Familiars

[mgtremaine]

I've been spending some thought cycles on Familiars for my group lately. The first thing I've come up with is an Illusionist Familiar spells. Thought I'd post it up to kick of the discussion. [Most of the text if straight off Summon Familiar but with "Shadow" added.]

SUMMON SHADOW FAMILIAR, Level 3 Illusionist
CT 1 day R n/a D n/a
SV no SR yes Comp V, S, M

This spell allows an Illusionist to summon a type of shadow familiar, a unique companion and servant, and binds it to the caster. Doing so takes a day and uses up materials costing at least 300gp. A familiar is a magical, unusually tough and very intelligent shadow version of a small animal or magical beast. The creature serves willingly. A character may have only one familiar at a time.

An empathic link forms between the master and familiars, granting special abilities to the master as detailed below. The empathic link functions only if the familiar is within one mile of its master.

Familiars do not involve themselves in combat. A familiar may fight if its master faces a life-and-death situation. If a familiar dies, or the master chooses to dismiss it, the master loses a level in the class that allowed the spell to be cast and permanently loses the number of hit points the familiar granted the master. A master’s experience point total can never go below zero as the result of a familiar’s demise. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and a day. Slain familiars can be raised from the dead just as characters can be, but do not lose a level or a constitution point when this occurs. If a familiar is raised from the dead, the caster will recover the experience points and hit points lost as a result of the familiar’s death.

The shape of the shadow familiar that responds to the spell is either randomly determined, or, some say, is directed by the deities. Some caster have been known to include a live animal type in the ritual so as to focus the casting on the shadow of that animal The Castle Keeper might apply modifiers to the roll to determine the familiar, especially if more than the usual special materials are used in casting the spell. Or, the Castle Keeper may allow the character to choose if certain unusual circumstances are met or are part of the story of the game. The caster may refuse to accept the familiar that is summoned, but the caster will be unable to successfully cast the spell again for one year and a day.

TYPICAL SUMMONED SHADOW FAMILIAR TABLE
d2 Familiar Notes
1-3 Cat superior hearing
4-6 Hawk distance vision
7-9 Owl superior hearing
10-12 Raven speaks common
13-15 Dog Superior smell,
16-18 Drake Danger Sense
19-20 Special CK chooses.





Shadow Familiars (All share similar base attributes)
Alignment: Neutral base, modified by the caster. A good caster will title the familiars Alignment to Neutral Good, and Evil cast will cause it to be Neutral Evil

Hit Dice: 2d8 + 2
Armor Class: 16
Move: By type
Attacks: By Type
Damage: By Type but at least 1d4
Special Abilities: Hide/Move Silent +5 - [All Shadow Familiars can Hide in Shadows and Move Silent as if a 5th level
Rogue], TwilightVision 120’
Shadow Cat - Move 30’ At 1 Damage 1d4 Bite
Shadow Hawk/Owl/Raven - Move 5/10 feet or 60/80 feet in flight. At 1 Damage: 1d4 Beak
Shadow Dog - Move 40 feet. At 1 Damage 1d6 + 3
Shadow Drake - Move 20 feet. At 1 Damage 1d4 + 2 Bite

SHADOW FAMILIAR BASICS

Hit Points: The familiar’s hit point total is added to the master’s own hit points, as long as the familiar is within one mile.

Saving Throws: The familiar uses the master’s base saving throw bonuses if they’re better than the familiar’s bonuses.

Light Sensitivity: All Shadow familiars are dazzled by bright light. This is reflected as a -1 penalty to all rolls when exposed to bright light.

Intelligence: Shadow Familiars are unusually intelligent, and will have an effective intelligence of 1d6+8 (9-14).

Special Abilities: Each familiar has its own special abilities, or enhanced senses,as noted in the table. In addition, the familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same type as itself, and the communication is limited by the intelligence of the conversing creatures.

Empathic Link: The empathic link allows the master to communicate telepathically with the familiar for up to one mile. Although some familiars may be able to communicate verbally with their master, telepathic communication is typically better in conveying meaning and intent.

Additionally, the empathic link allows the master to share the familiar’s senses as long as the master concentrates on doing so (just like spell concentration). When concentrating, the master shares the familiar’s five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch). Thus, for example, the master can see through the familiar’s eyes. If a familiar has an enhanced sense, like superior hearing, the master gains the benefit of the enhanced sense as well, but only as to what the familiar can sense. In other words, an owl familiar does not grant its master the special ability of superior hearing, the master simply shares and listens through the owl when concentrating on doing so. Sharing the familiar’s senses is a somewhat alien process, as a familiar does not always sense in the same way a person does. Some familiars may have a deficiency in one sense, or lack certain body parts, such as ears, that are normally associated with a sense.

The empathic link also allows the master to cast a spell on a familiar that normally can only be cast on the caster alone, without having to touch the familiar (range is up to one mile). At the master’s option, the master may cast any spell on himself and it will also affect a familiar (such as shield). If the spell has a duration other than instantaneous, the spell stops affecting the familiar if it moves farther than one mile away. The spell’s effect will not be restored even if the familiar returns to the master before the duration would otherwise have ended. The master and familiar can share spells in this way, even if the spells normally would not affect creatures of the familiar’s type.


-Mike

[mgtremaine]

Next I'm wondering about Cleric/Druid Familiars. I was thinking of a 3rd level Druid spell to promote an Animal Friend to Familiar status.

Also should there be a limit on the Hit Point bonus received from Familiars? [Does Orcus have a Ancient Red Dragon Familiar that gives him 408 HP? ]

-Mike

[Rikitiki]

Interesting stuff there.

I'm reminded of the sketch in the 1st Ed. AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide:

"One false move, wizard, and the familiar gets it!"

[Rikitiki]

Arrrgh....sorry....that was in the Players Handbook (I think).

[Mark Hall]

Next I'm wondering about Cleric/Druid Familiars. I was thinking of a 3rd level Druid spell to promote an Animal Friend to Familiar status.

Also should there be a limit on the Hit Point bonus received from Familiars? [Does Orcus have a Ancient Red Dragon Familiar that gives him 408 HP? ]

-Mike

One thing I've done with familiars is changed how their HP works, and how their bonus HP works.

Familiars have 1/2 the HP of their summoner. They also grant their HP to their summoner as a bonus, BUT any damage done to the familiar is likewise done to the summoner. Familiars tend to stay well away from fights, because area-effect spells will REALLY mess with a wizard whose familiar is likewise caught.

So, my Wizard has 10 HP. His familiar has 5 HP. He effectively has 15 HP... 10 of his, 5 bonus from the familiar. If someone shoots an arrow at the familiar for 3 points of damage, he effectively has 12 HP. If someone drops a low-yield fireball on the party for 3 damage, he effectively has 9... he lost 3 of his own, and his familiar lost 3.

This is somewhat counterbalanced by familiars having all good saves, and providing roving eyes for the PC.

[Treebore]

You may ant to check out TLG's forthcoming "Book of Familiars", its available for pre order right now. Granted it is for Pathfinder, but it is full of ideas that would be pretty easy to adapt to C&C.

[Lurker]

Tree has a good point. I don't know about the pathfinder book coming out, but I have the troll's old 3.5 D&D "book of Familiars" and it is full of good ideas.

Mgtre, as for your spell it looks good to me, but I shy away from MU classes so I am not an expert on spells/familliars etc

[timburns]

@Lurker: you can find the pathfinder preorder here http://bit.ly/fYouHi on the TLG website. However, we will be coming out with a Book of Familiars for C&C at some point as well.

[Starslayer72]

[mgtremaine]

I've seen the old d20 version although I do not own it. I just looked at the Pathfinder preview and it looks like it has lots of tasty info but it's not really the direction I want to go with my game. I'm very interested in seeing a C&C version of course .

Things this makes me think about.

I like HD for Familiars rather then % of master hp. I don't target Familiars as a DM nor are they affected by area of effect spells unless the Master dies. Now that's a pretty big advantage so i'd rather not have them be too tough.

I do think that all spell casters should have the ability to bind a familiar. The big question is should other classes be able to have a Familiar if some other power makes the "binding". I'm not sure how i fell about that. I do think the loss of level is a big enough risk to discourage players from entering into having a familiar just for the fun of it. Wizards have always basically needed the HP boost because they are so weak that they don't bat an eye on the downside.

Just so random thoughts on the topic... When I get around to doing up the Druid spell I'll post it here also.

-Mike

[serleran]

I, too, thought about giving illusionists a familiar. My approach was different than yours, a little. Druids, really, do not need them -- they have animal friendship though clerics could use a decent approach... I'm also not beyond allowing "any class" from having a buddy, under the right conditions.

Anyway, here is my version of the illusionist familiar... not perfect and not completely explained, but should be an OK idea base, if desired.

Summon Invisible Friend

Level: 3
CT: 1 hour
Range: Special
Area of Effect: Personal
Save / SR: None / No
Duration: Permanent
Components: V, S, M

By application of this spell, the illusionist is able to summon and bind an invisible companion which then serves to the best of its capacity, acting in many ways as a familiar for a wizard. The being which is called has malleable abilities, able to shift as needed at the behest of the caster, making it far more flexible – any given caster may only ever have one invisible friend at a time, and the loss of the companion is as devastating as that of a familiar (same penalties apply, including the restriction on when another may be requested.) Unlike a familiar, the invisible friend does not bestow added Hit Points or grant additional abilities to the caster – the friend can simply use what it does have to assist the caster (that is, if the invisible friend can pick locks, the caster does not get this ability, though to others it may seem as if it does.) As a naturally invisible being, to all others except the caster, the friend cannot be seen and, actually, does not leave tracks and thus is a often used as to spy – however, it is not necessarily silent and can communicate in the same languages as the caster, generally reserving speech to the caster alone unless directed otherwise. The invisible companion does have its own intelligence and can perform actions on its own always trying to help – for purposes of alignment, should it matter, the companion is considered Neutral. To the caster, the companion can have a wide array of appearances, resembling virtually anything wanted, able to change to match what the caster expects or wants: a change in form does not automatically grant abilities to the companion (that is, adding wings does not necessitate the ability to fly) as these must be accrued through level advancement, as a standard familiar might. The caster and familiar, provided they are within 100 yards of each other, may always share senses and spell effects, and can mentally communicate without fear of being overheard without magical intervention. Unless changed, the vital statistics for an invisible friend are: HD 2 (d6); AC 13; Saves as caster; # Attacks 1; Damage 1d3; Special special (see below)

As noted, the invisible friend can have a wide array of abilities, chosen and modified by the caster. Any ability selected must remain in effect for three (3) days, and the maximum number of abilities available to the companion is always one (1). As the caster advances in level, more potent abilities become accessible, as shown –

Caster’s Level / Improvement Available *
3 – 6 / Non-level-dependent class ability; SR 5; +2 AC; cause fear
7 – 9 / +2 HD; +4 AC; +3 non-level-dependent class ability; SR 7; suggestion
10 – 11 / +4 HD; +6 AC; +6 non-level-dependent class ability; SR 9; hold monster
12 + / +6 HD; +8 AC; +9 non-level-dependent class ability; SR 11; spells

*Note that only one of these abilities is gained, determined by the caster.

A non-level-dependent class ability is any ability possessed by a class at first level; for example, pick locks is an ability that all 1st level rogues have. The companion may have and use any single ability, the effect at the same HD of the companion, or at the bonus presented above, whichever is greater – for example, an invisible companion given the pick locks ability by a caster of 8th level would bestow a +3 bonus, treating the companion as 5th level (2 from its natural HD and +3 from the endowment) for all purposes of using the ability.

SR is, simply, spell resistance at the indicated strength. This ability is not shared with the caster.

An improvement to AC is like any other armor modifier, making the companion more difficult to hit in combat situations. Again, this ability is not shared with the caster.

An italicized spell, such as cause fear or suggestion allows the companion to evoke its effects as a spell-like ability once per day, having a caster level equivalent to it’s master; this means, for example, a companion summoned by a 6th level caster would have the ability to cause fear as a 6th level caster.

HD improvements bestow additional hit points, save bonuses, and attack bonuses as indicated – the companion may use its saves, or those if its master, whichever is better when resisting an effect.

The entry for “spells” means that the companion gets a number of spell slots to cast its own spells, all of which are considered illusory and subject to the normal rules – these do not come from the master, and are considered separate and unique to the companion. The amount of slots and their spell levels are always: 0-level – 4; 1st Level – 3; 2nd Level – 2; 3rd Level – 1. These effects are considered cast at one-half the master’s level, rounded down. Spells to occupy the slots may be drawn from any spell list, subject only to the fact that, regardless of what effect occurs, it is still an illusion.

[mgtremaine]

Nice, a twist on Unseen Servant. [Which is a spell that has always begged to be twisted]

-Mike

[Go0gleplex]

The illusionist has an "imaginary" friend?!? I thought he had already outgrown that phase of life.

[zarathustra]

I like em both. I can definately see introducing these to my campaign as a rival spellcasters assistants sometime and seeing what my PC's make of them.