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<blockquote data-quote="Urbannen" data-source="post: 4067417" data-attributes="member: 7643">The problem would not have been solved by saying &quot;Your level for purposes of familiar advancement is your caster level&quot; because of the Practiced Spellcaster feat.&nbsp; Honestly, the requirements are written in such a way that I don't think prestige classes were even considered.&nbsp; &quot;Arcane caster level 3rd&quot;?&nbsp; &quot;You can obtain a familiar in the same manner as a sorcerer or wizard &quot;?&nbsp; If you are taking a prestige class aimed at wizards or sorcerers, it's pretty certain that 1. you will already have arcane caster level 3 and not from the familiar-less class and 2. you can already obtain a familiar.&nbsp; The feat is called &quot;Obtain Familiar&quot;, not &quot;Obtain or Advance Familiar&quot;.&nbsp; The feat has 'bard' written all over it.&nbsp; In any case, I can't prove my assertion of the &quot;intention&quot; of the writer of the feat; however I asked the player to bring his copy of Complete Arcane so I can get a idea of to how it would fit with the classes in that book.&nbsp; To me the situation doesn't 'feel' right.&nbsp; The familiar is getting lots of benefits from its master being a spellsword, notably twice the number of hit points and two good saves.&nbsp; It is already much better than a wizard's familiar of the same level, even without the extra few abilities.&nbsp; And that familiar is going to be a pain in my neck.&nbsp; It's a bat in the underdark, the perfect scout plus a mobile invisibility detector.&nbsp; I don't think the player realizes how unkillable the familiar already is, even with only 6th level abilities.&nbsp; I do think the feat's too powerful just for the fact that the group will never be ambushed as long as the player tells the familiar to scout ahead.&nbsp; Hide checks don't mean anything against the bat's blindsense.&nbsp; And this familiar needs more AC plus spell resistance, even with almost 50 HP, improved evasion, and flight speed 40?In any case, I've told the players I have veto power over anything that isn't from the PHB or the FR sourcebooks.&nbsp; I'm what you would call an 'anal DM'.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Urbannen, post: 4067417, member: 7643"] The problem would not have been solved by saying "Your level for purposes of familiar advancement is your caster level" because of the Practiced Spellcaster feat. Honestly, the requirements are written in such a way that I don't think prestige classes were even considered. "Arcane caster level 3rd"? "You can obtain a familiar in the same manner as a sorcerer or wizard "? If you are taking a prestige class aimed at wizards or sorcerers, it's pretty certain that 1. you will already have arcane caster level 3 and not from the familiar-less class and 2. you can already obtain a familiar. The feat is called "Obtain Familiar", not "Obtain or Advance Familiar". The feat has 'bard' written all over it. In any case, I can't prove my assertion of the "intention" of the writer of the feat; however I asked the player to bring his copy of Complete Arcane so I can get a idea of to how it would fit with the classes in that book. To me the situation doesn't 'feel' right. The familiar is getting lots of benefits from its master being a spellsword, notably twice the number of hit points and two good saves. It is already much better than a wizard's familiar of the same level, even without the extra few abilities. And that familiar is going to be a pain in my neck. It's a bat in the underdark, the perfect scout plus a mobile invisibility detector. I don't think the player realizes how unkillable the familiar already is, even with only 6th level abilities. I do think the feat's too powerful just for the fact that the group will never be ambushed as long as the player tells the familiar to scout ahead. Hide checks don't mean anything against the bat's blindsense. And this familiar needs more AC plus spell resistance, even with almost 50 HP, improved evasion, and flight speed 40? In any case, I've told the players I have veto power over anything that isn't from the PHB or the FR sourcebooks. I'm what you would call an 'anal DM'. [/QUOTE]

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