Familiar gaining levels.....

[RisnDevil]

Am I the only one that thinks it is not really unbalancing to allow familiars to gain class levels? Sure, I can understand requiring someone to, say, take Leadership and Improved Familiar before allowing it, but do other people think that overpowers things that much?

 

[The Great Bear King]

To me the familiar should at least be two levels higher in it's master's spell casting class (acting as a mentor, study partner, and teaching spells). Arcane spell casters should have one familiar per arcane spell casting class.

 

[Bront]

To me the familiar should at least be two levels higher in it's master's spell casting class (acting as a mentor, study partner, and teaching spells). Arcane spell casters should have one familiar per arcane spell casting class.

That's a very different take on a familiar, which is more a companion who occasionaly helps in other way, but doesn't cast spells itself.

However, as far as taking class levels, I can see allowing one who has the advanced familair feat to take one, but only with a basic familiar. The problem is that class levels give HP as well as other bonuses that make a familiar much more than it is already. A familiar is honestly a lower powered animal companion, and if it can take class levels that puts it on par or even greater than the animal companion.

 

[RisnDevil]

My reason for asking this is for a character idea I had in mind, and although I don't know of if or where it is published in 3.5, in T&B it specifically stated familiars could not get levels. You see, I want to have an improved familiar...a Beholderkin, Eyeball to be exact (Monsters of Faerun). I then want to have my familiar become a BeholderMage. I think that would be cool. Also, by the time he gets 9th level spells, so would I, so it is not like I would be finding a way to get the spells any sooner. It just sounds like a cool idea to me....

 

[Cheiromancer]

It would be neat to play an awakened animal wizard with a human familiar.

 

[Nifft]

It would be neat to play an awakened animal wizard with a human familiar.

"Hi, I'm Bob, and this is the Mighty Archmage Malbad. No, seriously. Hold on, I'm getting some empathy ... I think he's hungry. Got a saucer of milk?"

-- N

 

[Cheiromancer]

"Hi, I'm Bob, and this is the Mighty Archmage Malbad. No, seriously. Hold on, I'm getting some empathy ... I think he's hungry. Got a saucer of milk?"

-- N

I was actually thinking that Bob would pretend to be the mage. He would take very good care of his cat, though. Some kind of permanent ventriloquism effect/magic item could help preserve the ruse for quite a while.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Take the leadership feat.

 

[babomb]

Okay, so let's say your cat familiar takes levels in Sorceror. Then the cat familiar gets a rat familiar (why not?). Then the rat takes levels in Sorceror and gets a fly familiar. Then the fly takes levels in Druid and gets a flea animal companion. Then the flea takes levels in Paladin and gets a dog for a mount. And the dog becomes a wizard...

I do like the awakened animal with a human familiar idea.

 

[solkan_uk]

I did once start working out some rules for advancing familiars using special Familiar classes, so you could basically get a 'guardian familiar' (i.e. fighter type) or a 'spellcaster familiar' who could help you cast spells or a 'artificer familiar' whose primary purpose was to fulfill the time requirement for making items.

But I never finished it and can't see it on my computer anymore. In the end I just decided that mages should get Improved Familiar for free in my campaigns.