D&D 4E Familiars in 4E

[Kaodi]

In 4e, I want to be able to play a cat with a wizard familiar, hehehe...

 

[Ambrus]

First off, I would like to see animal companions and familiars as class options rather than as default class features. Either give wizards, sorcerers, psions, druids, rangers and paladins a bonus feat with which they can acquire a companion or give them a set of optional class abilities one of which is a companion of some sort. Not every character concept includes a sidekick creature, so a player shouldn't be made to feel like they're loosing out for not taking one.

Next, for familiars, I'd arrange for them to have some clear magic-related benefit for arcane casters to want them around. Traditionally, in folklore, familiars serve spell-casters as remote eyes and ears but also endow their masters with some mystical aid to their spell-casting, either by teaching them their spells, guiding their progress or by lending some extra magical power to help control their magic. I'd like to see that reflected in the rules somehow. Perhaps familiars could grant extra spell points (or their equivalent), grant bonuses to spell penetration rolls, grant bonuses to savings throws against magical affects, increase the save DC of their master's spells or grant the ability to forgo a component from each cast spell (either somatic, vocal or material) whenever the familiar and master are in physical contact. Perhaps it'd be easiest to have the familiar grant the benefits of a metamagic feat to their master. Perhaps all of these ideas could be balanced against each other and the player could choose amongst the lot when they acquire a familiar. Other such abilities could be gained as the PC advances in level.

Lastly, as others have suggested, I'd like to see more exotic options for familiars right out of the gate, including small balanced elementals, undead, fey, constructs, aberrations and even sentient items (crystals, staves, books, etc.).

 

[an_idol_mind]

Why not separate familiars and animal companions from class abilities entirely? Bring back the find familiar spell and make animal companions the results of an animal friendship spell.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Why not separate familiars and animal companions from class abilities entirely? Bring back the find familiar spell and make animal companions the results of an animal friendship spell.

I found the old method far to generous. "I cast a 1st-level spell, and now I have this cool permanent class feature!"

 

[GreatLemur]

Well, my guess--and it is pure guesswork--is that if familiars and animal companions still exist (and I hope they do), they'll be among the various options a wizard/druid/whatever can take. That way, people who like 'em can still have 'em, while that that don't aren't stuck.

That seems reasonably likely, and I really hope you're right. The weirdly common use of pet-as-class-feature throughout the 3.x PHB was always something that bugged me. Five out of those eleven classes came with pets.

 

[coriolis]

Next, for familiars, I'd arrange for them to have some clear magic-related benefit for arcane casters to want them around.

I liked what they did in Ars Magica: having a familiar would speed up your research (an important part of the downtime in that game), and you could cast rituals that would improve your link with them. I remember one that would allow the familiar to breathe for you for an hour or so -- great for exploring underwater!

 

[Rechan]

Next, for familiars, I'd arrange for them to have some clear magic-related benefit for arcane casters to want them around.

I like this as well.

 

[Irda Ranger]

I also hope very much they are not forced on people who do not want them, but also gone entirely: a wizard's familiar is just too key to too many stories of myth and legend for D&D not to support the option. I've never been happy with familiars "as implemented" though, but there's a number of things you could do to make them more interesting / useful.

I just made a whole list, but the "make it a list" tool deleted it, and I don't have the time to retype it. frack.

 

[Driddle]

I'm actually hoping that familiars and animal companions are largely a relic of the past. I'd rather class abilities focus on what a given character is capable of. Familiars, animal companions, and followers could be handled as NPCs instead of intrinsic elements of a character's ability suite.

There's no reason to not include them as an option. If players like yourself don't want a familiar, then you shouldn't take the familiar. Some of us enjoyed them. Eliminating them entirely is an unncessary restriction.

 

[Dragonblade]

Familiars should be an option chosen with a feat or talent or something. They should not be built into the class.

Familiars also should be more than just a liability too. If your familiar dies, it shouldn't just totally screw your character over.