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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tom Cashel" data-source="post: 176634" data-attributes="member: 321">To me, a Familiar that is "one being" with the Wizard is just boring.  I mean, for the most part they are the same, but unless the familiar has some personality of its own, it just ends up being a nonentity; it becomes mere Stats instead of a character.Example: the dwarf wizard in my group had a Toad familiar.  Of course, it is loyal to him...but it also calls him an "oaf" sometimes, and gets really angry when he forgets to feed it crickets.  So to the extent that it wants to be fed and treated with respect, yes, the toad has its own agenda.As for the Imp having it's own agenda...it's a devil.  And I'm a Rat Bastard DM, so if one of my PCs took one as a familiar there would be an inevitable slide toward total corruption.  That's just how I view the nature of "evil" in D&D.  And, IMHO, why the PH states outright that the evil alignments are reserved for villains and monsters.  What's so "mature" about playing evil characters?  I mean, if played correctly, they're total bastards.  Seems to me it's a catharsis at best...at worst, mental masturbation.EDIT: Okay, so that's stupid comment...all D&D, to some extent, is mental masturbation (I'd do it every day if I could! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />)...but here's what I was trying to get at: I'll venture that most D&D gamers play good or neutral characters, and this is what the PH is geared toward.  They play noble heroes in their imaginations.  I have to wonder about gamers who play ignoble villains (to put it nicely) in their imaginations.EDIT 2: Wow, I'm really not explaining myself very well.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Rub, you say you agree with Caliban in seeing the game as an opportunity to change/protect yourself from things that cannot be changed in real life.  Fine.  But if you're playing an evil character, then I have to wonder what form the catharsis takes.  I mean, you can't kidnap people and murder them in real life so you role-play it instead?  Steal, lie, backstab?  I just don't get it.  Please explain.</blockquote>

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