Ok, need some stra-ta-gy!

[Zepherus Bane]

Make sure you off the familiar before plotting against him. Or, if you are not worried about it spying on you, take the little critter hostage, then kill it in front of him.

That's just mean. But I like it... Aren't there still some rules about when a character's familiar is killed that would cause a lost level or something or am I remembering 2nd ed or something?