Beneficial bug with Spugnoir's familiar

It's kind of funny that the cat and the owl have more HP than almost everyone in your party.

You must feed them well.

 

I used Dominate Animal on the dire bear in Hickory and to get him out of the pit went to the map page and found it could suddenly add a class level...since Dominate has such a short duration...maybe charm animal would work better, but does charm add the animal into your party like dominate does?
The beast had a fair amount of classes to choose from...thought it must be fun to run through the temple with such a creature.

 

An interesting bit about dominate animal and why it can assume a class it would not normally be able to.

As per the SRD; You do not receive direct sensory input from the creature, but you know what it is experiencing. Because you are directing the animal with your own intelligence, it may be able to undertake actions normally beyond its own comprehension.

I wonder if this is the loophole that is allowing it to assume a thought pattern similar to a human.
And as NulbTroll hinted at, the spell lasts one round per level.

 

that's odd... my 11th LVL Druid/Barbarian cast "dominate animal" on that very same Dire Bear successfully, checked the rolls so i know it worked ... and it went HOSTILE instead of becoming a party member... weird.

Yeah, i usually charm it, but since i was higher level this time as i kinda skipped over doing Hickory Branch ... i tried the dominate spell. wonder what went wrong?

i like to sic the charmed bear on his master Hungous as a "surprise" when i invade the Orc lair cave. :thumbsup::yes:

 

Dire bear is not an animal, but a magic creature. Try Dominate Monster on it, but beware, it has a hard time walking around indoors.

 

3.5 Monster's Manual 1 lists it and all Dire creatures, as a 'Large Animal'. Does this game give it a different designation?

 

I once used the llamma figurine to charm the Minataur. It became permently charmed but caused everyone else I met to go instantly hostile. Maybe the llama can charm the direbear.

 

I've had problems with that figurine, or maybe it's just "charm" in general, but whenever she charms a creature it seems to be permanent, even if I attack them. Furthermore, if they are killed I cannot loot their carcass.

Finally, apologies to nyarlathotep for the de-rail....

 

No problem

Anyhow, got something here to put the thread back on topic. I give you: stats!!!



That's the owl, by the way, with its raw stats

 

After gaining Lvl 5, my owl is able to wildshape. I must tell you, it is a really small wolf



But beneficial to the hitpoints & its strength.

 

This is an incredible discovery!!!
I love druids, it is a shame that animal companions don't get this....

But is it really a bug or something already planned?
Anyway, I'll be testing a spellcaster owl, probably a druid due to their higher wisdom.

Will be live streaming at:
http://pt.twitch.tv/seyfertgaming

 

It doesn't work with my wizard, is this bug for NPC's familiars only?

=(

 

The familiar must be "unlinked" from his original spellcaster character. You can do that by either

1) hiring an npc spellcaster, let him summon a familiar and let it roam free, and dismissing the npc spellcaster. As soon you change map, the familiar will get its first lvl.

2) Using a "farm" player character. Again, let the "farm" summon his familiar and let it roam free. Now you have to get rid of the "farm". The book in the different inns can do that, or you willfully place him right in front of an enemy and you let that "farm" die. As soon as have rid yourself of the "farm", from the moment you change map, the familiar gains its first lvl.

You can't have both the familiar and its original spellcaster in your party for purposes of getting a level gaining animal NPC.
Also the only 2 spellcaster classes available for these animal npc's are Druid & Ranger. Animals lack the concept of gods, so they don't have acces to the Cleric class, and while cats are cute, their charisma is way to low to be a Bard. Every familiar has abysmal Int, Char and Str.

 

They won't work as barbarians? Fighters? or rogues?