Poll : Aside from Toad, which familiar in PHB is popular in your play group?
- Thread starter Shin Okada
- Start date
In our group right now we only have one wiz, and she has an owl. My character is her twin sister, right now a 3rd-lvl rogue, gonna take a lvl of wiz next and probably get an owl as well to keep hers company (and so I can use disguise skill to confuse people!). The abilities are nice for a mostly-rogue, although others work too.
mooby
First Post
Personally, I just love the dog familiar.
The +2 to sense motive is ok, but I just love dogs. Of course, this was from a Dragon Magazine, not the core book. Then, I like Hawks b/c of style.
The Toad Con boost is great, but he's virtually useless as a companion.
About the dog: What kind of dog would the familiar be?
The +2 to sense motive is ok, but I just love dogs. Of course, this was from a Dragon Magazine, not the core book. Then, I like Hawks b/c of style.
The Toad Con boost is great, but he's virtually useless as a companion.
About the dog: What kind of dog would the familiar be?
Benben
First Post
This is really the wrong poll chocie but I'll share what my groups have done.
On my weekly sunday table which I run there are a large number of spell casters.
The multi-class sorcerers in the party took familiars to improve their weakest saves: rat for fortitude, and weasel for reflex. Both of these characters are played by almost stereotypical gamer males.
The longest lived wizard in my party play a ECL0 version of a lizard man, and took a toad for actually role-playing reasons. It also means that I have a wizard with over 100HPs on my sunday table now too. This character is played by a purple haired woman in her 50s.
Another one of the originals who is long since retired from the game had an Owl familiar. The owls are a symbol of the character's people and again the player took the familiar for role-playing reasons.
The newest addition to the party took a hedgehog (Tome & Blood) for mostly it being a cute creature and also for the +1 Natural Armor bonus. This is stretching the rules but I have no problems with Medium and Small size characters gaining access to the familiars for tiny and diminutive characters.
On the table in which I get to play, I have a small earth elemental as a familiar. The DM has been kind enough to allow familiar advancement for this guy because my character is an earth savant (Tome & Blood). I have also expended 1,100xp on the familar using the rules in FFGs to give the familiar the ability to burrow, see invisibility, and move at a speed of 30'. Dozer acts has a mini-body guard for the earth savant.
So the major pattern I see is a slow trend away from the PHB familiars to more personalized familiars suggested in third party suppliments.
On my weekly sunday table which I run there are a large number of spell casters.
The multi-class sorcerers in the party took familiars to improve their weakest saves: rat for fortitude, and weasel for reflex. Both of these characters are played by almost stereotypical gamer males.
The longest lived wizard in my party play a ECL0 version of a lizard man, and took a toad for actually role-playing reasons. It also means that I have a wizard with over 100HPs on my sunday table now too. This character is played by a purple haired woman in her 50s.
Another one of the originals who is long since retired from the game had an Owl familiar. The owls are a symbol of the character's people and again the player took the familiar for role-playing reasons.
The newest addition to the party took a hedgehog (Tome & Blood) for mostly it being a cute creature and also for the +1 Natural Armor bonus. This is stretching the rules but I have no problems with Medium and Small size characters gaining access to the familiars for tiny and diminutive characters.
On the table in which I get to play, I have a small earth elemental as a familiar. The DM has been kind enough to allow familiar advancement for this guy because my character is an earth savant (Tome & Blood). I have also expended 1,100xp on the familar using the rules in FFGs to give the familiar the ability to burrow, see invisibility, and move at a speed of 30'. Dozer acts has a mini-body guard for the earth savant.
So the major pattern I see is a slow trend away from the PHB familiars to more personalized familiars suggested in third party suppliments.
Gez
First Post
Shin Okada (AKA Japanese Protocol Droid)
Off-topic, but since you're a japanese protocol droid, maybe you could be kind enough to help me in that thread ?
Off-topic, but since you're a japanese protocol droid, maybe you could be kind enough to help me in that thread ?
candidus_cogitens
Explorer
One of the oft-overlooked advantages of having a weasel, is SCENT. Having an empathic link with an animal with scent means that you will have a huge advantage against invisible foes.
Also, reflex saves are one of the most important things for keeping your familiar alive!
Also, reflex saves are one of the most important things for keeping your familiar alive!
I have been debating what type of familiar to get, if any, since I have 1 level of sorcerer, but am mostly a melee fighter.
From a previous thread, most people have said the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, especially for someone like me who has only 1 level in sorcerer, which would only result in a 200xp loss on a failed save should my familiar die.
Not that I would want to get my familiar killed!
Far from it. My main dilemma in chosing the appropriate familiar is finding one that would fit my character concept. Abilities are an added bonus, but if I can't see my character walking around with that type of animal, then I won't get it.
For instance, since my character is a melee type, I have 100 + hp. Many of the players within my group have said that I should pick the toad to get an even bigger boost in hp. Thing is, I don't see my character as walking around with a toad. Same for many of the common familiars on the list, such as owl, rat, etc.
Although other famililars on the list are more in tune with my character concept, such as cat, weasel, etc. I then wonder about how to keep my familiar alive and how to prevent it from becoming a burden in my party.
Although my DM has stated that he will not go out of his way to get the familiar killed, since it is a class ability, there will be times when the DM can not help but have something adverse happen to the familiar.
The party Wizard has a Raven familiar, which can keep itself safe and out of trouble for the most part. I don't see myself picking up a flying familiar, but that makes me fear for it's safety since it doesn't have the advantage of flight like the Raven familiar has.
However, I am starting to think that I should place my trust in the DM to not go out of his way to get the familiar killed and that I should not place my familiar in harms way.
I have asked for a choice between non-standard familiars from the MM, either Wolf or the Riding Dog, since I feel it may fit in with my character conept. In my opinion, I feel that may not be too unbalancing for the campaign, but it's all up to the DM. If those are not acceptable, I might go with either a Cat or Weasel familiar.
From a previous thread, most people have said the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, especially for someone like me who has only 1 level in sorcerer, which would only result in a 200xp loss on a failed save should my familiar die.
Not that I would want to get my familiar killed!
Far from it. My main dilemma in chosing the appropriate familiar is finding one that would fit my character concept. Abilities are an added bonus, but if I can't see my character walking around with that type of animal, then I won't get it.
For instance, since my character is a melee type, I have 100 + hp. Many of the players within my group have said that I should pick the toad to get an even bigger boost in hp. Thing is, I don't see my character as walking around with a toad. Same for many of the common familiars on the list, such as owl, rat, etc.
Although other famililars on the list are more in tune with my character concept, such as cat, weasel, etc. I then wonder about how to keep my familiar alive and how to prevent it from becoming a burden in my party.
Although my DM has stated that he will not go out of his way to get the familiar killed, since it is a class ability, there will be times when the DM can not help but have something adverse happen to the familiar.
The party Wizard has a Raven familiar, which can keep itself safe and out of trouble for the most part. I don't see myself picking up a flying familiar, but that makes me fear for it's safety since it doesn't have the advantage of flight like the Raven familiar has.
However, I am starting to think that I should place my trust in the DM to not go out of his way to get the familiar killed and that I should not place my familiar in harms way.
I have asked for a choice between non-standard familiars from the MM, either Wolf or the Riding Dog, since I feel it may fit in with my character conept. In my opinion, I feel that may not be too unbalancing for the campaign, but it's all up to the DM. If those are not acceptable, I might go with either a Cat or Weasel familiar.
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