Handle Animal skill to rear or to train non-Animals [3.5]

[Duke of Urrel]

I have a feeling this question will be too involved for the Simple RAW Thread.

Suppose you try to use Handle Animal skill to rear or to train a creature that is not an Animal. For example, just for the sake of argument, suppose the creature that you want to rear or to train is a darkmantle, which belongs to the Magical Beast type.

The description of Handle Animal skill in the SRD's basic skill index in the SRD says the following.

Special
You can use this skill on a creature with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 that is not an animal, but the DC of any such check increases by 5.

In contrast, a table that appears in the description of Handle Animal skill in the SRD's epic skill index says the following.

[Task] Rear magical beast ... [Time] 1 year ... [DC] 30 plus HD of magical beast
[Task] Train magical beast ... [Time] 2 months ... [DC] 40 plus HD of magical beast

This is a big difference. The table in the SRD's epic skill index would have us increase Handle Animal DCs to rear or to train Magical Beasts by 15, 20, or 25 rather than merely by 5!

Any friend of tamers and trainers of exotic creatures will prefer the rule in the SRD's basic skill index. Moreover, anybody who prefers this rule can invoke the interpretive principle that in the D&D rulebooks, descriptive text takes precedence over any table. But is the table in the SRD's epic skill index good for anything at all, or is it just a mistake worth ignoring?

What do you think?

[Jeraa]

Any friend of tamers and trainers of exotic creatures will prefer the rule in the SRD's basic skill index. Moreover, anybody who prefers this rule can invoke the interpretive principle that in the D&D rulebooks, descriptive text takes precedence over any table. But is the table in the SRD's epic skill index good for anything at all, or is it just a mistake worth ignoring?

What do you think?

The table in the epic skill index isn't really a mistake - it was written to be used with 3.0 D&Ds version of Handle Animal, not 3.5 (as the basic skill index includes). Handle Animal was updated in 3.5 to include the possibility of using it on non-animals, making the old epic usage obsolete.

[Duke of Urrel]

The table in the epic skill index isn't really a mistake - it was written to be used with 3.0 D&Ds version of Handle Animal, not 3.5 (as the basic skill index includes). Handle Animal was updated in 3.5 to include the possibility of using it on non-animals, making the old epic usage obsolete.

This make sense! Thanks.