5th Edition Familiars and Animal Companions

Troll Lord · Jan 26, 2016

All those who tread the paths of the wild, who crawl through the lost dark, plunder treasures of the ancients, must surely find themselves alone and bereft of friends. It is in those moments, when the cold creeps up your spine, and the hair rises, that you most need a stalwart companion at your side; a wolf to bare fangs, a named sword of cold steel and magic, an owl to see into the darkness, a muse to whisper songs of the ancients, a shadow, death itself!

We've just launched a Kickstarter for 5th Edition Familiars & Animal Companions! A massive expansion on the concept of Familiars and Animal Companions. Familiars for every class, companions magical and mundane...from the bard's muse to the druid's elemental...5th Edition Familiars & Animal Companions brings new life to an old story!

5th Edition Familiars & Animal Companions allows familiars to be improved and customized with special abilities that aid both the animal and the PC. New archetypes and backgrounds for each class allow for the selection of a familiar as a character advancement option. A whole new set of abilities--Advantages--can be used in conjunction with or as a replacement for Feats and are taken at the same points in a character's development.

But that's only the beginning... there is so much more.

With Jason Vey of Amazing Adventures fame on board to bring this to the Fifth Edition table, you can't go wrong!

Whizbang Dustyboots · Jan 26, 2016

Is the text going to be identical to the first edition?

Troll Lord · Jan 27, 2016

Some will definitely. But there is a bit of conversion required, especially in the first chapter where the skills are. These are being rewritten. We'll refine and add more to some classes as well, the ranger and paladin for certain.

What we'd really like to do, once the book funds, is add material to it, expanding each of these chapters.

I'm not sure I answered your question...suddenly I feel like a politician. haha

Thanks!
Steve

Matthan · Jan 27, 2016

I'm interested in this, but I'm not familiar with the prior iterations. How are the familiars gained for the classes and balanced? Are you using feats, swapping out abilities, or something else?

Egg Embry · Jan 28, 2016

Looking forward to using this with my 5e games.

I think this will be a welcome addition.

Troll Lord · Jan 29, 2016

Matthan said:
I'm interested in this, but I'm not familiar with the prior iterations. How are the familiars gained for the classes and balanced? Are you using feats, swapping out abilities, or something else?

"From Jason Vey, who is doing the conversion work on the book:Familiars in this book are more along the lines of the way they once were in D&D. They are spirits that take animal (or other) forms and mystically bond with the PC in question. They in turn grant special abilities (usually relatively minor in nature) to the PC with whom they bond. They might, for example, grant darkvision, proficiency in a skill or even advantage in very specific situations (advantage on Wisdom (perception) checks to find traps, for example). In some cases they might allow a PC to see through their eyes, hear through their ears or the like. They are gained through choosing advantages, which a player selects in place of a feat or ability score increase at the appropriate levels. Each class has their own variety of familiar.

As previously stated, it's not always an animal. The rogue, for example, gains a familiar that takes the form of the rogue's own shadow (but is not the undead monster of the same name). A fighter might acquire a legacy blade, a sword with intelligence that grants special abilities to its master. The paladin's mount makes a return in this book, as a specialized mystically-bonded mount. Also back is the ability of a Druid to gain an animal companion, but with that same mystical bond. The biggest downside to a familiar is that they are vulnerable to attack and death, and if they die the PC suffers greatly. They may take ability damage, energy drain, or a variety of other nasty effects.

Finally, we plan to include a number of new and alternate paths, archetypes, oaths, circles, colleges and the like for the classes, which will likely become OGC to augment those currently in the SRD. Some of these archetypes may have specialized options for familiars as well."

Hope that helps!
Thanks!