Familiars, Damage and Saves

[Tom Cashel]

Here's a few nagging questions about familiars which are usually kept on a wizard's person:

Let's say a Wizard has a mouse familiar in his pocket.

Does the familiar take damage from area effect spells such as fireball, or from dragon breath?

Would it only take damage as per items, when a 1 is rolled on the save?

What happens to the familiar if the wizard gets polymorphed or disintegrated?

 

[Tom Cashel]

No one has any opinion on this?

I just read the Familiars section in the SRD, and it doesn't mention this. Should I look somewhere else?

 

[bret]

If someone were trying to hit the mouse, I would probably consider it full concealment (50% miss chance) and partial cover. The main problem is that the cover isn't as tough as things you normally consider cover.

Tome & Blood pg 71 has Familiar Carriers, which are sturdy hutches or boxes for transport. Hardness 10 is a lot better than cloth, but it gives either 9/10 or total cover depending on if the viewpowers and door are shut or not.



So to answer your questions:

The familiar takes damage from AoE spells and must make their own saving throw. A GM could rule that the clothes count as cover, but probably should reduce the bonus since cloth isn't as good of protection as wood, stone, or any of the other substances listed as cover.

Since it isn't the target of the Polymorph or Disintegrate, it doesn't have to make a saving throw there. Those spells can only affect one target. The mouse can crawl out of the ashes left from the disintigrated former-master, or falls to the ground in the case of polymorph.

 

[Bronn Spellforger]

Tom - Please don't kill my toad.

-- Bronn

 

[Artoomis]

A familiar in a proper carrying container (the T&B one) should be consider just like a character in a box. If they are in the area of effect, then they are in the area of effect. Naturally, they get a hefty bonus to reflex saving throws for having 9/10 or total cover, with total covering protecting them competely from spells with reflex saves.

Does that help?

 

[Tom Cashel]

It helps quite a bit...thank you much bret and Artoomis!

Tom - Please don't kill my toad.

-- Bronn

Stop reading this thread! I'll kill what I want!

 

[Shin Okada]

Remember all the familiars have Improved Evasion. They usually survive area effect spells. Still, Ice Storm and Horrid Wilting are the menace to the poor familiars.....

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

How about a custom familiar carrier fit into the side pocket of a Heward's Handy Haversack (with an internal latch for opening & ventilation)?

 

[Artoomis]

If a PC somehow finds a way to TOTALLY protect his familiar, more than likely he's also out of contact with it and gets no benefit from it. A fair trade, really.

 

[Van Dyksun]

I need a way for this system to alert me to all the questions my DM (sorry...MB) asks.