Familiar feat questions

[agrelic]

I have a couple questions on familiars and I'm hoping some folks here can share what they've seen. Since these are rules questions, I realize its mostly up to my DM's interpretation, but I'm curious what everyone else thinks as well.


With Obtain Familiar, the feat says that all classes that grant arcane caster levels stack for familiar abilities. Does this include Prestige Classes that extend a base class's casting (ie Eldritch Knight), or just levels of classes that grant casting by themselves?

I may be missing something, but the Improved Familiar feat seems to be missing the table of which special ability each familiar grants its master. The Improved Familiar feat states it uses normal familiar rules, except for speaking to others of its kind, and the possibility of its type not changing. This leaves the question, what skill/save bonuses does each of the improved familiar types offer? Or am I just misreading the feat and those bonuses aren't offered with Improved Familiars.


In case anyone's curious where these questions are coming from, I'm considering making a transmuter with the class variant from PHB2 which removes my familiar, then later taking Obtain Familiar+Improved Familiar(CWar) in order to get a blink dog who can deliver touch spells for me

 

[Empirate]

Yes, PrCs add their levels to your effective Sorcerer level to determine Obtain Familiar-granted familiar abilities. However, a PrC might have some levels at which it doesn't grant spellcasting progression. These levels don't "grant arcane caster levels". For example, an Illusionist 7/Nightmare Spinner 5/Rogue 2 with Obtain Familiar would gain a familiar with the abilities of an 11th level Sorcerer's familiar.

Improved Familiars don't grant any bonuses to the master. Instead, they're awesome.

Your Transmuster sounds good, although I'd consider some other Improved Familiar instead of the Blink Dog (it can't fly!).

 

[Visigani]

Yes, PrCs add their levels to your effective Sorcerer level to determine Obtain Familiar-granted familiar abilities. However, a PrC might have some levels at which it doesn't grant spellcasting progression. These levels don't "grant arcane caster levels". For example, an Illusionist 7/Nightmare Spinner 5/Rogue 2 with Obtain Familiar would gain a familiar with the abilities of an 11th level Sorcerer's familiar.

Improved Familiars don't grant any bonuses to the master. Instead, they're awesome.

Your Transmuster sounds good, although I'd consider some other Improved Familiar instead of the Blink Dog (it can't fly!).

Are you SURE about that?


Familiar Ability Descriptions
All familiars have special abilities (or impart abilities to their masters) depending on the master’s combined level in classes that grant familiars, as shown on the table below. The abilities given on the table are cumulative.



Animal Companion Basics
Use the base statistics for a creature of the companion’s kind, but make the following changes.

Class Level
The character’s druid level. The druid’s class levels stack with levels of any other classes that are entitled to an animal companion for the purpose of determining the companion’s abilities and the alternative lists available to the character.



Nightmare Spinners, so far as I know, are not entitled to a familiar, nor do they grant one.

 

[Empirate]

I was only referring to the little bonuses regular familiars grant to their masters directly (like a Rat familiar grants a +2 bonus to Fort saves, or a Snake grants +3 on Bluff checks). Improved Familiars don't grant these.

Also, Nightmare Spinner doesn't grant a Familiar or Familiar progression, sure... but if you have the Obtain Familiar feat, they do! Levels 2-5 only, though (those with arcane casting progression), which was my point.

 

[agrelic]

Your Transmuster sounds good, although I'd consider some other Improved Familiar instead of the Blink Dog (it can't fly!).

Flying is pretty awesome. I looked at the options for a LG Dwarf. Thematically the best options I saw were the Blink Dog or a small earth elemental. I thought the blink dog would be more fun to play. If there's a better option that makes sense for a LG dwarf, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Empirate]

How about an Earth or Magma Mephit? Normally, I'd suggest Coure Eladrin (BoEE), but that may be too light-hearted and fey-like for a dwarf. Might be you could get your DM to accept a Dire Bat or a Lantern Archon, as well.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Celestial badger?

 

[Empirate]

Can't fly.

 

[Ranes]

Can't fly.

But can be launched, as you will see when Angry Celestial Badgers is eventually released.

 

[Empirate]

Lol!