So I've got too much time on my hands and have developed an interest in utilizing animals/animal companions/familiars/etc. more for my characters. Long story short, I've got a character that will be a hedge witch and starting off at 5th level. I've already gotten DM permission to "level up" her cat familiar to a silvanshee when she becomes eligible to take Improved Familiar. When I was reading the Animal Archives, I joked with the DM about shenanigans involving a cat familiar, the witch, and a purchased combat-trained riding tiger/lion - not something that I was serious about, but it got to me wondering if maybe I could have some fun with a more mundane mount, such as a horse. I could see a few options:
(1) The horse is a horse of course (sorry) and is simply a good combat/riding horse
(2) Dabbling with a level of Nature Oracle to get a horse as an animal companion
(3) Questing to find a druid who will Awaken the horse
(4) Shenanigans involving Leadership and Awaken, but I'm not really looking for something that's extremely involved or complex
Awakening the horse would have the most potential for interesting gameplay and RP since I'm aiming to have my characters actually care more about their mounts and such, but with already planning to have a silvanshee, I'm afraid it would be too much cheese for one PC. It's mostly a "gimmick" thing as I see the three of them riding into battle to sling hexes and healing spells, rather than running foes down and lopping off heads. My husband thinks this idea sounds awesome since I'm normally not one for flashy, unusual character builds and gimmicks. What would be the best way to do this that would be fun and feasible without being overpowered?
I would go with an Awakened horse when you get the Leadership feat. An intelligent horse has masses of advantages - especially if you have it take class levels in something like Oracle or Cleric. A Still Spelled healer that you are riding could get you out of trouble even when you get below 0 hp (assuming you remember to get something to stick you into the saddle). It could also fight and cast all manner of protective spells for you.
I like the idea of questing for an already existing awakened animal! Especially since it will be several levels before I can take Leadership (Improved Familiar comes first) so that there's time outside/inside the game to work out the specifics. The fact that it would be awakened works out for situations where the horse can't follow the party; he can stand watch or stay home or go take care of whatever business he might have as an intelligent horse. Another balancing aspect is the monetary cost of having to take care of an intelligent horse on top of taking care of a familiar and trying to afford her own gear.
The only downside is that I'm not familiar with how animal cohorts work in regards to leveling up, stats, etc. How do certain class abilities function when the character is a horse? Stuff like that.
...walk into a bar.
@Chromnos - I did some digging and came across the Beast Leadership feat in Kobold Quarterly #18 which is exactly what I was looking for and explains the process a little bit better. All I need to do now is explain the idea to the DM, see if it'll be cool, and go from there. Not sure what class I would seek for an awakened horse as of yet, but rogue sounds nifty and fighter would probably be the simplest.
@Nearyn - Exactly!
Of course I also need to nail down a good RP reason for why my character would want an awakened cohort and why it would choose to follow me rather than someone else in the party (like the ranger) but that's the fun of it all :)
....bartender says. What you supposed to be some kind of witch, horse and cat?