So do we know if Wizards still have familiars?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In 3e, they were an optional liability that gave you a spot bonus and maybe a scout that is less effective than the rogue.

It would be a very high level rogue that would equal the utility of my illusionist's thrush familiar in the Ptolus game I play in. He can fly and shadow people, he can deliver messages, he speaks Gnomish (which works as a coded message a lot of the time) and he's unobtrusive enough to work as a good stakeout artist.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It would be a very high level rogue that would equal the utility of my illusionist's thrush familiar in the Ptolus game I play in. He can fly and shadow people, he can deliver messages, he speaks Gnomish (which works as a coded message a lot of the time) and he's unobtrusive enough to work as a good stakeout artist.

Hey, it can be effective, but sending a familiar out to scout is a bit like giving yourself a love interest: it's a subtle hint to the DM that it may die out there. And it's a bit worse than a love interest, becausae it hurts your pocketbook (100 gp!), your heroic might (XP loss!), and your schedules (so much time!), so it's risking a lot. Plus, as an Illusionist, you're already thinking in terms of secretive and tricksy, making you pretty decent at scouting as-is. It's pretty context-dependant, too: the thrush might not look out-of-place in Ptolus, but if you travel to some exotic locale, or deep into a dungeon, it'll be a bit move evident.

So if they want to make it a scout, I think they can pump it up to do that a little better. It'd be kind of cool to have that related to divination and teleportation rituals: you could send your familiar out to gather a bit of hair from their bed, or a bit of blood, or a toenail clipping, or something for your sympathetic magic, to scry on them and teleport to where they are.