familiar question

[HighlandsBear]

I'm sure this has been asked but I can't find it here. Anyways, I was looking at the improved familiars in the Complete Warrior and in the DMG trying to think of how to make use of this abilitiy (its always more of a liability than an asset in the end IMHO) but then I noticed it always references you to the PHB with the phrase "when you are able to take a new familiar." Well, according to the PHB you have to make a DC 15 fort save and wait a year and a day to replace a familiar which I could understand if you were just trying to switch out one of the same level, for example going from a bat to a toad, but after spending a whole feat on getting an improved familiar you expect to change over freely, not be penalized. I suppose you could plan ahead and suffer through a third to half of your wizard's life without a familiar but that's quite limiting. I hate it when feats and PrC's are so dependent on planning from level 1, like you should know exactly how your character's life is going to turn out.

Anyhow, I kept reading the familiar sections in the core rules, and as written it clearly requires a fort save to switch from a bat to a blink dog, and apparently you must wait a year and a day. Is there any errata, sage advice, etc that might soften this? It just seems too ridiculous to be true.

 

[Henrix]

No, it is as you say, and is clearly intended to be so. I don't think it is ridiculouos.
Changing familiar is not something to do lightly. If you really want to have an improved familiar it might be best to abstain until you can take the familiar you want.

 

[Veritas]

I always kinda figured that being able to take "Improved Familiar" would be like a reward for wizards and sorcerers who decide not to take a familiar until much later. I know I'd wait until 7th level, doing without a familiar until then, in order to get a pseudodragon.

However, I don't think there's anything that softens up those rules. Others may know more than I though.

 

[angry monkey]

personally I'd just plead your case to the dm. IMC familiars become more of a liability at higher levels, and are more useful at lower levels. So if I were ypur dm and you buthered to take the feat, I'd cut you some slack.

 

[blargney the second]

This is getting into house rules territory, but you could just say that the master morphed the old familiar into the new one. That way there's no loss of XP and time, because it's still the same beastie. *shrug*

-blarg

 

[jodyjohnson]

The rules are overly harsh for familiars and ripe for house ruling.

The Paladin mount rules would be closer and reserve the punishment version for intentionally killing your familiar.

 

[candidus_cogitens]

I always thought it would be more desirable to have a normal-appearing animal (bat, toad, cat, etc.) that was tougher than usual than to have an especially flashy familiar like a tressim cat or a pseudodragon. I wish there was a feat that just allowed you to toughen up your familiar. Maybe it could add to your effective caster level for determining a familiar's abilities.

It seems to me that a psudodragon would only be more likely to die as it would draw more attention to itself. I'd rather have a raven, for example, who would stay a safe distance from the action most of the time and occasionally do some spying for me.