How exactly does it work? Does it retain the stats it had as an animal companion, or does it revert to an awakened version of its animal type?
I've got a Sylvan sorcerer with an Ape companion, and I would like to awaken it at some point, and use Leadership to keep him on as my cohort.
If I wait until 16th level and have Robes of Arcane Heritage and Boon Companion, would he have the stats of a 20th level AC? Or upon awakening, does he become a basic awakened dire ape, since he's no longer a class feature?
By the rules if yo u awken him he stops being an animal and is no longer valid for the Animal companion.
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By the rules if yo u awken him he stops being an animal and is no longer valid for the Animal companion.
Strictly speaking these are two separate things.
An awakened animal gets 3d6 Intelligence, +1d3 Charisma, and +2 HD. Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An awakened animal can't serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount.
Its type changes to magical beast. In addition, it can't serve as an animal companion - or a familiar, despite the fact that familiars are magical beasts. Even if you have the Improved Familiar feat, which allows you to bond with a creature whose default state before becoming a familiar is "magical beast" you still can't by RAW have an awakened animal familiar because the restriction is separate from the type change (though a GM might allow it since an awakened hawk isn't that different or that much more powerful than say a pseudodragon).
Once it stops being an animal companion it stops getting all the bonuses from being an animal companion.
Now, because base animal companions are weird in the first place (a level 1 tiger animal companion is much weaker than a normal tiger) I could see the familiar either turning into an awakened normal tiger, or the awakened version of a 1st level tiger animal companion. This is because it's really weird for the animal companion to become stronger once it's no longer bonded to you.
If you're looking to take the animal on as a cohort I'd ask the GM whether they will return to standard ape or base animal companion ape. If the latter, the cohort's effective character level will be lower so you'll add more class levels to obtain a cohort of appropriate strength.
By the rules if yo u awken him he stops being an animal and is no longer valid for the Animal companion.
Which is why I said I'd use Leadership and take him as a cohort.
Once it stops being an animal companion it stops getting all the bonuses from being an animal companion.
This is the thing I was looking for. Gamewise, yes those bonuses are for an animal companion, but why would he suddenly lose a lot of Str/Dex and Nat armor? That's the part I'm struggling with, and I don't see any rules support either way.
I also agree about the base animal companions thing. They're statted very differently from the animals they're based on, which makes the whole thing more confusing.
Well, if your looking at a cohort your boon companion and robes have no bearing on the discussion An Animal companion is a class feature that conveys benefits, he would loose all those benefits.
You would take the normal ape stats, and apply the information from awakend on top of them. So he would be... cr 4.
It should not be confusing, essentially Ignore any information about being an Ac once awaken is applied.
he loses all the bonuses from your class feature but can now take his/her own classes
also I ask this anytime ppl bring up Awaken...did your AC have an Int above 2?
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Gamewise, yes those bonuses are for an animal companion, but why would he suddenly lose a lot of Str/Dex and Nat armor? That's the part I'm struggling with, and I don't see any rules support either way.
The strength, dex, and natural armour bonus of an animal companion represents that animal being invested with the mystical power of nature through its connection with the druid, just like the familiar's higher Int represents its magical connection with its master rather than an innate property of the animal. When the connection ends, the mystical power of nature leaves the animal companion, causing it to become weaker.
also I ask this anytime ppl bring up Awaken...did your AC have an Int above 2?
Why do you ask that? Animal companions can have an Int above 2. It is not the intelligence boost, but a specific feature of Awaken, that prevents awakened creatures from being companions.
"If an animal companion increases its Intelligence to 10 or higher, it gains bonus skill ranks as normal."
Gamewise, yes those bonuses are for an animal companion, but why would he suddenly lose a lot of Str/Dex and Nat armor? That's the part I'm struggling with, and I don't see any rules support either way.The strength, dex, and natural armour bonus of an animal companion represents that animal being invested with the mystical power of nature through its connection with the druid, just like the familiar's higher Int represents its magical connection with its master rather than an innate property of the animal. When the connection ends, the mystical power of nature leaves the animal companion, causing it to become weaker.
also I ask this anytime ppl bring up Awaken...did your AC have an Int above 2?Why do you ask that? Animal companions can have an Int above 2. It is not the intelligence boost, but a specific feature of Awaken, that prevents awakened creatures from being companions.
"If an animal companion increases its Intelligence to 10 or higher, it gains bonus skill ranks as normal."
I ask because awaken cannot be used if you bump your AC to 3 INT
This spell does not function on an animal or plant with an Intelligence greater than 2.
I have noticed that many miss that part of the spell
You can review this post by James Jacobs that gives his point of view on how Awaken works on an Animal Companion and its use as a Cohort afterwards...
Panos23 wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Panos23 wrote:
Mr. James Jacobs
how the spell awaken acctually works if i want to cast it on my animal companion? how doe his level as cohort progress? it will start with 1 lvl class when i cast the spell or 2hd animal and start to take class levels as the party takes xp?
The animal companion becomes a magical beast and retains its stats it gained as your animal companion, but is no longer your animal companion. It's just a friend or an rival, depending on how you treated it up to that point. If you take Leadership, your GM might let you take the awakened animal companion as a cohort. In any event, you would be able to gain a replacement animal companion of the appropriate level.
The awakened animal companion cohort gains the +2 HD as normal per the spell. Whether or not it can later gain class levels, and when it gains its 1st class level, is up to your GM.
So my A/C retains everytthing (feats,skills etc) except the link ,share spells etc? Does these new HD count only at HP or at BAB,saves etc?And i need the leadership feat to take him as cohort?i thought the spell "provide" that feat and i only had to calculate the leadership score!
Yup; it retains everything but would lose the things that depend on that link with you. The new HD affect hp and BAB and saves as normal. And yes, you'd need Leadership for it to be a cohort... but chances are good an awakened animal companion will be too powerful for that, frankly. The best bet is to simply let the awakened animal companion (aka the GM, who now controls it) make its own decisions.
Awaken is a better thing to cast on non-animal companions in other words.
This is the link: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2l7ns&page=816?Ask-James-Jacobs-ALL-your-Qu estions-Here
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I ask because awaken cannot be used if you bump your AC to 3 INT
This spell does not function on an animal or plant with an Intelligence greater than 2.I have noticed that many miss that part of the spell
You're right and I did miss that part of the spell. I would suggest saying "Remember that Awaken can't be used if you've already bumped your AC's Int" instead of hinting / leading into it slowly.
maybe I wanted to see if someone would put words in my mouth even before it was opened :)
(the above is meant in jest...don't take it seriously)
but they are yummy :)