Aasimar Cavalier with celestial tiger mount + awaken?

[GreatEscapist]

First: sorry if this has been previously answered, I searched, and found many infos, but none that quite fit my query.

Soo I'm playing an Aasimar with the special racial feat of Celestial Servant (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/arg-feats/celestial-servant-aasimar), Beast Rider (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/cavalier/archetypes/paizo---c avalier-archetypes/beast-rider) Cavalier archetype, and I chose the tiger mount.

I'm now considering awakening it with the magic Collar item, but would that work?

Would I now need leadership? Or when it says this on the Awaken page, "Most pointedly, awakened animals can no longer serve as companions" does it not affect its use as a mount?

Or does it mean I can't use the mount's skills or archetype and now must level it as a character? Do I lose my mount skills as a cavalier or, GM approved, can the kitty independantly choose to work with me? Do I still use Handle Animal?

Gah. This is only my second character in a Pathfinder campaign and I think I bit off a bit more than I can chew.

[LazarX]

Once you awaken a mount, it's up to the DM whether or not your cavalier bonuses apply or if it even sticks with you.

Give something it's own consciousness and it may decide it wants it's own path in life.

In other words, it's up to your GM.

[GreatEscapist]

So no hard and fast rules on that one?

I saw in another thread that once awakened it could only really be a cohort and would require leadership on the character.

Finally, any idea whether I would do the normal Mount progression in feats and skills and archetypes vs the class levels I guess awakened animals can take?

-- Also, thanks so much for the fast reply!

[blahpers]

Regardless, it no longer serves as a class feature--it is its own being now.

[LazarX]

GreatEscapist wrote:

So no hard and fast rules on that one?

I saw in another thread that once awakened it could only really be a cohort and would require leadership on the character.

Finally, any idea whether I would do the normal Mount progression in feats and skills and archetypes vs the class levels I guess awakened animals can take?

-- Also, thanks so much for the fast reply!

If you insist on an absolute RAW answer, an awakened creature is no longer of the type covered by the mount class feature so that bond would be broken.

Whatever relationship you can re-establish with the creature, and whether it could retain the benefits of being a cavalier's mount at this point, is totally up to your DM.

[GreatEscapist]

awesome. thanks guys! Cleared me up in time to play with my group tonight :)

[Michael Sayre]

Don't know if anyone touched on this, but Awaken doesn't do anything to a creature that's had the Celestial Servant feat applied anyway. Celestial Servant changes the AC's type to Magical Beast so they aren't eligible targets for the spell.

[blahpers]

That's right. I kept looking for the type text in the Celestial template but forgot to check the feat.

[Remy Balster]

For the Cavalier asking the question? You could not Awaken it. It is a magical beast and not an animal or a tree.

But, to double down on the question…

Say an Aasimar Druid takes celestial Servant feat, and then casts Awaken on the companion? What happens then?

Spoiler:

Benefit: Your animal companion, familiar, or mount gains the celestial template and becomes a magical beast, though you may still treat it as an animal when using Handle Animal, wild empathy, or any spells or class abilities that specifically affect animals.
-and-
Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An awakened animal can't serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount.

I bolded the relevant parts.
It becomes a Magical Beast. (from the feat)
You can still treat it like an Animal for spells and class abilities. (from the feat)
You can cast Awaken on it.
It already is a Magical beast, so cannot become one. (from the spell)

So, the final question would be… Does the line that says it cannot serve as a companion rely on the fact that it just changed from an animal into a magical beast? Or is that restriction hard coded, and awaken always disrupts companionship no matter what, ever, ever? Because if the reason it cannot continue being an animal companion is that the type changed, then an Aasimar Druid should still be eligible to keep their Awakened Companion. Otherwise… no, never.

[Argent Snow]

It can awaken, but once it is you need Leadership to take it as your cohort.