This would disappoint me. Familiars need a boost as it is with clear benifits. Even if familiars become an optional ability, the wizard should not be required to sink their talents into their familiar to make it a viable option.Howndawg said:...e.g. the more talents a wizard sinks into his familiar, the more powerful it is.
Traycor said:In 4E, here are the choices of familiars that I think should be available to wizards at lvl 1 (balanced of course to that level)
- Psuedodragon (or some sort of dragon)
- tiny elemental
- Imp
- Fairy (of some kind. As in a Sprite)
- Elven Cat (for elves/half-elves only, such as the ones from 2E)
- Talking Animal (available with all "standard" animals that were familiars in 3E)
- Construct (something cooler than a homunculus. Like a mini-golem)
- Undead (for necromancers. Woot!)
- beholderkin, eyeball (from FR)
I'm sure there are lots of other great ideas out there. So sound off! What familiars do you think should be standard in 4E?
I liked the article in Dragon that came out a year or so ago that allowed you to basically turn your staff into a familiar.carmachu said:I like alot of those....but how about going even MORE outside the box like say staves or non-animal objects?
Traycor said:I liked the article in Dragon that came out a year or so ago that allowed you to basically turn your staff into a familiar.
Unfortunately to make it a truely effective option, the article required you to burn all kinds of feats, XP, spell slots, and gold. Fantastic idea that I was utterly enthusiastic about. Poor implimentation.
That staff was wayyy too much of an XP sink should it of gotten destroyed. 5x as much as the familiar hit was excessive.carmachu said:Right, I remember that one. Basically a good idea, just not done well. But with 4th coming....
Once again I mention the raven harrier from the Knight of the Raven PrClass (EtCR). It is a celestial raven, and it can be killed. But if so, it reforms on the next day. And it has several abilities to hinder opponents in addition to just being a celestial raven (up to "see through raven's eyes" at 10th level).GSHamster said:If familiars couldn't be killed, they'd be a lot more useful. Maybe it wouldn't be "realistic", but their usefulness would skyrocket.
Of course, players would promptly use the new invincible familiars to break everything. Maybe a rule like the wizard has to choose to risk her familiar in combat before it can be killed. But the default play is that familar evades all damage, but doesn't do anything useful in combat.