Author Topic: Getting the most out of your familiar  (Read 30151 times)

Offline phaedrusxy

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Getting the most out of your familiar
« on: May 07, 2013, 12:01:55 AM »
I thought I'd copied these over... but I didn't find them with a search.

Quote from: Wyrd;2737292
Original Message:

Spells that specifically target familiars:
- Animate Dead Familiar: instant duration; makes your dead familiar undead ... it has to die first, so there might be xp-loss :( (SB)
- Augment Familiar: +4 to Str, Dex, Con, 5/magic DR, and +2 to saving throws (CW)
- Elemental Familiar: instant duration; turns your familiar into a tiny elemental (SB)
- Enhance Familiar: can be permanency'd; +2 competence to attack/saves/damage, +2 dodge AC (T&B)
- Familiar Pocket: can be permanency'd; creates an extradimensional pocket on your clothing that the familiar can enter/leave as a free action (T&B)
- Fortify Familiar: can be permanency'd; +2 enhancement to natural armor, 25% fortification, 2d8 temporary HP (T&B)
- Imbue Familiar with Spell Ability: transfers some of the casters daily spells (T&B)
- Planar Familiar: instant duration; turns your familiar into a Celestial/Fiendish/Axiomatic/Anarchic creature, depending on the alignment of your god (SB)
- Dragon 280 also has the following spells: Familiar's Sense, Familiar's Touch, Share Life, Familiar's Form, Call Familiar

Feats:
- Bonded Familiar (PH2)
- Celestial Familiar (BoED)
- Combat Familiar (PH2)
- Construct Familiar (Drag 280) ... change type
- Dragon Familiar (Drac)
- Enspell Familiar (Drag 280) shared spell works up to 1 mile
- Extra Familiar (Drag 280)
- Familiar Concentration (LEoF) familiar can maintain concentration for caster
- Familiar Spell (DMG:epic, Und:general) - familiar can cast spells
- Improved Familiar (CW: Guardian Familiars) (FRCS) (RoF) (SK) (T&B)


check out the nice list further on in this thread:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=8838824&postcount=167

- Lurking Familiar (PH2)
- Obtain Familiar (CA) gives you a familiar, with the familiar abilities depending on your total arcane caster class levels
- Planar Familiar (Plan)
- Shadowform Familiar (CoR) familiar gains incorporeal subtype (you have to be a Krinth)
- Spell-Linked Familiar (PH2)
- Stitched Flesh Familiar (LM) get an undead version of a normal familiar and control more undead :)
- Token Familiar (Drag 280) familiar can assume statue-like form
- Undead Familiar (Drag 280) ... start with an undead familiar, without xp-loss

(Prestige) Classes:
- Alienist PrC lvl 5: adds pseudonatural template to your familiar (CA)
- Bonded Summoner PrC: turns your familiar into a powerfull elemental (MH)
- Changeling wizard 5 substitution level: "Morphic Familiar" lets your familiar change between it's possible forms at will. Very cool for a standard familiar, but once you add in Improved Familiar ... (RoE)
- Elf wizard 3 substitution level: doubles the bonus you gain from your familiar (RotW)
- Fleshwarper increases your familiar's size
- Raptorian wizard 1 substitution level: gives you a small air elemental as familiar (RotW)


alternative familiars
- Dragon 277 page 65: badger, chipmunk, dog, eagle, groundhog, lizard, monkey, otter, small constrictor snake
- Dragon 280 page 60: bird, dog, fox, hare, lizard, mouse, otter, raccoon, skunk, squirrel
- Dragon 323 has two good familiar options. The Moth/Butterfly gives +3 to spellcraft checks. The Hummingbird, quite possibly the best basic familiar (although the raven can be better), grants +4 initiative.

the "casting" familiar
- max out use magic device and give him your wands / staffs
- imbue familiar with spell ability (T&B) / contingency / improved contingency (T&B) / symbul's spell matrix/sequencer (MaF/PgtF) ... all allow your familiar to cast spells
- cast a spell and let your familiar "hold the charge" untill you really need the spell ... works just like a quickened spell

tips & tricks
- the raven and some of the "improved familiars" can speak, so can use command word items
- alter self (this thread by PhaedusXY), polymorph and shapechange can also change your familiar into something more suited to combat/survival/whatever ... the alter self/polymorph bit works best when your familiar already is an outsider
- familiars use the masters skills, so use the aid another action to get +2 on the masters checks
- for "Clever uses of the Share Spells ability", check out this thread by PhaedusXY


BoED: Book of Exalted Deeds
CA: Complete Arcana
CoR: Champions of Ruin
CW: Complete Warrior
Drac: Draconomicon
Drag: Dragon Magazine
FRCS: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
LEoF: Lost Empire of Faerun
LM: Libris Mortis
MaF: Magic of Faerun
MH: Miniatures Handbook
PgtF: Players Guide to Faerun
Plan: Planar Handbook
RoE: Races of Eberron
RoF: Races of Faerun
RotW: Races of the Wild
SB: WotC - Spellbook Archive
SK: Serpent Kingdoms
T&B: Tome and Blood
Und: Underdark

You can also check:  WotC's Rules of the Game: Familiars ... although sometimes it brings only more obscurity.

And another trick: If you take Improved Familiar to get a Pseudodragon, and find a way to trade out its Alertness feat (Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle, Psychic Reformation, retraining, etc), you can give it Mindsight from Lords of Madness.
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Offline phaedrusxy

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Re: Getting the most out of your familiar
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2013, 12:02:26 AM »
Clever Uses of Shared Spells

Quote from: PhaedrusXY;4779132
Edit: I don't think the original idea I had about using share spells to double the capacity of the transportation spells is legal myself anymore. So I deleted that part and pruned my list of useful spells to use with the ability. Please feel free to add ideas to this thread, and check out the How to get the maximum out of your familiar thread in the Character Optimization forum for more ideas on how to get more use out of your familiar.

Any "buff" type spell that you normally would use to make yourself tougher or a better fighter is great to share with your familiar, if you don't mind the risk of getting it into combat with it's lower hit points. There are tons of these spells, and I'm not going to list them all, as they are pretty obvious. One of the best ones is Polymorph (and Shapechange later).

Imbue with Spell Ability (cleric) + Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer or Mordenkainen's Lubrication seems like it would work to give your familiar a few spells to cast. I'm not sure if the Mnemonic Enhancer would actually do anything, because it says "You prepare and cast these spells normally." That might invalidate it, as the familiar can't prepare spells "normally". So again, it's more fishy than Mordenkainen's Lubrication, which would definitely work.

Legend Lore seems like it might work, also. You could use it to learn about two things at the same time. One your familiar learns about, and one you learn about. It seems weird... but I think it's legal, heh. Of course, the DM might rule that you both learn about the same thing. Several other Divination spells would work also, like Locate Object, Detect Evil, Discern Location, etc.

Here is a wierd one, and I'm not sure if it's technically legal, but I've been pondering it for an NPC: Magic Jar. The Target line in the spell says "one creature", but that's not really describing what the spell does at all. The target is really the caster, who puts himself inside a gem and then tries to possess other creatures. And you're not limited to possessing just one creature, either, so the target line is totally misleading and incorrect I think. I was considering doing something crazy like Magic Jarring the caster into one body and the familiar into another body that the caster would use as a mount. Then you could share all of your buff spells, as a palladin does with his mount. You'd probably need two focuses though, unless you try to put both souls into the same one... which would be weird.

One thing that definitely seems legal is sharing Wishes to increase both your attributes and your familiar's, for no extra cost. And if you combine this with Magic Jar, you can get some strange things going on. What happens if you Magic Jar your familiar into your friend's body, and then share a Wish to increase your Constitution with your familiar. Does it increase the Constitution of the body the familiar is in at the present, or it's real body? If it is the former, does the inherent bonus go with the familiar when the spell ends (an entirely different debate I realize), or stay with the body it was in at the time of casting? If it's the latter, you could double up on increasing your group's inherent bonuses to stats. And alot of DMs like to rule this way to "cheat" players out of their inherent bonuses if they do alot of body swapping.

So if your DM is "cheating" you out of your inherent bonuses when you Magic Jar, then you can cash in on it, heh. I think the bond between familiar and master is definitely between their souls, not their bodies. So you should be able to share spells just fine if either your familiar or you are in a different body. And if inherent bonuses to physical stats are ruled to stay with whatever body got them, then combining these two rulings means clearly that you can get 2 for 1 inherent bonuses for your party with a little body swapping via Magic Jar.

Moment of Prescience could be useful to share and use the +25 to a skill check, since your familiar has the same ranks in skills as you have.

Most spells which gives you some kind of attack you can use repeatedly, like Eyebite, Produce Flame (druid) and Chill Touch, work. These are nice if you share a bunch of buffs with your familiar beforehand.

All the Repel So-and-so spells could be shared to get two lines of effect out of them instead of one (which might make these otherwise subpar spells somewhat useful). Sharing Repulsion would force them to make two Will saves to approach you. Sharing Antilife Shell (druid, cleric) and other spells like it would make creatures make two Spell Resistance saves.

Sharing many spells like Antimagic Field, Antilife Shell and others like them might seem pointless at first. But if someone tries to bring down your defenses with a Dispel Magic (or MDJ for AMF), they will have to beat both the spell on yourself and the one on your familiar.

I just looked through the Player's Handbook to get these. There are others in other books I'm sure.

Edit: Depending on how the DM rules on the manifester level for the Familiar, Mental Pinnacle could be an insanely good spell to cast on your familiar via Share Spells. In this case, you have it affect only your familiar, and not you. In this way, you turn your familiar into a powerful psion for a few rounds.
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Offline Maat Mons

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Re: Getting the most out of your familiar
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2013, 05:09:03 AM »
I'd like to take this opportunity to post my list of non-improved familiars, since it never seemed to merit a handbook unto itself. 

The following are all intended to be even with the options in Player's Handbook.  Some of the options from Dungeon Master's Guide listed here are meant for tiny characters, but they're no more powerful than the normal options, and there are +0 LA races of tiny size anyway.  The options from Dragon 323 might be limited to wizards specialized in a particular school, or they may be available to everyone, depending on which of the suggestions in the article your DM takes. 
FamiliarSizeSpeedACAttacksSpecialFeatsStrDexConWisChaMaster BenefitSource
Albatrosssmall10 ft, fly 50 ft (a)13bitelow-light visionendurance, weapon finesse *101314146+1 spotStormwrack
Arctic Foxsmall40 ft15bitelow-light vision, scentalertness, weapon finesse6178136+3 move silentlyFrostburn
Badgersmall30 ft, burrow 10 ft152 claws and bitelow-light vision, rage, scentagile, track, weapon finesse81715126+2 will savesDragon 277
Bat 1diminutive5 ft, fly 40 ft (g)16blindsense, low-light visionalertness11510144+3 listenPlayer's Handbook
Bat 2diminutive5 ft, fly 40 ft (g)16blindsensealertness11510144Dungeon Master's Guide
Butterflydiminutive10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)16alertness11510146+3 spellcraftDragon 323
Cattiny30 ft142 claws and bitelow-light vision, scentstealthy, weapon finesse31510127+3 move silentlyPlayer's Handbook
Caterpillarfine10 ft, climb 10 ft18scent*11110122+3 disguiseDragon 323
Chameleontiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitelow-light visionstealthy, weapon finesse31510122+3 disguiseDragon 341
Chipmunkdiminutive10 ft17scent*11611124+2 ref savesDragon 277
Compsognathustiny30 ft16biteinfection, low-light vision, resistant to disease, scentstealthy, weapon finesse419101411+3 hideDragon 318
Constrictor Snakesmall10 ft, climb 10 ft14biteconstrict, improved grab, scent*151513121Dragon 277
Crowtiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)14clawslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse11510146+2 fort savesDragon 341
Dark Chanting Goshawktiny10 ft, fly 60 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse61710146+2 will savesDragon 341
Dog 1small40 ft15bitelow-light vision, scentalertness, track131715126+3 sense motiveDragon 341
Dog 2small40 ft15bitelow-light vision, scentalertness, track131715126+2 sense motiveDragon 280
Eaglesmall10 ft, fly 80 ft (a)142 talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse101512146Dragon 277
Eelmediumswim 30 ft13biteaquatic, low-light vision, scentimproved initiative, weapon finesse131512122+3 escape artistStormwrack
Ferretdiminutive15 ft, climb 15 ft14bitescentweapon finesse *3151025+2 ref savesDungeon Master's Guide
Fish Owltiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse41710144+3 spot (shadows)Stormwrack
Flyfine10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)20alertness11510146+3 gather informationDragon 323
Flying Foxtiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)14clawslow-light vision, speechalertness, weapon finesse11510146+3 sleight of handDragon 341
Fox 1tiny30 ft142 claws and bitelow-light vision, scentstealthy, weapon finesse31510127+2 will savesDragon 323
Fox 2tiny40 ft17bitescent*101813127+2 ref savesDragon 280
Groundhogtiny10 ft13scent*31211123+2 fort savesDragon 277
Gryfalcontiny10 ft, fly 60 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse61710146+3 spotFrostburn
Hairy Spiderfine20 ft, climb 10 ft20bitedarkvision, poison, poison immunity11410102Monsters of Faerun
Haretiny30 ft16scent*31811127+2 listenDragon 280
Hawktiny10 ft, fly 60 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse61710146+3 spot (bright light)Player's Handbook
Hedgehogdiminutive15 ft16bitedefensive ball, poisonweapon finesse *31210125+1 natural armorDungeon Master's Guide
Horned Lizardtiny15 ft, burrow 5 ft16biteblood squirt, low-light vision, spinesalertness71213146+2 will savesSandstorm
Hummingbirddiminutive10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)16alertness11510146+4 initiativeDragon 323
Ibistiny20 ft, fly 50 ft (p)16bitewadingalertness, weapon finesse61710166+3 spotRaces of Faerun
Iguanatiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitelow-light visionstealthy, weapon finesse31510122+3 climbDragon 341
Lemmingtiny15 ft, climb 15 ft, swim 15 ft14bitelow-light vision, scentstealthy, weapon finesse21510122+2 listen and spotFrostburn
Lizard 1tiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitelow-light visionstealthy, weapon finesse31510122+3 climbPlayer's Handbook
Lizard 2tiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitelow-light visionstealthy, weapon finesse31510122+2 climbDragon 280
Minkdiminutive15 ft, climb 15 ft14bitescentweapon finesse *3151025+3 diplomacyDragon 323
Monkey 1tiny30 ft, climb 30 ft14bitelow-light visionagile, weapon finesse31510125+3 tumbleDragon 341
Monkey 2tiny30 ft, climb 30 ft14bitelow-light visionagile, weapon finesse31510125+2 sleight of handDragon 277
Mothdiminutive10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)16alertness11510146+3 spellcraftDragon 323
Mouse 1fine10 ft, climb 10 ft18scent*11110122+2 move silentlyDungeon Master's Guide
Mouse 2fine15 ft, climb 15 ft20scent*21410123+2 hideDragon 280
Night Lizardtiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitelow-light visionstealthy, weapon finesse31510122+3 hideDragon 341
Octopussmall20 ft, swim 30 ft16arms and biteaquatic, improved grabweapon finesse *121711123+3 grappleStormwrack
Ottertiny20 ft, swim 20 ft14scent*31510127+2 swimDragon 280
Owltiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse41710144+3 spot (shadows)Player's Handbook
Parrottiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)14clawslow-light vision, speechalertness, weapon finesse11510146+3 appraiseStormwrack
Penguintiny10 ft, swim 40 ft12bitehold breath, low-light visionendurance, weapon finesse2910116+2 fort savesFrostburn
Platypusdiminutive15 ft16clawdefensive ball, poisonweapon finesse *31210125+3 swimDragon 341
Puffintiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)14clawslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse11510146+2 swim and survivalFrostburn
Rabbittiny30 ft142 claws and bitelow-light vision, scentstealthy, weapon finesse31510127+3 listenDragon 341
Raccoontiny30 ft16bitescent*121714125+2 sleight of handDragon 280
Rattiny15 ft, climb 15 ft, swim 15 ft14bitelow-light vision, scentstealthy, weapon finesse21510122+2 fort savesPlayer's Handbook
Raven 1tiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)14clawslow-light vision, speechalertness, weapon finesse11510146+3 appraisePlayer's Handbook
Raven 2tiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)14clawslow-light vision, speechalertness, weapon finesse11510146Frostburn
Reed Snaketiny15 ft, climb 15 ft18bitelow-light vision, poison, scentability focus (poison), weapon finesse41711122+2 saves vs diseaseSerpent Kingdoms
Rhamphorhynchustiny10 ft, fly 60 ft (g)17biteevasion, low-light vision, scentimproved initiative, weapon finesse22181210+3 initiativeDragon 318
Screech Owldiminutive10 ft, fly 30 ft (a)17talonsweapon finesse *41710144+2 move silentlyDungeon Master's Guide
Sea Snaketiny10 ft, swim 30 ft17bitehold breath, poison, scentimproved initiative, weapon finesse41711122+3 bluffStormwrack
Skunktiny30 ft14bitemusk, scent*81211125Dragon 280
Snaketiny15 ft, climb 15 ft, swim 15 ft17bitepoison, scentimproved initiative, weapon finesse41711122+3 bluffPlayer's Handbook
Snowy Owltiny10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse41710144+3 move silentlyFrostburn
Spiderfine10 ft, climb 10 ft18scent*11110122+3 slight of handDragon 323
Spitting Crawler Lizardtiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitespit acidagile, weapon finesse31510122Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Squirrel 1tiny15 ft, climb 15 ft, swim 15 ft14bitelow-light vision, scentstealthy, weapon finesse21510122+3 jumpDragon 341
Squirrel 2diminutive10 ft, climb 15 ft17scent*21611124+2 ref savesDragon 280
Toad 1diminutive5 ft15amphibious, low-light visionalertness11211144+3 HPPlayer's Handbook
Toad 2diminutive5 ft15alertness11211144+3 HPDungeon Master's Guide
Thrushdiminutive10 ft, fly 40 ft (a)16speechalertness11510146Dungeon Master's Guide
Turtlediminutive15 ft16bitedefensive ballweapon finesse *31210125+1 AC (prone/cover)Dragon 323
Vampire Batdiminutive5 ft, fly 40 ft (g)16blindsense, low-light visionalertness11510144Dragon 341
Vulturetiny10 ft, fly 60 ft (a)17talonslow-light visionalertness, weapon finesse61710146+4 fort saves vs diseaseDragon 323
Weaseltiny20 ft, climb 20 ft14bitelow-light vision, scentagile, weapon finesse31510125+2 ref savesPlayer's Handbook

The following options are from Serpent Kingdoms and were probably only meant for yuant-ti characters.  The monster entries say they can be used as familiars without mentioning any restrictions, but there are decidedly more powerful than the normal options.  Though, since it is Serpent Kingdoms, it's entirely possible that these are just more manifestations of the designers' terrible judgment. 
FamiliarSizeSpeedACAttacksSpecialFeatsStrDexConWisChaMaster BenefitSource
Dung Snakemedium20 ft, climb 20 ft, swim 20 ft15biteconstrict, environmental adaptation, fast healing 1, immunity to disease, improved grab, low-light vision, scentalertness, multigrab, toughness171713122+2 saves vs diseaseSerpent Kingdoms
Sewermsmall20 ft, climb 20 ft, swim 20 ft17biteattach, blood drain, low-light vision, poison, scentalertness, weapon finesse171711122+2 saves vs painSerpent Kingdoms

The following options are meant for large characters and are more powerful than the standard options. 
FamiliarSizeSpeedACAttacksSpecialFeatsStrDexConWisChaMaster BenefitSource
Dire Ratsmall40 ft, climb 20 ft15bitedisease, low-light vision, scentalertness, weapon finesse101712124+2 fort savesDungeon Master's Guide
Leopardmedium40 ft, climb 20 ft15bite and 2 clawsimproved grab, low-light vision, pounce, rake, scentalertness, weapon finesse161915126+2 move silentlyDungeon Master's Guide
Monitor Lizardmedium30 ft, swim 30 ft15bitelow-light visionalertness, great fortitude171517122+3 HPDungeon Master's Guide
Owl (Medium)medium10 ft, fly 60 ft (a)13talons and bitelow-light visionmultiattack141312144+2 move silentlyDungeon Master's Guide
Raven (Small)small10 ft, 40 ft (a)12talonslow-light vision, speechweapon finesse *51312146Dungeon Master's Guide
Viper Snake (Medium)medium20 ft, climb 20 ft, swim 20 ft16bitepoison, scentweapon finesse *81711122Dungeon Master's Guide
Wolverinemedium30 ft, burrow 30 ft, climb 10 ft142 claws and bitelow-light vision, rage, scentalertness, toughness, track1415191210+2 ref savesDungeon Master's Guide

In the above tables, an asterisk (*) denotes a violation of the rules.  I many cases, this is because I'm evaluating 3.0 material by 3.5 rules.  In many other cases, it's because someone forgot that weapon finesse requires base attack bonus +1.  There are a few instances where I'm be nitpick-y about an animal with two hit dice not meeting the prerequisite at its first hit die, when it would have taken the feat. 
« Last Edit: May 07, 2013, 08:04:45 PM by Maat Mons »