Want a magical familiar in D&D? There are 2 ways:

[MechaTarrasque]

Jeremy Crawford talks a little about familiars from the spell and "Befriend a monster that has variant rules for being a familiar" at https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/10/04/want-a-magical-familiar-in-dd-there-are-2-ways/.


Nothing too new, but it seems like the "why doesn't my warlock automatically get the variant familiar?" pops up occasionally.


Highlights include:

Want a magical familiar in D&D? There are 2 ways:

1. Cast the find familiar spell. It summons a spirit that takes on a form. The list of possible forms is larger if you're a warlock with Pact of the Chain.

2. Befriend a monster that has variant rules for being a familiar.

....

If a monster has a variant rule for being a spellcaster's familiar, that variant is in the monster book that contains the critter. For examples, check out the pseudodragon and the quasit in the "Monster Manual."

Those variants have no bearing on the find familiar spell.


.....

and in response to "Making a Celestial warlock have a celestial imp doesn't make that option any more thematically fitting, though."

If you don't think a combination is thematically appropriate for your character, I recommend you avoid that combination.


I will say that if you put a baby ki-rin familiar on the cover of XGtE (confirmed here, https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/01/24/what-is-the-familiar-sitting-on-the-war-mages-shoulder/), they ought to have statted one up.

 

[Umbran]

I will say that if you put a baby ki-rin familiar on the cover of XGtE (confirmed here, https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/01/24/what-is-the-familiar-sitting-on-the-war-mages-shoulder/), they ought to have statted one up.

The page you link says, "The war wizard in Xanathar's Guide to Everything has a special companion: a baby ki-rin!"

Companion, not familiar, for what that is worth. Just because you are a wizard does not imply all the critters you hang around with are your familiar.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Huh, he says the variant has no impact on the spell. Does that mean that a Chain Warlock with a Psuedodrsgon doesn’t get to share their familiar’s magic resistance, but a bard that simply befriends one does?

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Huh, he says the variant has no impact on the spell. Does that mean that a Chain Warlock with a Psuedodrsgon doesn’t get to share their familiar’s magic resistance, but a bard that simply befriends one does?

I believe that is what he is saying. Of course, it also means that a chainlock can end up with two (or more) pseudodragons.....as long as he/she is friendly enough, since I would also take it that statement means the friendly familiar doesn't count as a familiar for "If you try to cast this spell when you already have a familiar, you can choose for it to take a new form, but you cannot have more than one. "

It would make sense, you would want to keep the PD that was giving you magic resistance safe and use the other one to attack

 

[MechaTarrasque]

The page you link says, "The war wizard in Xanathar's Guide to Everything has a special companion: a baby ki-rin!"

Companion, not familiar, for what that is worth. Just because you are a wizard does not imply all the critters you hang around with are your familiar.

That is true. I guess I think of "pets" as familiars, test subjects, or sources of raw materials for wizards, so I probably fixated to avoid thinking about the later two possibilities.....

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I believe that is what he is saying. Of course, it also means that a chainlock can end up with two (or more) pseudodragons.....as long as he/she is friendly enough, since I would also take it that statement means the friendly familiar doesn't count as a familiar for "If you try to cast this spell when you already have a familiar, you can choose for it to take a new form, but you cannot have more than one. "

It would make sense, you would want to keep the PD that was giving you magic resistance safe and use the other one to attack

Interesting. I’m not if I like that or not, honestly. I think maybe I’d rsther only allow the one Familiar, and let chainlocks have the extra benefit.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Interesting. I’m not if I like that or not, honestly. I think maybe I’d rsther only allow the one Familiar, and let chainlocks have the extra benefit.

I don't think I would have ruled that way before seeing this exchange, and I may not afterwards (assuming it ever comes up). I usually end up giving the chainlock the variant familiar abilities (usually as a milestone reward).

 

[CrimsonCarcharodon]

Personally, I'd just give the warlock the benefits of a special familiar. Having a cool familiar is a big part of their schtick, after all.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

Having a cool familiar is a big part of their schtick, after all.

True, but invisibility, flight, stealth, shapechanging and being able to see in the dark, all in a creature that can communicate with you without any risk of eavesdropping as well as effectively teleport to your presence from anywhere, goes way beyond "cool".

I know it's a big class feature, but it provides solutions to a lot of challenges and can overshadow a lot of other class abilities.

Rogue wants to scout ahead? No need, the imp can do it. Lost in the maze? Sit down, have a beer, and let the quasit map out the labyrinth for you. Someone spots it? That's not an issue, because it is in the shape of a raven.

Want to pick up an item from a distance? Forget mage hand, get the familiar to fly over, pick up the item then recast its invisibility. Now it can fly the item back to you in stealthy, flying, invisibility.