"Reddit!"
"Oh, never mind, I have that one."
Of course, this makes it even worse that you have to wait a year when your familiar dies. Maybe reducing the penalty somewhat is a good idea.
Here's a way to make gold actually have intrinsic worth.
You know those magic items with costs in gold pieces? Half of that cost is actual gold, which is automagically tied into the intrinsic aura of the magical item.
The handle of a cane. It acts entirely as if there is a solid three foot cane extending out from it, but nothing else responds to the "phantom cane". Formerly used by a blind man.
How about revivify(5th level, basically a componentless raise dead that only works the round after, and doesn't cause level loss), or "Last breath"(same, except third level and mimics reincarnate)?
Then you could make it a contingent spell.
Well, there's a secret about this.
The editors at WotC? All kobolds.
That's why we have Pun-pun, and why dragonwrought kobolds qualify for epic feats.
It's just the kind of tricky, out-of-the-box solution you'd expect from them
Given the problems with it, telepathy now seems like a less-used secondary form of communication (at least, when in town). Only useful for when you need to talk to everyone regardless of intervening barriers. (like calling for help, or spreading important public announcements from the king.)...
Given the current implementation of telepathy, there's nothing (other than, perhaps, projecting images) to distinguish it from just being able to hear and speak in higher frequencies.