[3.5]Improved monster classes: adapting creatures for player use-taking requests!

[Oslecamo]

I'll concede that (I don't recall seeing the pseudonatural bit in my first read-through, it may be new?), but I think that it's nonetheless a problematic ability. The fact that it's not necessarily reliable doesn't really take away from the fact that it's a level 1 ability that can potentially break the game.

Well it's low enough "potential" to satisfy me.

Figure a given PC has 13.3 encounters a level. In the 250-ish encounters as a PC works their way towards 20th level, I'm sure they'll run into more than a couple of low-int, lowish-HD, high-power critters to take over. You're also putting the DM in a position of having to consider each and every encounter as a potential issue. As a DM, if I were asked to review this homebrew and decide whether a player could run it, I think that ability would get a 'no' from me, because of potential abuse, issues and extra hassle on my part.

So you would never acept a cleric able to rebuke/command undead because he could get some undeads as minions for free?

And let's admit it, altough geting a minion with your HD at low levels is strong, at medium high levels it's a cheap meat shield, as all monsters have way too much HD or too much Int for their CR.

Put simply, it's a class feature that basically says "You get another character on the battlefield." That never works well.

Ranger and paladin would like a word with you then.
Summon monster line of spells also is hardly considered on the higher power level.

That aside, I fear it's too open ended, when a player could have a pseudonatural carrion crawler, rust monster, red dragon (acquired after lowering int via. ray of stupidity), or bullette on the battlefield.

Now that I look at it, the bulette is CR 7 with 9HD. You're geting a thrall two levels behind you. The bulette does have a lot of attacks but they aren't magic and a lot of stuff at this level has DR

The weakest red dragon(wyrmling) is CR 4 and has 7HD. A young adult has 19 HD and is CR 13.

Again, pretty much all "stupid" monsters have more HD than CR, and the monsters with HD equal or lower than their CR have hight ints.

If anything I would put a clause that a creature with just a temporary penalty to int can't be made a thrall, or that it breaks free when it recovers his mind.