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Warlock in party with Quasit breaking story
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<blockquote data-quote="Harzel" data-source="post: 7135213" data-attributes="member: 6857506"><p>About the quasit familiar... I certainly agree, as has been said by several others, that having a familiar that is a very, very good scout is an intended feature of PotC, and you're better off rolling with it than trying to nerf it. There are a number of things others have mentioned that you can throw into your adventures so that quasit scouting is not always 100% effective. Use them where they make sense in your world, but let scouting be a significant benefit a lot of times, too.</p><p></p><p>That said, I think it is worthwhile to summarize the situation with quasit familiars in order to clarify and emphasize some things.</p><p></p><p>First and foremost, as Mearls noted in a tweet that someone linked, the MM quasit familiar and a quasit familiar from a 'standard' casting of Find Familiar are two separate things. So let's discuss them separately.</p><p></p><p><strong>MM Quasit Familiar</strong></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The MM quasit familiar is a <em>variant</em>, that is, it is an optional rule. Each DM can decide whether to allow it in their world, and disallowing it is not a nerf to the intent of any class features.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If the DM does allow MM quasit familiars, they will need to decide whether <em>Find Familiar</em> can be used to summon one. (I would call this a 'nonstandard' casting and have the MM sidebar override parts of the <em>Find Familiar</em> spell description as a case of specific-beats-general.) The description in the MM says they are 'easy to summon', but as far as I can see, there is no other particularly obviously appropriate way to do that. There are some spells that might, at a DM's discretion, be used, but they all seem pretty heavy duty for summoning a CR 1 creature. I might be missing something.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">If these are allowed and a PC finds some way to engage one, then (unless of course the DM chooses otherwise) you don't get the benefits without the drawbacks. For reference, here is the entire description from the MM (underline emphases are mine).</li> </ol><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Quasit Familiar via PotC and <em>Find Familiar</em></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">These familiars are as described in the <em>Find Familiar,</em> spell description. In particular, telepathic communication is limited to 100 feet, and the familiar 'always obeys your commands'. They have the standard quasit abilities (invisibility, shapchange, etc.), but <strong>not</strong> the attributes described in the sidebar.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Whether the familiar is actually a quasit or is, like standard familiars, a celestial/fey/fiend in the form of a quasit is, I guess, up for some debate. Some posters have pointed out that the celestial/fey/fiend assertion is followed by 'instead of a beast', which might be interpreted as this not applying to the special PotC familiars. However, the description of PotC specifically says the special familiars are 'special <strong>forms</strong>' as contrasted with the 'normal <strong>forms</strong>' and 'form' is exactly the word used in the <em>Find Familiar</em> spell description to draw the distinction between the appearance/stats of a familiar and its fundamental nature. My money would be on the intent being that even the PotC special familiars are celestial/fey/fiend spirits within a different form.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">There also seem to be some varying opinions about whether "always obeys your commands" leaves the familiar free to have its own agenda. IMO, a familiar with its own distinct agenda that runs counter to the PC's desires/interests (because the PC hasn't been explicit enough) would in general be an uninteresting and to the player somewhat to very annoying distraction. For a particular story in a particular world I suppose it might be interesting, but it seems to me this is something that players should be apprised of even before characters are built.</li> </ol><p></p><p>So my summary for the OP is: 1) decide whether you want to have MM variant quasit familiars in your game; 2) if so, talk to your player and have them decide whether, with the distinction made clear, they really want one.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Harzel, post: 7135213, member: 6857506"] About the quasit familiar... I certainly agree, as has been said by several others, that having a familiar that is a very, very good scout is an intended feature of PotC, and you're better off rolling with it than trying to nerf it. There are a number of things others have mentioned that you can throw into your adventures so that quasit scouting is not always 100% effective. Use them where they make sense in your world, but let scouting be a significant benefit a lot of times, too. That said, I think it is worthwhile to summarize the situation with quasit familiars in order to clarify and emphasize some things. First and foremost, as Mearls noted in a tweet that someone linked, the MM quasit familiar and a quasit familiar from a 'standard' casting of Find Familiar are two separate things. So let's discuss them separately. [B]MM Quasit Familiar[/B] [LIST=1] [*]The MM quasit familiar is a [I]variant[/I], that is, it is an optional rule. Each DM can decide whether to allow it in their world, and disallowing it is not a nerf to the intent of any class features. [*]If the DM does allow MM quasit familiars, they will need to decide whether [I]Find Familiar[/I] can be used to summon one. (I would call this a 'nonstandard' casting and have the MM sidebar override parts of the [I]Find Familiar[/I] spell description as a case of specific-beats-general.) The description in the MM says they are 'easy to summon', but as far as I can see, there is no other particularly obviously appropriate way to do that. There are some spells that might, at a DM's discretion, be used, but they all seem pretty heavy duty for summoning a CR 1 creature. I might be missing something. [*]If these are allowed and a PC finds some way to engage one, then (unless of course the DM chooses otherwise) you don't get the benefits without the drawbacks. For reference, here is the entire description from the MM (underline emphases are mine). [/LIST] [B]Quasit Familiar via PotC and [I]Find Familiar[/I] [/B] [LIST=1] [*]These familiars are as described in the [I]Find Familiar,[/I] spell description. In particular, telepathic communication is limited to 100 feet, and the familiar 'always obeys your commands'. They have the standard quasit abilities (invisibility, shapchange, etc.), but [B]not[/B] the attributes described in the sidebar. [*]Whether the familiar is actually a quasit or is, like standard familiars, a celestial/fey/fiend in the form of a quasit is, I guess, up for some debate. Some posters have pointed out that the celestial/fey/fiend assertion is followed by 'instead of a beast', which might be interpreted as this not applying to the special PotC familiars. However, the description of PotC specifically says the special familiars are 'special [B]forms[/B]' as contrasted with the 'normal [B]forms[/B]' and 'form' is exactly the word used in the [I]Find Familiar[/I] spell description to draw the distinction between the appearance/stats of a familiar and its fundamental nature. My money would be on the intent being that even the PotC special familiars are celestial/fey/fiend spirits within a different form. [*]There also seem to be some varying opinions about whether "always obeys your commands" leaves the familiar free to have its own agenda. IMO, a familiar with its own distinct agenda that runs counter to the PC's desires/interests (because the PC hasn't been explicit enough) would in general be an uninteresting and to the player somewhat to very annoying distraction. For a particular story in a particular world I suppose it might be interesting, but it seems to me this is something that players should be apprised of even before characters are built. [/LIST] So my summary for the OP is: 1) decide whether you want to have MM variant quasit familiars in your game; 2) if so, talk to your player and have them decide whether, with the distinction made clear, they really want one. [/QUOTE]
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