L4W Discussion Thread IV

elecgraystone · Dec 2, 2009

LOL Maybe that's it.

I was thinking up a cool intro for my familiar, but if only I can understand it there isn't any reason to take up space with it in the adventure. I'd like some interaction with him too, but again it leaves everyone else out.

Dunamin · Dec 2, 2009

Case in point: Rhole has a book imp, which does grant Supernal.

I suppose that RAW implies it will not be able to converse with another Supernal speaker, but all familiars are able to parrot back to you what they hear (Arcane Power p137). By the time you're running into angels and devils I don't imagine it to be an issue whether a familiar can chat with them or not.

Even if other party members cannot strictly understand the familiar, your communication with it does not have to leave everyone else out. For instance, Rhole and his familiar Rock form a two-man band, and their music goes a long way to meaningfully interact with PCs as well as NPCs.

Yes, I consider bass-playing tiny devils an expressive form of communication.

elecgraystone · Dec 2, 2009

That still leaves you in a situation where 2 book imps can't talk to each other... Weird...

And to explain what I meant by 'leaving the others out', my character has just found out something about her missing memories. I was thinking of letting my familiar have some additional information for her. However if it can only talk in a 'private language', it'll just be me and my familiar mumbling to each other in the corner...

Dunamin · Dec 2, 2009

elecgraystone said:
However if it can only talk in a 'private language', it'll just be me and my familiar mumbling to each other in the corner...

Not necessarily.

Have your familiar visualize its messages through tiny fiery visions for everyone to see, make your character exclaim her reactions so that others know what's going on, give your familiar an artistic streak that motivates it to claw mystic inscriptions in the ground for the whole group to interpret, and so on.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head. I'm sure no DM would protest to letting your roleplaying in this sort of context involve other party members.

elecgraystone · Dec 2, 2009

Those are cool ideas, I'd just have to run them past the DM first. Too bad my familiar isn't an intelligent magic item. THEN he could talk. :-S

Maybe I'll start a proposal. Can anyone think of a balance issue with a familiar being able to speak in passive mode only?

Moon_Goddess · Dec 2, 2009

covaithe said:
Yeah, I don't see my own submissions either until somebody responds to them. But Mikara did come through; I saw it. And, uh, filed it to look at later. Along with the rest of them.

That include my adventure I'm trying to get approved?

covaithe · Dec 2, 2009

Adventure submissions go in a separate, much shorter, queue, that usually has priority over character submissions. I did get yours, DoM, but haven't looked at it yet, either. So, uh, yes? But I'll surely get to that sooner than most of the character submissions.