Wizard Familiar

[Turtlejay]

A player in a campaign I am co-DMing really wants to have a wizard's familiar. In my searching the web I was unable to find anything I thought was really fitting. Using some ideas I read and poached from a handful of attempts, and hashing this out with the player and the other DM has yielded the following result:

First, a feat:

Ritual Knowledge (Familiar)
Prerequisites: Trained in Arcana, Ritual Caster Feat
Benefit: You learn the Familiar Ritual

Second, the ritual:

Familiar
You call a portion of your being into the world as a small creature. This creature will be your new familiar.

Level: 4
Category: Creation
Time: 1 hour
Duration: Permanent
Component Cost: 400 GP
Market Price: Unavailable
Key Skill: Arcana


You bring into being a small animal of a type chosen by you. While in all respects it looks like the real thing, it is in fact a part of you. It communicates with you verbally, and speaks the languages you speak. Your familiar possesses a number of Hit Points equal to your Healing Surge value. At the time of creation you lose one healing surge to your familiar and it is only regained on it's destruction or dismissal. The small animal gains all movement types but none of the special abilities of the animal you chose. It must remain within 20 squares of you at all times, or it is dismissed. If your familiar is destroyed by any means you must wait until you take an extended rest to call another. During combat a familiar shares your actions. You may at any time elect to have your familiar take any of your standard, move, or minor actions. A familiar has no natural attack. Calling a familiar grants the following utility power:

Alter Familiar
With a thought your companion melds into a different, more useful shape
Daily✦ Arcane, Polymorph
Minor Action Ranged 10
Target: Familiar
Effect: Your familiar changes shape into another small animal. As the original it gains the movement types but not the special abilities of the animal it resembles.
Special: At 11th level this becomes twice daily, at 21st it becomes three times daily.


And we add a second feat:

Close bond (Familiar)
Prerequisites: Ritual Knowledge (Familiar) Feat
Benefit: You learn the Deliver Spell Utility Power

Deliver Spell
You gesture with your implement and magic power bursts from your familiar.
Encounter ✦ Arcane, Implement
Standard Action Ranged 10
Target: Familiar

Effect: You make all attack rolls and determinations as normal, but the power emanates from your familiar. Powers with the weapon keyword or other powers that rely on a melee or ranged attack do not function in conjunction with this power.

We have not decided if the Deliver Spell Utility is powerful enough to warrant *replacing* a Utility Power, and this is a work in progress. I post it here to get input. What do you all think?

Jay

 

[Engilbrand]

You had me for a bit there, but then I realized that it couldn't actually do anything. I would recommend giving it a minor bonus based on which animal it is and allowing it to attack by using your minor action.
Example: If it's in cat form, you can move, cast a spell, and have it make a basic attack by using your minor action. It also gives you a +1 to Perception checks. If you change it's form, its attack changes. Maybe base it off of one of the bags-o-fun with animals.
Basically, if someone is putting that much into it, they should get at least a little from it.

 

[Crowley42]

I agree with Engilbrand, a basis of those bag of trick conjurations is not a bad idea and throw in the bonuses like they used to have too.

 

[Turtlejay]

What this familiar can do:

Scout an area and return to his master to tell what he's seen.
Act as a sounding board or companion to his master.
Get into places normal PC's are unable to do.

What this familiar can't do:

Provide any sort of combat bonus.

Is there any other feat that allows you to gain an attack as a minor action or something similar? I am all for giving more than just standard movement bonuses, such as a small skill bonus for the form if it is appropriate, but I don't see the need to make a familiar a combatant, or to enable it to give a player more actions than other players in the game.

Jay

 

[Samurai]

I made the Familiar a new type of Implement:

• Familiars: Wizards have a 4th option as an Implement, a Familiar. A familiar may appear to be anything from a tiny animal, bird, or reptile, a crystal, a ball of light, or even an object of some sort (once chosen, it’s appearance can’t change, however). While your Familiar is within 10 squares of you, it acts as a free and natural Implement, giving a +1 bonus at 3rd level, +2 at 8th, +3 at 13th, +4 at 18th, +5 at 23rd, and +6 at 28th. In addition, it understands and obeys simple commands and once per encounter, you may channel a spell through your familiar if it is within 10 squares, casting the spell as if you were standing where your familiar is. The familiar has a speed of 6 and it can’t be targeted for attack individually. It can carry no more than 1 pound, cannot attack, and has little manual dexterity.

 

[gnogamer]

I made the Familiar a new type of Implement:

• Familiars: Wizards have a 4th option as an Implement, a Familiar. A familiar may appear to be anything from a tiny animal, bird, or reptile, a crystal, a ball of light, or even an object of some sort (once chosen, it’s appearance can’t change, however). While your Familiar is within 10 squares of you, it acts as a free and natural Implement, giving a +1 bonus at 3rd level, +2 at 8th, +3 at 13th, +4 at 18th, +5 at 23rd, and +6 at 28th. In addition, it understands and obeys simple commands and once per encounter, you may channel a spell through your familiar if it is within 10 squares, casting the spell as if you were standing where your familiar is. The familiar has a speed of 6 and it can’t be targeted for attack individually. It can carry no more than 1 pound, cannot attack, and has little manual dexterity.

This is exactly the idea that ran through my head when I began reading the first entry. This is simple and doesn't create any additional powers, feats, or abilities beyond what a standard wizard would have. It is a simple replacement for an implement that gives simple benefits that could easily be interchangeable with any of the already standard implements. I will be using this in my game.