D&D 5E Familiars! What's your Homebrew ?

[Amatiel]

What rules do you use for familiars. The basic rules as written for 5e seem a but limited. I have been working on some homebrew options, and came up with these two feats. Thoughts?

Familiar, Combat
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a familiar via spell or class ability.
[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT]You can use your reaction to dismiss your familiar to its pocket dimension. You can summon it again as a bonus action.
[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT]Your familiar has half its master’s total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.
[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT]Your familiar uses its masters base proficiency modifier for attacks, saving throws and skill checks.
[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT]Your familiar gains the improved evasion ability. When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Dexterity saving throw for half damage, the familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw, and half damage even if it fails the saving throw.


Familiar, Improved
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a familiar via spell or class ability.
[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT]Your ability to summon a servant creature such as a familiar is enhanced. You can now summon a tiny or small creature of up to CR 1 (for possible familiars see Table below).
[FONT=&quot]• [/FONT]As the master of a servant creature such as a familiar, you can choose two (2) of the following familiar traits. If you are a warlock with the pact of the chain class feature, you can choose one additional trait.
NOTE: When you cast the find familiar spell for a standard familiar, you also gain the boon for the familiar you summon.
[FONT=&quot]×[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Boon. Your[/FONT] familiar bestows a special boon upon its master. This ability is variable, and depends on the type of familiar.
[FONT=&quot]×[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Superior. Your familiar’s ability scores each increase by 1.
[FONT=&quot]×[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Telepathic[/FONT]. You are considered to be in contact with your familiar for the purpose of shared spells, as long as it is within 1 mile of you. You and your familiar can communicate with each other telepathically at a range of up to 1 mile.
[FONT=&quot]×[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]Tough. Your familiar gains +1 hit point per character level.

Familiar	Master’s Special Boon
Armadilo	+1 AC
Bat	Adv. Perception in dim light or darkness
Blink Dog	Adv. Perception checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Cat	Exp, stealth
Dinosaur	Adv. Initiative
Dodo	Adv. Initiative
Dolphin	Exp, Swim checks
Faerie Dragon (young)	Magic resistance
Fire Snake	Resistance: fire
Flying Sword	Resistance: psychic
Fox	+2 Dex saves
Giant Wolf Spider	Web walker trait
Hawk	Adv. Perception in bright light
Hedgehog	+2 Will saves
Imp	Devil’s Sight (Magical darkness does not impede your darkvision)
Iguana	Exp, Swim checks
Koala	Exp. Climb checks
Mephit	Resistance: poison
Monkey	Exp. Acrobatics
Otter	Exp. Swim checks
Owl	Adv. Perception in dim light or darkness
Panther	Adv. Perception checks that rely on smell.
Parrot	The master learns one bonus language. The familiar has the ability to speak one language.
Penguin	Exp. Swim checks
Pixie	Adv. On saves against being charmed and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Psuedodragon	Magic resistance
Quasit	Magic resistance
Raccoon	Exp. Sleight of Hand
Rat	+2 Con saves
Raven	Adv. On Appraise checks The familiar has the ability to speak one language.
Red Panda	+2 Cha saves
Seal	Exp. Swim checks
Skunk	+2 Con saves
Spider	Exp, Climb checks
Sprite	Exp. Perception & Stealth
Squirrel	Exp. Sleight of Hand
Snapping Turtle	+2 Con saves
Tarantula	Exp. Survival
Turtle	+1 AC
Viper	Exp. Deception
Wallaby	Exp. Acrobatics
Weasel	+2 Dex saves

Exp. Expertise
Adv. Advantage

 

[3y3g00]

Why are some of the familiars in bold/italics? Also, wow, those boons are not balanced against each other. Magic resistance for the cost of a feat is perhaps a bit much.

 

[Amatiel]

the bold/italics represent the familiars you can get with the feat, basically the CR 1 familiars. The others are the CR 0 ones you get with the base spell. As for magic resistance, that is actually what warlocks get with pact of the chain if they take that familiar, so I kind of thought that had to be in there.

 

[3y3g00]

Sorry, I think I still don't understand. Why is the dolphin not bold/italic'ed then since it is medium sized/not on the standard list?

I think the magic resistance doesn't necessarily apply to the warlock's familiar in that case: https://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/08/10/do-chain-pact-warlocks-get-the-familiars-magic-resistance/

Also, cats should give misty step 1/day as my cats seem to use that spell all the time when I'm not looking.

 

[Amatiel]

interesting. Never came across that sage advice post. So, why have a variant familiar stat if its not for warlocks? Seems wierd.

 

[3y3g00]

It's probably just meant for NPCs. Players can weaken a strong boss by wiping out the familiar.

 

[Sunseeker]

None. I think the familiar rules are actually pretty reasonable for a change.

Having special familiars is either campaign specific or the result of in-game actions.

 

[Li Shenron]

The general idea of feats to improve/expand on the Find Familiar spell is ok.

Familiar, Combat
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a familiar via spell or class ability.
[FONT="]• [/FONT]You can use your reaction to dismiss your familiar to its pocket dimension. You can summon it again as a bonus action.
[FONT="]• [/FONT]Your familiar has half its master’s total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.
[FONT="]• [/FONT]Your familiar uses its masters base proficiency modifier for attacks, saving throws and skill checks.
[FONT="]• [/FONT]Your familiar gains the improved evasion ability. When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Dexterity saving throw for half damage, the familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw, and half damage even if it fails the saving throw.

I am not 100% sure but IIRC the standard Wizard's familiar doesn't fight at all, and the Warlock's familiar fights using the PC's attack action. Therefore IMO if you want to design a feat to make the familiar more combat-oriented, you have to address that basic limitation first, otherwise with this feat as written, the Wizard's familiar still cannot fight. Otherwise I think it's ok.

Familiar, Improved
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a familiar via spell or class ability.
[FONT="]• [/FONT]Your ability to summon a servant creature such as a familiar is enhanced. You can now summon a tiny or small creature of up to CR 1 (for possible [B][I]familiars [/I][/B]see Table below).
[FONT="]• [/FONT]As the master of a servant creature such as a familiar, you can choose two (2) of the following familiar traits. If you are a warlock with the pact of the chain class feature, you can choose one additional trait.
NOTE: When you cast the find familiar spell for a standard familiar, you also gain the boon for the familiar you summon.
[FONT="]×[/FONT][/B][FONT="] Boon. Your[/FONT] familiar bestows a special boon upon its master. This ability is variable, and depends on the type of familiar.
[FONT="]×[/FONT][/B][B][FONT="] [/FONT]Superior. Your familiar’s ability scores each increase by 1.
[FONT="]×[/FONT][/B][B][FONT="] [/FONT][FONT="]Telepathic[/FONT][/I]. You are considered to be in contact with your familiar for the purpose of shared spells, as long as it is within 1 mile of you. You and your familiar can communicate with each other telepathically at a range of up to 1 mile.
[B][FONT="]×[/FONT][FONT="] [/FONT]Tough. Your familiar gains +1 hit point per character level.

I am ok with the boon idea (I didn't go through all the boons tho, so I am only commenting on the general concept).

Otherwise, I would scrap the fiddly bits here and focus on what new things you can do with this feat. So I would remove the "Superior" and "Tough" (and with their removal, there is no need for the "choose two" mechanic of this feat, just make the feat grant all the features as usual). Keep the "Boon" and fine-tune all of them to be worth. Expand on "Telepathic" to unlock something new besides the improved range, for instance you could grant the ability to cast a spell now and have the familiar deliver it later (give some max time window e.g. X hours).

 

[Amatiel]

Thanks for the advice. Had a bit of a re-write.

Familiar, Combat
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a familiar via spell or class ability.
• Your familiar obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your familiar acts on its own.
• Your familiar has half its master’s total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.
• Your familiar uses its masters base proficiency modifier for attacks, saving throws and skill checks.
• Your familiar gains the improved evasion ability. When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Dexterity saving throw for half damage, the familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw, and half damage even if it fails the saving throw.








Familiar, Improved
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a familiar via spell or class ability.
• Your ability to summon a servant creature such as a familiar is enhanced. You can now summon a tiny or small creature of up to CR 1 (for possible familiars see Table below).
NOTE: When you cast the find familiar spell for a standard familiar, you also gain the boon for the familiar you summon. Warlocks with pact of the chain gain this feat for free.
× Boon. Your familiar bestows a special boon upon its master. This ability is variable, and depends on the type of familiar.
NOTE: When you cast the find familiar spell for a standard familiar, you also gain the boon for the familiar you summon. Warlocks with pact of the chain gain this feat for free.
• Telepathic. You are considered to be in contact with your familiar for the purpose of shared spells, as long as it is within 1 mile of you. You and your familiar can communicate with each other telepathically at a range of up to 1 mile.

Familiar	Master’s Special Boon
Armadilo	+1 AC
Awakened Shrub	+2 Con saves
Bat	Adv. Perception in dim light or darkness
Blink Dog	Exp. Perception
Cat	Exp, stealth
Faerie Dragon (young)	Exp. Arcana
Fire Snake	Resistance: fire
Flying Sword	Resistance: psychic
Giant Fire Beetle	Add the light cantrip to your known spells
Giant Poisonous Snake	Exp. Perception
Giant Scorpion	+2 Con saves
Fox	+2 Dex saves
Giant Wolf Spider	Exp. Climb checks
Hawk	Adv. Perception in bright light
Hedgehog	+2 Will saves
Imp	Resistance: poison
Iguana	Exp, Swim checks
Koala	Exp. Climb checks
Mephit	Resistance: poison
Monkey	Exp. Acrobatics
Otter	Exp. Swim checks
Owl	Adv. Perception in dim light or darkness
Panther	Exp, stealth
Parrot	The familiar has the ability to speak one language.
Penguin	Exp. Swim checks
Pixie	Adv. On saves against being charmed and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Psuedodragon	Exp, Perception & Stealth
Quasit	Resistance: fire
Raccoon	Exp. Sleight of Hand
Rat	+2 Con saves
Raven	The familiar has the ability to speak one language.
Red Panda	+2 Cha saves
Scorpion	+2 Con saves
Sea Horse	Exp. Swim checks
Skunk	+2 Con saves
Spider	Exp. Climb checks
Sprite	Exp. Perception & Stealth
Squirrel	Exp. Sleight of Hand
Snapping Turtle	+2 Con saves
Tarantula	Exp. Survival
Turtle	+1 AC
Viper	Exp. Deception
Wallaby	Exp. Acrobatics
Weasel	+2 Dex saves

Exp. Expertise
Adv. Advantage

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

1) To be clear - are you aware that the spell Find Familiar summons:

''You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form..''

Normally a caster can re-cast Find Familiar to change their familiar spirit's form. Is this still the case with these feats? If so, Find Familiar stands to become a 1st level spell/low cost resource that can potentially grant access to series of powerful skill boosts and defensive options.

2)

NOTE: When you cast the find familiar spell for a standard familiar, you also gain the boon for the familiar you summon. Warlocks with pact of the chain gain this feat for free.

Not quite sure what you mean here. Are you saying that a Chain Warlock doesn't need to pay material costs? If so, saving 10gp doesn't seem that much of a perk. Combined with a feat that turns the familiar spirit into an independent entity and, granted with a hefty feat investment, a caster could end up with a much better familiar than a Chain Warlock. If I was playing a Chainlock, I'd want my uber familiar to rise in power as much as the standard Find Familiar spell rises with access to these feats. If a standard Find Familiar is great after two feats, a Chain Lock Find Familiar should be all the more greater.