What's giving up a familiar worth?

[rgard]

I am starting a new campaign soon and one of my prospective players is wanting to play an arcane caster (sorc or wizard) but does not care for a familiar. He is wanting an extra feat as "compensation" for this lost ability. Is that a decent trade-off? The logic is that obtaining a familiar for a class other than sorc or wizard will cost you a feat, so maybe not having a familiar to begin with is worth one???

I would let the player exchange the familiar for a feat. There is a sorcerer flaw in one of the issues of the Dragon that does just this. If you want to limit the feat selection, limit it to the wizard bonus feat list.

Also, in issue 348 there is a class act article named 'Unfamiliar Territory' that has two variant ablilities if the character declines the familar abilitiy. Both are equivalent to feats.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[kaomera]

I'd just like to pop in here and uselessly add that I horribly mis-read the thread title as asking how much the player should have to "pay" to avoid having a familiar...






(Not more than about $5.00, IMHO, BTW...)

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

The easy answer is: not having a familiar is worth... 100gp. That's it. Nothing says that you have to have a familiar and I've played a sorcerer without one and didn't miss it. I've also written a bunch of NPC wizards, and while most of them had familiars, more than a few did not and they didn't end up underpowered because of it.

I've also played a wizard with one. I made occasional use of it, but most of the time, it just provided alertness and the +3 to spot checks in bright light in return for being a liability when the bad guys started tossing area effect, or worse yet, horrid wiltings around. Not bad but not terribly impressive. It's certainly not as good as a feat like Weapon Focus or Power Attack. It's probably on a par with PHB Toughness or Spell Mastery. Certainly not anything impressive or useful as a prestige class pre-req.

 

[Falling Icicle]

I have a picky point, but I think it is worth bringing up. The Aquire Familiar feat grants your familiar powers based upon your arcane caster level rather than your class level in Wizard or Sorcerer. This is a significant difference for multiclass characters who have levels in a class that does not grant a familiar. For example, a level 5 Wizard/ Level 5 Loremaster with the Aquire Familiar feat would be treated as level 10 for his familiar rather than 5. This makes the Aquire Familiar feat slightly better than the Summon Familiar class ability.

That said, I'd be all for giving a character Eschew Materials or some other minor spellcasting feat in exchange for the ability to summon a familiar. I know all too well the drawbacks and risks that come with a familiar. I wouldn't hold it against anyone who choses not to take that risk.

 

[green slime]

Dragon 338 never made into my collection, What did enchant staff and Imbue spell entail?

 

[Nifft]

I allow my players to trade their familiar for a feat.

Same here, but I consider it to be a generous house rule. I'm not particularly anti-pet or pro-pet.

Cheers, -- N

 

[GrayIguana]

I allow a feat in exchange.

I've also done it for a cleric who didn't want the ability to Turn/Rebuke Undead. He took a feat instead. He was a little over-powered at lower levels, but it evened out fairly quickly. If I were to do it again, would probably limit his choice to divine feats.

 

[Terath Ninir]

Logically a familiar is worth a feat, since there is an "obtain familiar" feat.

I traded mine for eschew material components.

There was a flaw printed in Dragon called Forlorn that makes you lose your familiar. You get a bonus feat in return, as per other flaws.

Due to both of these things, I rule that a familiar is worth a feat. And, as I note below, Obtain Familiar is actually *better* than the class ability, meaning the class ability is arguably not even worth a single feat.

I would even allow the "have a decent familiar workaround": at 1st level, you trade your familiar for a feat. Any feat -- but I'd encourage one off either the wizard or fighter bonus list, depending on how martial your character is.

Then, later, you can still get the Obtain Familiar feat, which is actually better than the class ability, since you get to add up *all* the levels of all classes that have arcane spellcasting. If you want to multiclass and you still want to have a familiar, it's the only way to go.

 

[Klaus]

I think a feat is a bit too little for a familiar. I'd say a feat at 1st level and another when the familiar would gain the ability to deliver touch spells. And possibly a little something when the master would gain the scry on familiar ability. Those are the most powerful abilities a familiar grants.

 

[RainOfSteel]

I am starting a new campaign soon and one of my prospective players is wanting to play an arcane caster (sorc or wizard) but does not care for a familiar. He is wanting an extra feat as "compensation" for this lost ability.

Dear Player,

I apologize that I cannot provide you with compensation for your lack of desire to utilize the opportunities available to you.

-----------------------------------

Its the worst form of munchkinizing. "Hi, I'd like you to alter this rule, and that rule, and maybe this other rule so I can concentrate all my power where I want it."

Where does it end? Another poster already mentioned trading off other types of class abilities for whatever else.

Is that a decent trade-off?

Is it equal? Maybe. I think losing out on the familiar is pretty bad, even though I never use familiars myself. Getting a feat back isn't that bad, I guess, but only if the player is trading away the ability to use a familiar permanently, as in he/she can't ever use one in the game, no matter what (wish, miracle, etc. all being ineffective to restore the lost ability).

The logic is that obtaining a familiar for a class other than sorc or wizard will cost you a feat, so maybe not having a familiar to begin with is worth one???

The logic is that if you let one player do it, they may all want to do it, and you'll be on very shaky ground saying no to anyone else.