction of animal type does not exist. The class feature does not suddenly stop counting as the class feature, simply because the companion is not of the animal type.

Just like Sneak Attack does not actually require you to be sneaky.

You are simply taking the name of the class feature, and taking it too far.

[blahpers]

The Diabolist class feature doesn't have the usual "in all other ways, this functions as a druid's animal companion" qualifier, so it isn't considered the same class feature for prerequisites. It does have "similar to a druid's bond with an animal companion", but whether that's similar enough to count is going to vary from table to table.

[blackbloodtroll]

blahpers wrote:

The Diabolist class feature doesn't have the usual "in all other ways, this functions as a druid's animal companion" qualifier, so it isn't considered the same class feature for prerequisites. It does have "similar to a druid's bond with an animal companion", but whether that's similar enough to count is going to vary from table to table.

Now this is a valid argument.

The Imp's type, however, is irrelevant.

[Rikkan]

Nawtyit wrote:

What do you use for it's CR when determining SR? Do you use the PC's level? PC level -1? The chart of HD in the bestiary?

Possible Kingmaker spoiler:

Spoiler:

In the Kingmaker adventure path (book 4) there are some Animal Companions. Their listed CR is —.

Which would indicate they don't have a CR thus, you wouldn't get any SR at all.

[Bizbag]

Rikkan wrote:

Nawtyit wrote:

What do you use for it's CR when determining SR? Do you use the PC's level? PC level -1? The chart of HD in the bestiary?

Possible Kingmaker spoiler:

** spoiler omitted **
Which would indicate they don't have a CR thus, you wouldn't get any SR at all.

They technically don't have one because they are part of the master's CR already.

It'd still be helpful to have a guide. Maybe use the druid's CR, since that sort of is their CR - they're an extension of the Druid.