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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 3486160" data-attributes="member: 1165">I am personally not a fan of adding new characters to a party; familiars are not pets, as they're intelligent and can talk. You're supposed to RP them to some extent, but isn't that the point of playing your character? (I think the same thing about intelligent weapons.)I do not like them having the same skills as the mage, as that's just diluting the mage's character concept. (So my Int 6 rat familiar somehow knows almost as much about magic as I do? Gah!)As for mechanics, having half the hit points of a wizard puts them into wimpy territory. Fortunately most GMs I've played with let you put the familiar in a pocket and treat them like an attended magic item when it comes to being hit by Fireball spells or what not; maybe that's even in the rules somewhere. There are ways of making them useful, but a lot involve a lot of risk or are only useful for a few types of familiars. (I wouldn't use any familiar except a bat to deliver touch spells, and even then only in deeper darkness.)Finally, when it comes to familiars such as ravens that don't really draw attention (it's just sitting in a tree) it's really annoying to the GM because there's no way in the rules a non-druid NPC is going to be able to realize they're being watched. Same goes for a druid using wildshape to spy on NPCs... that needs a fix IMO.</blockquote>