Level Up (A5E) Additional Eldritch Invocations for Pact of the Chain Warlocks

[Tessarael]

I have a level 8 Warlock with Pact of the Chain with an Imp familiar. Imp is probably the best option for its survivability in combat, but it still goes down with a round or two at this level. Hence, I'm looking for ways to improve its survivability. There are no A5E nor 2014/2024 D&D 5E eldritch invocations, except for Investment of the Chain Master, that help in this regard. I do see some from other sources, but they also overlap with A5E Frog Fangs, which suggests that some changes are needed.

Here are some ideas that I have for some Warlock Eldritch Invocations to improve a familiar. Thoughts?

Familiar spell sharing

• Range self or touch spells that you cast only on yourself can be shared with your familiar, if it is within your reach when you cast the spell, providing that the spell is not a Conjuration, Evocation, or Necromancy spell.
• Your familiar's Intelligence increases to 2x your proficiency bonus, if less than that.
• Your familiar learns two cantrips that you know, and can cast them as a 1st level spellcaster.
  • Note: You also need the Frog Fangs eldritch invocation for your familiar to be able to attack with a cantrip.

Resistant Familiar

• Your familiar gains resistance to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing non-magical attacks.
• Your familiar gains Magic Resistance: advantage on saving throws vs. spells and magical effects.
• While within 10' of your familiar, you also gain Magic Resistance.

The purpose of this eldritch invocation is to bring other familiars up to par with Imp, Pseudodragon, and Quasit familiars.

Tough Familiar

• Your familiar's hit points increase to 3x your Warlock level, if less than that.
• Your familiar's saving throws improve to be equal to yours, if worse than them.
• When subject to effects allowing a saving throw for half damage, your familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw, or half damage if it fails, providing that it has at least half-cover to cower behind.
• If its base AC is lower, while wearing no armor, nor barding, and not wielding a shield, your familiar has a base AC of 11 + your proficiency bonus from an armored carapace that forms around it.
  • It gains no Dexterity modifier to AC when protected in this manner.
  • It can benefit from magic items such as Bracers of Defense or a Cloak of Protection.
  • Alternative: Your DM may allow familiars to wear armor/barding. In which case, light armor makes sense for familiars with Dexterity 16+, heavy armor if they have Strength 13+, otherwise use medium armor.

Note: I've edited this proposal based on feedback that I have received below to improve it.

 

[lichmaster]

I understand the issue, but first I think we should clarify what function the familiar has in the game. IMO it's more about scouting/utility/flavor than combat. Of course it can and should also give some options in combat, but squishiness should remain part of the equation, in relative terms.
So I agree that all familiars should improve over levels to avoid being dead even before combat begins at higher levels, but this should be done with care to avoid them enter in the niche of animal companions (which albeit not so strong or resilient either, they seem to be designed to have more combat relevance).

Regarding your suggestions

Familiar spell sharing

• Range self or touch spells that you cast only on yourself can be shared with your familiar, if it is within your reach when you cast the spell, providing that the spell is not a Conjuration, Evocation, or Necromancy spell.
• Your familiar learns two cantrips that you know, and can cast them as a 1st level spellcaster.
• Your familiar's Intelligence increases to 2x your proficiency bonus, if less than that.

I like this one but I'd be concerned about the cantrips, as you'll double the cantrips per round your character will be able to cast. This is more impactful at lower levels, since the familiar's spellcaster level is limited to 1

Resistant Familiar

• Your familiar gains resistance to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing non-magical attacks.
• Your familiar gains Magic Resistance: advantage on saving throws vs. spells and magical effects.
• While within 10' of your familiar, you also gain Magic Resistance.

Making an imp resistant to non-magical attacks seems 100% legit to me, and this affects its survivability without much complexity or being OP imo. Magic resistance on the familiar may also be reasonable given it's magical nature. Granting magic resistance to the caster is probably a bit too much though, as 99% of the time the familiar will be sitting on your shoulders and having semi-permanent advantage to magic related saves seems quite the buff for me, to the point that this feat/trait would be a no-brainer

Tough Familiar

• Add your proficiency bonus to your familiar's armor class.
• Your familiar's hit points increase to 3x your Warlock level, if less than that.
• Your familiar's saving throws improve to be equal to yours, if worse than them.
• When subject to effects allowing a saving throw for half damage, your familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw, or half damage if it fails, providing that it has at least half-cover to cower behind.

Adding flat AC bonus can be quite powerful, depending on the basis creature. +6 at high levels is quite the boost, no magic item can give you that much (as in, no ring or braces give that much). I'd halve it TBH.
Hit point minimum bump and saves sharing seem ok to me, as well as the evasion-like feature

 

[Tessarael]

Thank you very much for the feedback Lichmaster.

Regarding the cantrips, I'm assuming that Frog Fangs is still required for you to have your familiar attack with a cantrip. So it is a comparison of at best say a cantrip like Toll the Dead, d12 damage with range 60', vs. the familiar's existing attack such as the Imp's sting, which is d4 + 3 piercing + d6 poison + your proficiency bonus in force damage. The imp's sting does more damage, but the cantrip opens up the opportunity for your familiar to attack at range, if it didn't have a ranged attack.

For the Crystalpunk campaign I'm playing in, you can buy a prosthetic replacement finger for 250gp that allows you to cast a cantrip. So the impact is rather minor. But if the additional cantrips is a balance issue, that benefit could be dropped.

Regarding gaining advantage on saves vs. spells and magical effects when within 10' of your familiar, this depends on your DM. Does your DM allow the variant Imp familiar, Faerie Dragon familiar (if allowed), Pseudodragon familiar, and Quasit familiar that already provide that benefit? If so, this just provides that benefit to other familiars. If not, yes it is quite good. It is a nice buff, but that powerful from my game-play experience at least. Again, DMs could drop this if they think it is over-powered.

I agree with your point about the AC bonus. It really depends on what the base AC of the familiar is. Maybe I should specify it instead as an armored AC instead, that doesn't benefit from Dexterity. Something like this:

If it's base AC is lower, while wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your familiar gains a base AC of 12 + your proficiency bonus. It gains no Dexterity modifier to AC when protected in this manner. It can still benefit from other magic items such as Bracers of Defense or a Cloak of Protection.

On a side note, the 5E D&D Sprite has AC 15, with leather armor and Dexterity 18, so could benefit from magical leather armor; whereas the A5E Sprite has AC 14, it's unarmored with Dexterity 18, so would presumably not be able to wear magical armor.

 

[lichmaster]

The comparison with Toll the Dead vs Frog Fangs is quite compelling, so if FF is a prerequisite it totally makes sense to give some ranged options (which would also mitigate the need for defensive buffs to the familiar).

Good point also for other rare familiars to give magic resistance to the owner. This basically lets you "upgrade" your normal familiar to a rare one, seems a reasonable investment.

For the AC I was thinking something like "The familiar's AC becomes 10+dex mod+1/2 half proficiency if not already better". Familiars normally are small and nimble, so I'd allow them having their dex and just bumping them a bit their AC, which would be equivalent to them wearing a light armor (+1 to +3) or a minor to moderate ring of protection.

I love the idea of the crystalpunk campaign and the finger giving a cantrip! I can totally see fanatics having all fingers replaced!

 

[Tessarael]

There are variant familiars in other sources (5E D&D, Pathfinder, etc.) that are not particularly dexterous. For example, the Spirit Statue Mascot from Strixhaven, which has AC 14 (natural armor) and Dexterity 9.

The issue I have with using half proficiency bonus is that it scales so slowly: +1 AC from level 2-8, +2 AC from level 9-16, +3 AC from level 17-20.

I'd basically lean between giving an AC like that from the Mage Armor spell, AC 13 + Dexterity modifier, or its rare variant AC 10 + proficiency bonus + Dexterity modifier, or Barkskin AC 16 with no Dexterity modifier.

What I proposed, AC of 12 + your proficiency bonus, gives AC as follows: AC 14 at level 2-4, AC 15 at level 5-8, 16 at level 9-12, 17 at level 13-16, and 18 at level 17-20. That doesn't benefit the 5E D&D Sprite until level 9, or the A5E Sprite until level 5.

If that's too good, lower it to an AC of 11 + your proficiency bonus: AC 13 at level 2-4, AC 14 at level 5-8, 15 at level 9-12, 16 at level 13-16, and 17 at level 17-20. That doesn't benefit the 5E D&D Sprite until level 13, or the A5E Sprite until level 9. I've updated my proposal to this.

Perhaps a simpler way to handle this is to optionally allow familiars to wear armor/barding, if made to the appropriate size. So a Sprite with Dexterity 18 in Padded Leather or Breastplate armor gets AC 16, and Elven Plate (4500gp!) would get it to AC 18. The Imp with Dexterity 16 has AC 15 in Padded Leather, AC 16 in Breastplate, and AC 18 in Elven Plate. Noting that the Imp and Sprite need to wear either bone or mithral breastplate as they cannot meet the Strength requirement otherwise. The Spirit Statue Mascot with Strength 14 could wear either Hauberk AC 16 (much cheaper at 150gp) or Elven Plate AC 18.

 

[lichmaster]

Perhaps a simpler way to handle this is to optionally allow familiars to wear armor/barding, if made to the appropriate size. So a Sprite with Dexterity 18 in Padded Leather or Breastplate armor gets AC 16, and Elven Plate (4500gp!) would get it to AC 18. The Imp with Dexterity 16 has AC 15 in Padded Leather, AC 16 in Breastplate, and AC 18 in Elven Plate. Noting that the Imp and Sprite need to wear either bone or mithral breastplate as they cannot meet the Strength requirement otherwise. The Spirit Statue Mascot with Strength 14 could wear either Hauberk AC 16 (much cheaper at 150gp) or Elven Plate AC 18.

This should be a totally feasible thing to do even in game, without requiring any rule changes. I'd 100% allow this. Equipping animal companions and familiars could be a fun form of side progression IMO

 

[Pedantic]

Could you just steal the Druid Wildshape AC progression? Maybe also the temporary hit points as well. Say, give warlocks (or maybe even the familiar itself) a Prof/short rest gain 1d4*Prof temporary hit points bonus action.

 

[Steampunkette]

So... kind of a weird take on my end: Warlock familiars should be expendable.

Extremely expendable.

Like. You should plan for them to die and use their death to your advantage.

So I'd recommend an Invocation that allows you to get your familiar back for free at the end of a short rest! No minimum level. Also causes your familiar to leave a body behind that you can pick up and mourn over, or leave on the lonely cobblestones, as appropriate.

And then a later invocation that allows you to resummon your familiar, regardless of where they are or if they're dead, as an action, after level 5 if you have the short rest invocation.

Then you can send your familiar out onto the battlefield to act as an extension of your will, watch it get schmucked into the dirt, and cast Corpse Explosion on the remains...

Then resummon it the next turn and see if your enemy is foolish enough to kill it, again!

... gonna go ahead and add these options to my Occult Omens materials...

 

[Tessarael]

Thanks for the additional comments and suggestions Pedantic and Steampunkette.

Regarding Druid Wildshape AC progression, yes, I did look at that too. That formula for AC is 12 + level/4 (round down), noting that a Skin Changer archetype also adds their Wisdom bonus. AC of 11 + your proficiency bonus is pretty similar to that. And if your familiar can share spells, then they can gain the benefits of temporary hit points from False Life or Armor of Agathys.

I'm not concerned about the Find Familiar material cost and time to resummon them outside of combat. In combat, I'd prefer to spend an action to heal them if need be, than to resummon them. You could just have your familiar scatter say mice corpses around the battlefield for Corpse Explosion cheese, if that's what you want.

 

[Tessarael]

Steampunkette, I would suggest that your ideas are best handled as two rare spell variants of the Find Familiar spell:

Corpse Familiar: The casting time is reduced to a bonus action, and there is no spell component cost. When your familiar reaches zero hit points, it dies and leaves a corpse, including any items it was carrying or wearing.

Resurgent Familiar: The casting time is reduced to one action. The material spell components (10gp of charcoal, incense, and herbs) burn quickly in a small puff of smoke as part of the casting. When your familiar reaches zero hit points, it disappears with any items it was carrying or wearing. When you summon it by casting this spell again, it appears on full hit points, with its items, with any ongoing spells still in effect.