Uplift/Enlighten: Awaken Variant Spells

[Ranged Ranger]

Uplift (Lesser Awaken)
Transmutation
Level: 3
Components: V, S, DF, XP
Casting Time: 24 hours
Range: Touch
Target: Animal touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You awaken an animal to humanlike sentience. To succeed, you must make a Will save (DC 10 + the animal’s HD).

The uplifted animal is friendly toward you. You have no special empathy or connection with a creature you uplift, although it serves you in specific tasks or endeavors if you communicate your desires to it.

An uplifted animal gets 3d6 Intelligence and +1d3 Charisma. Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An uplifted animal can’t serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount.

An uplifted animal can speak one language that you know, plus one additional language that you know per 2 points of Intelligence bonus (if any).

XP Cost: 100 XP.




Enlighten (Greater Awaken)
Transmutation
Level: Drd 7
Components: V, S, DF, XP
Casting Time: 24 hours
Range: Touch
Target: Animal or tree touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You enlighten a tree or animal to advanced humanlike sentience. To succeed, you must make a Will save (DC 10 + the animal’s current HD, or the HD the tree will have once enlightened).

The enlightened animal or tree is friendly toward you. You have no special empathy or connection with a creature you enlighten, although it serves you in specific tasks or endeavors if you communicate your desires to it.

An enlightened tree has characteristics as if it were an animated object, except that it gains the plant type and its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are each 3d6+4, max 20. An enlightened plant gains the ability to move its limbs, roots, vines, creepers, and so forth, and it has senses similar to a human’s.

An enlightened animal gets 3d6+4 (max 20) Intelligence, +1d3+4 (max 20) Charisma, +4 wisdom (max 20,) and +2 HD. Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An enlightened animal can’t serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount.

An enlightened tree or animal can speak two languages that you know, plus two additional language that you know per point of Intelligence bonus (if any).

XP Cost: 300 XP.

[noob]

So the only useful one is uplift because it allows to justify playing an awakened animal without the weakening rhd.
Greater awaken does not seems to do more than "awaken then a slight bonus to stats which are probably still irrelevant to most situations"

[Ranged Ranger]

Well I was expecting the greater version to be extremely niche, but since druids know their entire massive spell list the inclusion of such niche spells isn't a problem... I suppose the other way of doing the greater version would be to have them get an additional hit die, but they automatically have 20 Int, 20 Wis, and 20 Cha...