Familiars: Does EVERYONE take the toad?

[Ralts Bloodthorne]

cats
rats
bear cubs
baby dragons
undead mice
weasels
stotes
badgers
toads
ravens
mephits
imps

We've had all kinds of stuff...
The funniest was the poor sap that got the naka (a goat that both sexes lactate constantly) that gave him a +2 to sv vs pioson
The other wierd one was someone who once took a Queen Wasp.

 

[Ghostwind]

I have to say the Pseudodragon qualifies at the best familiar under the current options. We have a player in our group that has had one for years and uses it for everything.

For those of us who would like to have more choices for familiars, before much longer E.N. Publishing should be releasing a book on familiars and a whole different perspective on them...

 

[Hypersmurf]

I had a half-hob Sorcerer in a Kalamar game with a Toad familiar. I was soooo tempted to take the Kalamar feat "Flying Familiar", that gives a familiar a Fly speed equal to its base speed.

The image of a Toad flying around at 5' per round was almost irresistible.

Almost.

I had a Paladin/Sorcerer dedicated to the God of Giant Eagles. She had a hawk familiar. Thing was, she didn't know she was a sorcerer - she thought her Sorcerer spells were divinely-granted (they were all themed with her religion, y'see), and she thought the hawk was an avatar of her deity. The hawk thought it was a great joke, and never let on otherwise.

And I had an elven sorcerer who worshipped Hanali Celanil. I really wanted to go with the butterfly familiar from that "alternative familiars" PDF that someone put together a while ago. "Too fragile to be a familiar," the DM said. "But it would have half my hit points, and a Natural Armor bonus!" I pointed out.

No dice. Swapped it for a dove, which fitted the Hanali theme still. But I was really looking forward to the butterfly...

-Hyp.

 

[rounser]

IIRC,
Toads can't fly

Say what? Toads can "fly"....







....kinda. They can be hurled across pits, hurled to do touch attacks, and, of course, hurled just for a chuckle.

Toads can't see in the dark,

Devise special magical goggles for your toad. Not only will he see in the dark, but he'll be at the height of familiar fashion.

Toads don't move silently,

That's only a tub of lard away. Grease up your toad and send him off on that scouting mission.

Toads can't speak one language,

True, but they can learn morse code if your DM isn't a spoilsport.

And toads can't move very quickly (20 feet at a flat out run)

See note on "flying", above.

...yappy Wire-haired Terrier named Snuffles.
...my forest gnome illusionist/rogue from a while back had a huge orange tabby (almost as big as him) named Snuffles. The cat was a travelling companion and living pillow/bedroll.

Odd. I played a familiar once, Snuffles the pseudodragon. He would snort, snuffle, sniff and sneeze at things, mostly.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Eden Games has several different types of familiairs. My wizard in a SL campaign has a Mowz, +2 to Dex. These mouse like creatures hunt down and eat cats so it's made my character a little unliked at the local guild as I'm always reigning in my Mowz, Kartin.

Now the guy who GMs is a total rule lawyer. He's playing in the new campaign with me and took the toad and some feat from the Plot & Poison book where he's basically absorbed it and now has a +4 Con bonus. Scarry eh?

 

[haiiro]

No one I've played 3e with has taken the toad.

My last familiar-enabled PC took a white fox (the one from Dragon, although I can't remember the issue number -- 280, maybe?). Very appropriate for the character (and foxes are neat), and the +2 to Ref saves was sterling.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

I've had one player take a toad familiar for the bonus to Con, but he played the familiar, "Milton", so well it was great.

Because I'm generally not a fan of such meta-gaming I've house-ruled familiars. I tell the player choose a typical small animal and over time the bonuses will develop, based more on the character than the specific animal chosen. One current player has a wizard with a mink familiar - we treat it much like a weasel, except I gave him +2 Dex if the familiar is within 5'.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

Ladies and Gentlemen... your daily dose of unintended sexual inuendo has arrived.

^_^

 

[Capellan]

Counting both tabletop and PbP games, I play as or with 9 wizard or sorcerer characters.

So far:
- 5 have not taken a familiar (at least, that I know of ... 2 of those are very new to wizard levels, though, so they may change)
- 1 took a badger
- 1 took a bat
- 1 took a raven
- 1 took a cat

No toads, even with the +2 Con.

 

[Sejs]

re 'horny toads': They're lizards, not toads.

I learned something new today!


Oh, Hyp - that flying familiar thing: do they sprout little wings, or would this be the infinitly cooler HoverToad?