Bonded objects and familiars. Are they balanced?

[TheNovaLord]

My PFS wizard would be in a spot of bother.....he has two weapon fighting to use with his staff or throw 2 daggers a round

with 14str and 18dex he is an atypical conjuror.

he likes to pretend he is a monk!! which annoys the party monk

so yeah i dislike familiars, so bonded item was perfect for me

 

[Anguish]

I don't get it. If you're taking the wizard's bonded object, you're also taking the barbarian's weapons, the cleric's holy symbols, and the rogue's knives. You're simply not allowing a sorcerer or warmage or oracle or psion or psywar or soulknife into the city in the first place. I don't see the balance problem.

Worse, it's only the low-level wizard who'd be walking in through the gates. You know - the kind royalty doesn't have much to be worried about. It's the high-level scry-buff-teleport types you need to keep away from you.

I don't see a balance problem.

 

[Starbuck_II]

I don't get it. If you're taking the wizard's bonded object, you're also taking the barbarian's weapons, the cleric's holy symbols, and the rogue's knives. You're simply not allowing a sorcerer or warmage or oracle or psion or psywar or soulknife into the city in the first place. I don't see the balance problem.

Worse, it's only the low-level wizard who'd be walking in through the gates. You know - the kind royalty doesn't have much to be worried about. It's the high-level scry-buff-teleport types you need to keep away from you.

I don't see a balance problem.

Agreed. High level wizards don't really care about 1 spell slot that much.

 

[dmccoy1693]

It's the high-level scry-buff-teleport types you need to keep away from you.

Any castle with important rooms not warded against scrying and teleporting is asking for trouble. If I were running, I'd have all such important room warded in such a fashion. Hell, I might even have the whole castle warded in such a fashion.

 

[Teydyn]

"Well, if the Queen wants something from me, she can come find me in the inn."

An invitation from the queen is not an invitation, even if it may look like one.
Its a command to appear.

 

[Scott DeWar]

an a regal personage would have enough protection from trouble and knowledge of said 'guests' that there would be no need to ask for the bonded item to be 'held at the door'

 

[cattoy]

A bonded item is superior unless you play in a very high magic environment where the loss of a potential item slot becomes significant. Also at low levels, the advantage is significant and the downside irrelevant.

If you don't imagine the game lasting long enough to get to the point where you will have a full spectrum spread of magic items, go with the bonded item.

Personally, my only wizard has a familiar because she likes animals.

 

[Nikosandros]

A bonded item is superior unless you play in a very high magic environment where the loss of a potential item slot becomes significant. Also at low levels, the advantage is significant and the downside irrelevant.

If you don't imagine the game lasting long enough to get to the point where you will have a full spectrum spread of magic items, go with the bonded item.

Personally, my only wizard has a familiar because she likes animals.

That's exactly my impression. My group just completed Crypt of the Everflame, and the extra spell per day was an impressive boon for the wizard.

 

[Anguish]

Any castle with important rooms not warded against scrying and teleporting is asking for trouble. If I were running, I'd have all such important room warded in such a fashion. Hell, I might even have the whole castle warded in such a fashion.

Meh. Seems every fortress has unexplored caverns. Beside, warding is relatively expensive. While it's unlikely someone's going to successfully teleport into the throne room, the original discussion was about things being taken at the town's gates. How about we just scry on a servant, use some illusions to disguise ourselves, hop in near them, assume their identity and walk inside. I'm guessing you're going to suggest detection spells. Sure. Suddenly this kingdom is sinking huge portions of its wealth into spell-casting services.

A bonded item is superior unless you play in a very high magic environment where the loss of a potential item slot becomes significant.

Shrug. You can still enchant your item. So you can have a simple ring at 1st level, then have it turned into a ring of featherfall later on. I also fail to see where it actually says it consumes a magic item slot. I could be blind, but I don't see a specific statement. Intent of the rules... unclear.

That's exactly my impression. My group just completed Crypt of the Everflame, and the extra spell per day was an impressive boon for the wizard.

The spontaneity is probably the biggest thing, even at low-level. I've had a teleport go horribly awry with only one prepared, and the entire party ended up something like 20 miles off the coast, in the ocean. Ooops. Fortunately one party member was an incredible swimmer, and the rest were able to climb into a bag of holding. It was opened periodically to refresh the air supply. Still, the primary fighter had to swim for the better part of a day. Plenty of Con checks for fatigue and exhaustion, and even with the cleric reaching out to "fix" things periodically, by the time the party reached shore, it was very touch & go. Not a given. This was before PFRPG Beta. Had my wizard been able to use an arcane bonded object, it would've been a non-issue.

There are lots of times when just ONE spell you didn't prepare can save the day.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Meh. Seems every fortress has unexplored caverns. Beside, warding is relatively expensive. While it's unlikely someone's going to successfully teleport into the throne room, the original discussion was about things being taken at the town's gates. How about we just scry on a servant, use some illusions to disguise ourselves, hop in near them, assume their identity and walk inside. I'm guessing you're going to suggest detection spells. Sure. Suddenly this kingdom is sinking huge portions of its wealth into spell-casting services.

Kings and queen tend to be arrogant and worth every CP. Things like the council chambers should be held in an anti-magic room. Seriously. Why wouldn't they believe their lives are more important than everyone else's life in the entire kingdom? Generally, their health and welfare means the stability of their domain.