DMs: how do you integrate familiars into the game?

[Plane Sailing]

Amongst my players there are currently two PCs with familiars.

OK, how do the rest of you DM's handle familiars? How do you make them seem like distinct personalities rather than just a little bundle of bonuses that are there when you want them?

I suppose some people just let the players run them as extensions of the PC, which is fine, but I prefer the kind of thing where the familiar has some personality.

The question is, how do I give it "air time"?

I'm toying with the idea of writing something into my dungeon notes, so that when the characters reach location 13, Familiar x makes some kind of comment (as appropriate), and when they reach location 15 Familiar y does or says something.

So what do you do?

 

[Buttercup]

In my game it's a combination, really. The familiar in question is a capuchin monkey with a bad attitude. It will fling turds at people, friend or foe, if it feels like it.

So far, we haven't role played the little guy as much as I would like, but we're doing more as time goes by. Sometimes the wizard RPs the monkey's actions, giving him commands in battle to fling turds (which might not be flung at enemies, depending on Fluffy's whim) and one time he told the monkey to put a turd in a common soup kettle. I use the monkey as another character sometimes, making it as disagreeable and cranky as possible.

I think we all like the little git.

 

[Piratecat]

Nothing is funnier than a monkey. Nothing.

I play familiars as NPCs, subject to player requests. The player can direct the familiar to go and do something, but I'll be its "voice."

 

[Plane Sailing]

PC, how does Aravis and Pewter, or Kibi and Pebble(?) get run in Sagiro's game?

 

[Piratecat]

PC, how does Aravis and Pewter, or Kibi and Pebble(?) get run in Sagiro's game?

The exact same way. Somehow, Edgar the monkey has less of a personality than Scree (the small earth elemental) or Pewter (the cat). Pewter is sort of excitable, always calling his master "boss" and edging to the side of caution. Scree is great, talking very slowly and always amazed by new things. A Scree quote from a recent session after a fight: "My goodness. You people certainly have quite a bit of fluid inside of you."

 

[Angelsboi]

how would you run a toad? My player had a moment of lack o creativity and named it shrek. everything else however is original.

 

[Rune]

Nothing is funnier than a monkey. Nothing.

I play familiars as NPCs, subject to player requests. The player can direct the familiar to go and do something, but I'll be its "voice."

Man, you are soooo right about that. The monkey familiar in my campaign (see the sig) is great. I also run the familiars as NPCs, but I do pay attention to the player's interests. For example, the halfling monk (/Sorceror) with the monkey familiar is always trying to teach his monkey (which is the size of a cat) martial arts. He also has a tendency to solve big, life-threatening problems with fire. The monkey does not ever perform specific actions where the players can see it (like fighting, or whatnot), but occassionally the players will round a corner and see the monkey sitting triumphantly atop the unconscious form of, say, a ratling that they have been pursuing. The chances of that monkey actually using martial arts to knock out the bad guy are very slim, but nobody actually saw anything, so who knows? Also, the monkey may be a bit of a pyromaniac. Monkey see, monkey do, and all that.

The other familiar in my game is run quite differently. It happens to have an alignment that often conflicts with the alignment/interest of its bonded companion and acts as a conscience, of sorts (like Fras, from (Contact)'s games). There is a good reason for this, but I'll not spoil the suspense, just in case there are readers of the story hour on this thread.

But, man, monkeys sure are funny.

[edit]One more thing about the monkey familiar that was fun was how it was summoned. It had been hanging around the character for a while (I knew what the character wanted for a familiar) and when the time came, I decided that the material cost for the summoning would be paid for in the following manner: the monkey ran off with the halfling's (caster's) money. When it came back, sans money, it was a familiar.

 

[KidCthulhu]

how would you run a toad? My player had a moment of lack o creativity and named it shrek. everything else however is original.

Toads can be very cool, at least as far as funny voices go. Talk as if you had enormous dewlaps, fill your cheeks with air and use the deepest bass you have. They could speak a little like the Budweiser frogs, "sep are at ing words like this"

Also, they eat bugs. And a wizard never forgets the first meal he shares with his familiar over empathic link.

 

[Falcon]

I give familiars and some animal companions distinct personalities and habits, mostly for flavor text, though. I prefer to have the PCs be center stage.

 

[Angelsboi]

LOL deepest bass voice. Thats funny. im still mistaken for my mom over the phone at 22.

I see the toad as being always very dirty, a little overweight, and doing crazy stuff when no one but the wizard is around (like the WB Frog)