IMPROVING ANIMALS

Animals can be improved using the handle animal skill.
To improve (advance) an animal it requires:
1. Handle animal check DC 20 + (New HD)
2. Cost of 100 gp x (New HD), if a person trains the animal themselves the costs is 1/2 as much.
3. Three weeks of training time, with at least two hours a day dedicated to training, for non-feat obtaining HD. If the increase in HD would allow a feat then it takes four weeks.

Improved animals are difficult to handle and do not respond to handlers/riders who do not have at least 2 more HD than the animal. Druids and Rangers can use this to improve their companions but the difficulty to control still applies.

If in the animal entry, an increase in HD is associated with a larger size, then the animal enlarges as it is advanced. This can be used on animals that would not normally be allowed to advance in the MM. An animal with a fractional HD can be advanced to a full HD, just use the above rules for 1 HD (note it will only take 3 weeks to train, since the animal should already have a feat).

An animal can only be improved by one hit die at a time.