What do you think of the new Imbued Staff Article in Dragon?

[andargor]

Frankly - a DM who has critters concentrate attacks on a familiar to the exclusion of some other activity is a jerk. There's rarely a sizeable benefit to doing so: most of the time targeting the wizard himself will be at least as good.

The exception, of course, is if the familiar is off scouting alone. A wizard would be well advised not to use his familiar as the party scout, unless said wizard is also the party rogue...

IOC, the area spells are the #1 familiar killers. In 28 years of gaming, we've had no more than a handful of characters with familiars, as a result.

Andargor

 

[Rystil Arden]

IOC, the area spells are the #1 familiar killers. In 28 years of gaming, we've had no more than a handful of characters with familiars, as a result.

Andargor

But it has Improved Evasion and half the Wizard's HP...so it should be dying exactly at the same time as the Wizard from area spells (assuming they both fail every save) or more slowly (if they make some of the saves)

 

[JoeGKushner]

I like it.

I generally don't like familiars and allow the wizard to swap it out for either an item creation feat or a bonus metamagic feat.

 

[Scion]

But it has Improved Evasion and half the Wizard's HP...so it should be dying exactly at the same time as the Wizard from area spells (assuming they both fail every save) or more slowly (if they make some of the saves)

Yeah, and the familiar can gain the benefit of total cover, and it can share spells with its master (I pop up false life and share it with my familiar who is safely tucked away in his home).

Generally, a familiar just isnt a good target. If you are fighting for your life why would you try to do something which will bother the enemy tomorrow instead of doing something which is going to potentially kill him 'right now'?


The Imbued staff is an interesting idea.. although I see sundering more often than familiar troubles Which number of dragon is it in? My pile of them shifts around a lot so 'most recent' isnt always as helpful as cover art and number.

 

[DrNilesCrane]

Thought it was a great article & would definitely allow it in future games.

I enjoy wizards but don't care for the traditional familiars, both for often being either useless or a liability to the wizard (damn area of effect spells!), but also because...well...I personally just find them kinda silly.

 

[frankthedm]

It looks those who can take the option are doing so without a lot of hesitation. Looks like the trade off fails the Balance Litmus Test. It is obviously much stronger than the familiar and thus not balanced. A familiar is a balanced option a character might take, that staff is one the character WILL take as soon as the 500 GP is available.

The Table is an error. The staff has few HP in the text, than is listed on the table. The table should Be 5hp lower at first level or every level.

 

[Rystil Arden]

It looks those who can take the option are doing so without a lot of hesitation. Looks like the trade off fails the Balance Litmus Test. It is obviously much stronger than the familiar and thus not balanced. A familiar is a balanced option a character might take, that staff is one the character WILL take as soon as the 500 GP is available.

The Table is an error. The staff has few HP in the text, than is listed on the table. The table should Be 5hp lower atfirst level or every level.

Well, I've never seen a Wizard or Sorcerer in any campaign of mine choose not to take a Familiar, so I find that Litmus Test invalid for my campaign--the Familiar is a benefit that can sometimes become a liability, but typically only if the GM plays enemies who inexplicably place annoying the players above winning the battle.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Personally I think that ruling from on high is skewed, as Familiars as-is appear to fail the Balance Litmus Test ALREADY in that alot of people refuse to use them at all.

It would be like Heavy Armor giving you a flat -10 to all Ref saves and 90% of fighters not taking Heavy Armor or Magic Missile causing you 1d10 damage every missile you fire. If a character ability is more of a hinderance than a help, to the point that ANY option is hailed as an improvement, then perhaps the first "option" wasn't much of one in the first place.

I've only ever used a familiar once, with a foul-mouthed ill-tempered Raven who pretty much served as a role-playing element and a few notes on my character sheet. Beyond that, we all unofficially agreed just not to contemplate how often the little guy would have bitten it.

--fje

 

[frankthedm]

Well, I've never seen a Wizard or Sorcerer in any campaign of mine choose not take a Familiar

Did they have this option? If not, the choices your players made do not have a lot to do with whether this option is balanced against a familiar.

Do note, I LOVE this article. A wizard's staff is a foundation of fantasy fiction & it just being a disposable spell battery never sat well with me. Nearly perfect implemetation, just not balanced vs. what you trade for it.

 

[frankthedm]

Heap, people often not talking them is WHY familiars are balanced, there is enough bad with the good that not everyone takes them. They are an option, not an expectation of the classes that have them.

The staff articles other "Balancing Factor" is so brutal that I could easily seeing some players leaving a gaming group if the thing gets broken, creating a situation where the DM is set up to be the “bad guy” if the staff gets sundered.

If an imbued staff is broken, its creator must attempt a fort save DC 15 or loose 500 experience points per wizard or sorcerer level. Success reduces the loss by half.
XP can not go below zero. Year and a day before replacement etc...