encouraging familiars

The Moonsea thread on this board started a discussion on why Realms wizards typically do not have familiars, and it got me thinking of all the times I have heard that the risk of loosing the familiar outweighs the minor benefits of having one. Personally, I really like familiars. I think they add a lot of flavor to the classes that can have one. As such, I am very interested to hear what any of you have done to encourage familiars in your games, from roleplaying benefits to additional abilities. I am not as interested in replacing familiars with feats or items, but I am open to ideas.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Moab2 said:

The Moonsea thread on this board started a discussion on why Realms wizards typically do not have familiars, and it got me thinking of all the times I have heard that the risk of loosing the familiar outweighs the minor benefits of having one. Personally, I really like familiars. I think they add a lot of flavor to the classes that can have one. As such, I am very interested to hear what any of you have done to encourage familiars in your games, from roleplaying benefits to additional abilities. I am not as interested in replacing familiars with feats or items, but I am open to ideas.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

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Mages are already one of the strongest classes in DnD. It's probably not good to simply amplify familiars. If they were not generally available, but cost a feat, and gave you something good with the feat, that would work (IMO). No XP loss, either.

Unfortunately, familiars are too smart. They're not just a pet, they're a new party member. IME, group size is almost always too size, and adding one to the party just slows down combat, regardless of whether it's the GM or player who actually controls the familiar.

From my experience, alot of players actually wanted familiars, or their equivalents, not only in D&D but also in Shadowrun (where this is far more complicated; the Shadowrun equivalent for familiar is an Ally Spirit, and is quite an investment to summon and bind). I think there is something about having a cute animal minion that makes alot of players want it, probably influenced by manga/anime more than by the traditional familiar of the witch or warlock of western legend. And, ofcourse, Harry Potter would probably make alot of the younger generation of players associate familiars with their basic concept of what a mage is.

I think it all boils down to the player's concept of his or her character; some fit very well with a "natural" animal familiar, some fit with a more "magical" one (imp-like; you'd probably have to bend the rules a little and change the imp/mephit/quasit stats to preserve a balanced power level), some simply don't fit well with a familiar.

I'll go out on a limb and say reduce the XP hit and/or replacement delay for the familiar getting croaked. The amount is manageable, but is punative enough where most players avoid the furry bulls-eyes.

I've never had a wizard or sorcerer PC not go for a familiar in one of my games, I've usually had them voluntarily spend a feat in the process. Mechanically they might be nigh useless, but they become additional party members, usually with enough DM provided flavor to make them a running theme in my campaigns. They add flavor, and when you look back at a campaign that sort of thing makes the experience all the more poignant in the longrun, not what + you had to your grapple check or caster level checks.

Familiars are the DM's peanut gallery spokesmen

Last campaign 'familiars':
The bladesinger's intelligent sword
The wizard's fox
The Xaositect's Chaos Imp (because having a fairy dragon was 'too dangerous')


Current campaign familiars:
The half-drow's minor incarnate
The half-'loth's pseudodragon
The tiefling's artifact ring that might contain an imprisoned elder Varrangoin lord


And as for myself when I play, I adore them. I blew a point of magic just for an ally spirit in the last Shadowrun game I was in (the thing being an air mephit-like spark of annoyance mirroring the character's subconscious).

Familiars have an empathic link to their wizards. That makes them one of the best "guard dogs" around, especially if you want to keep things quiet until you get your bat guano ready. Imagine a traveling wizard with a dog that never barks, but they always seem to be aware of trouble before it strikes.

Allow the familiar to grant certain powers to their master that is appropriate to a magically gifted creature of its type. I had a goblin sorcerer with a chameleon familiar once--I granted +10 to hiding when the goblin is within 10' of the chameleon, and not moving.

Allow familiars to act like magical vessels which can store an additional spell of the caster's (or familiar's) choice. Personally, I like the idea of the familiar being free enough to choose something it would find useful for itself--it shouldn't feel completely enslaved by the wizard IMO. Additionally, you might allow the familiar to spontaneously cast any one spell (i.e., any spell from the spellbook, no memorizing)--a big difference, but one that makes it incredibly valuable to a wizard.

Allow familiars to grant a free spell penetration feat to the caster. Or, allow familiars to grant a metamagic feat X times per day like a metamagic rod.

Grant familiars the ability to have a "fighting form." This is kinda corny, but it is not unlike Battlecat from the old He-Man cartoons. This can be anything from a simple enlarge spell-like effect along with a combat oriented feat/ability [sneak attack, fly-by attack, or stunning fist-like attack are good], to adding a special ability, like a bat that can deliver a minor sonic attack. Try not to overshadow Druid animal companions if you go with this idea. Special attacks that don't require melee, and that are minor in effect are best. I always liked the idea of a Blink Dog as a familiar.

I always liked the idea of a wizard learning his spells from his familiar. What? You think only humans know magic? Granted, they no longer have the kinds of voices, and hands needed to cast their magic, so they are left with teaching a "student" wizard to show their true abilities. If you go with this, then ALL wizards would have a familiar (at least if they want to improve in level), and familiars might have other familiars as rivals or even friends...which means the wizards will quickly have rivals or friends. I would treat familiars as outsiders in this instance, and have them in their predicament because they are serving out a punishment granted by a higher power.

Allow familiars to come from forms besides an animal type. If you don't mind insects, then a queen bee and her native swarm could act as familiar (really just the queen)--which makes for interesting conversation to say the least.

Hope that helps.

frankthedm said:

I'll go out on a limb and say reduce the XP hit and/or replacement delay for the familiar getting croaked. The amount is manageable, but is punative enough where most players avoid the furry bulls-eyes.

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Copy that. I have a friend who is very paranoid, it shows IC. I asked him why his wizard character didn't have an owl or bat to watch his back while he sleeps, and it's the XP loss.

It bugs me that druids can feed their big, powerful companions into the jaws of death on a regular basis, but the return of a fragile little familiar is based on an odd externality of one year. Many games I've played in have had their full run in a years time. The player doesn't have much control over it. It just seems like a waste to bother with them, when there are options out there for cashing them in for something more powerful and/or durable. Waive the year and I'd reconsider.

The main problem I've seen with familiars is that no one wants to stick with a core class just to make sure their familiar's stats don't fall behind. That's why I make familiar abilities based on caster level rather than class level.

I usually give an improved familiar of some sort and offer some minor magical items of smallish size to help bling them out a bit. Hmm, I can't believe I used the word bling.

Anyway, depending on the game and the wizard, I sometimes allow the wixard feats that buff or boost the familiar for free, or a two for one; although that is rare. Most players usually don't use their famliars in game. They take one, then use a pocket familiar spell and stow him away forever and never mention him again.