D&D 5E (2024) Find Familiar, the Alert feat, and the loss of the fly-by Owl.

[mellored]

By my reading of the Help action, you help a specific ally to perform a specific task or hit a specific enemy. The owl can, as far as I know, help you hit the target, and it shouldn’t matter if an ally attacks the target before you make your attack.

In the playtest

Assist Attack Roll. You momentarily distract an enemy within 5 feet of you, giving Advantage to the next attack roll by one of your allies against that enemy. This benefit expires at the start of your next turn.

 

[Mistwell]

In the playtest

Assist Attack Roll. You momentarily distract an enemy within 5 feet of you, giving Advantage to the next attack roll by one of your allies against that enemy. This benefit expires at the start of your next turn.

Sure but I think in theory your owl could ready an action to assist just before the PC acts?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I've always hated he way the find familiar spell gets abused for situations exactly as described in the OP, so I can't say that I am sad about the changes. I also hate that familiars are more ubiquitous in the 2024 rules. Familiars are a pain in the butt, unbalanced, and allow players to hog the mic.

I have a player who literally wants to ruin any exploration scene whatsoever by having his familiar scout, which he expects it to have unlimited range and be able to report on everything that is in an area, no matter how big. He puts up with me forcing limits on it, but it's begrudgingly - then he tries again the next time there's anything to explore.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

OtOH, I have no problem with the familiar helping the Rogue to Sneak Attack.

 

[Charlaquin]

In the playtest

Assist Attack Roll. You momentarily distract an enemy within 5 feet of you, giving Advantage to the next attack roll by one of your allies against that enemy. This benefit expires at the start of your next turn.

Good catch!

 

[Charlaquin]

Sure but I think in theory your owl could ready an action to assist just before the PC acts?

Yeah, but then it doesn’t really benefit from flyby.

 

[Charlaquin]

I have a player who literally wants to ruin any exploration scene whatsoever by having his familiar scout, which he expects it to have unlimited range and be able to report on everything that is in an area, no matter how big. He puts up with me forcing limits on it, but it's begrudgingly - then he tries again the next time there's anything to explore.

Is that not exploring?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Is that not exploring?

The problem is that he overrides every other player's attempts to do ANYTHING with letting his familiar do it all instead. Like in his head, his familiar can explore every area instantly for miles around (and report accurately on it) while everyone else stands around.

I have NO problem with the familiar being part of the team that explores an area. No problem with it having unique access to higher views, smaller or otherwise hard-to-get-to spaces.

I have a problem with it flying around a mountaintop and accurately reporting on every possible entrance to a dungeon that is located in the area (as the player intended last session) while the party stands there waiting for it.

Again, no problem with it adding its value to exploration. This player's expectation just needs to be brought down to something more reasonable.

 

[Charlaquin]

The problem is that he overrides every other player's attempts to do ANYTHING with letting his familiar do it all instead. Like in his head, his familiar can explore every area instantly for miles around (and report accurately on it) while everyone else stands around.

I have NO problem with the familiar being part of the team that explores an area. No problem with it having unique access to higher views, smaller or otherwise hard-to-get-to spaces.

I have a problem with it flying around a mountaintop and accurately reporting on every possible entrance to a dungeon that is located in the area (as the player intended last session) while the party stands there waiting for it.

Again, no problem with it adding its value to exploration. This player's expectation just needs to be brought down to something more reasonable.

to each their own, I suppose. In my view, that’s the whole point of having a familiar. And I’d rather the party use a familiar to scope an area out and make a plan about how to proceed based on the information they gather from that reconnaissance, as opposed to just going in blind and stumbling about more or less at random.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

to each their own, I suppose. In my view, that’s the whole point of having a familiar. And I’d rather the party use a familiar to scope an area out and make a plan about how to proceed based on the information they gather from that reconnaissance, as opposed to just going in blind and stumbling about more or less at random.

I think the difference between our expectations may be more subtle than you seem to imply, but maybe not. Do you essentially have the familiar create full and accurate maps of an area (including most hidden things) for your players to plan over? Because that's the implied expectation that I'm unhappy with. Again, it's not that a familiar assists with scouting. I'm okay with that. It's a matter of to what extent.