Alternatives for a sorcerer's familiar?

[NewJeffCT]

Our party sorcerer is pretty new to D&D overall and he did not select a familiar at 1st level.

Since the party is up to level 7 now, I would prefer not to have him get your regular run-of-the-mill bat, cat, snake or whatnot.

He is C/G in alignment - is there a C/G equivalent to the imp, or something along those lines maybe?

Any other ideas?

Thanks

 

[Alzrius]

If he wants a better familiar than what's listed normally, he's probably going to have to take the Improved Familiar feat.

 

[Kristian Serrano]

As an alternative, PHII has the Metamagic Specialist alternative class ability that sorcerers can take instead of a familiar. This ability allows the sorcerer to spontaneously apply a metamagic feat without increasing the casting time. It's a no brainer in my opinion.

 

[Alzrius]

Another alternative, from Unearthed Arcana, is that he gains an animal companion rather than a familiar (as a druid equal to half his sorcerer level).

 

[rgard]

Hi Jeff,

As Alzrius noted: for better than a bat, cat etc, you would need the improved familiar feat.

Here are a couple of other options:

1. Loner flaw. Drawing on UA's flaw system, Loner was listed as a flaw in one of the Dragon Class Acts articles. If you take a flaw you get a feat in exchange.

2. And yes again, there is another Class Acts article that had a couple of feat like abilities (take one) in lieu of having a familiar.

3. Again from Dragon Magazine...there is a series of Staff feats to take in lieu of a familiar.



I'll find the Dragon Mag numbers and post them later.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[NewJeffCT]

Hi Jeff,

As Alzrius noted: for better than a bat, cat etc, you would need the improved familiar feat.

Here are a couple of other options:

1. Loner flaw. Drawing on UA's flaw system, Loner was listed as a flaw in one of the Dragon Class Acts articles. If you take a flaw you get a feat in exchange.

2. And yes again, there is another Class Acts article that had a couple of feat like abilities (take one) in lieu of having a familiar.

3. Again from Dragon Magazine...there is a series of Staff feats to take in lieu of a familiar.



I'll find the Dragon Mag numbers and post them later.

Thanks,
Rich

Thanks, even though the guy is a sorcerer with an 18CHA, he is generally a pretty quiet player... so "loner" might be an idea.

 

[rgard]

Thanks, even though the guy is a sorcerer with an 18CHA, he is generally a pretty quiet player... so "loner" might be an idea.

Just re-read my post. I wasn't clear (even though I think you got the idea) about the loner flaw.

Taking the loner flaw means you can't get a familiar. You lose that class feature, but get a feat for having taken the flaw.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Alzrius]

Thanks, even though the guy is a sorcerer with an 18CHA, he is generally a pretty quiet player... so "loner" might be an idea.

The Loner flaw is found in Dragon #327.

I also looked through the index I wrote of Class Acts from various Dragon issues, and found some things that relate to this:

#357 - Arcane: Transversed Arcana – Six variant class features (aligned spellcaster, beleaguered spellcaster, disciple of Boccob, eidetic spellcaster, impromptu spellcaster, school mastery) are given for various classes; all require giving up a familiar.

#348 - Arcane: Unfamiliar Territory – Two variant class features are given for sorcerers that want to give up their familiar: arcane reabsorbtion and focus caster.

#332 - Sorcerer: Claim Your Birthright – A new class feature, Draconic Ray, is given, which can be taken in lieu of a familiar. The effects differ depending on what kind of dragon was your ancestor.

 

[rgard]

The staff in lieu of familiar is from Dragon 338 "Staffs of the Magi". It may be written for wizards and sorcerers, but I'm not certain as my stuff is 3200 miles away right now.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Most of the variants listed can be found on www.crystalkeep.com

Just choose d20 and 3.5, and the base classes .pdf has class feature variants, including focus caster, draconic ray, and more.