Familiars — Campaign Notes — Home
last changed 16 March 2008

Familiars

I never found the treatment of familiars in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide to be satisfactory. So I'm going to try to go into a little more breadth and depth here. Consequently, this material should be considered unofficial and probably listed under House Rules.

For a list of familiars available to you in the Xaeyruudh campaign, see The Monster List of Familiars.

The Big Idea

The logistics of getting a familiar are always subject to DM approval. Generally speaking, your DM will probably approve any choice listed on the Familiars table in the PH. For more exotic choices, the DM might veto it or require a quest to test the character's resolve. Of course you can always request the opportunity to role–play the encounter!

What's a Familiar?

So what's a familiar, and why should anyone bother getting one? A familiar is a friend, a traveling companion, a remote detonator for your spells, and much more. As to why... here are a few reasons which can be summarized quickly.

Familiars build character. They're endless fonts of roleplaying opportunity. In the hands of a creative DM, a familiar will develop its own quirks, goals, gripes, and insights.

Familiars increase your effectiveness. Some familiars give the character a bonus to your saving throws, skill checks, hit points, or even natural armor. Pretty much any aspect of the character is apt to get a bump, if you can find the right familiar.

Familiars are like pets, only way cooler. Even if you hate skill bonuses and you don't want to give the DM adventure hooks, having someone to bicker with is pretty awesome.

How to Get a Familiar

The bad news is that familiars are only available to sorcerers and wizards. I know what you're thinking... "So Zipzap the Magnificent will take a level of sorcerer and then do something else. Having a familiar and casting 8 spells a day will make an awesome rogue!" While I agree that a sorcerer/rogue is great (although if you're a munchkin like me you'll take the rogue level first for the sake of skills) taking one level of sorcerer and then turning away from the study of magic will not inspire your familiar to stay with you.

Also, you can't (generally) buy a familiar at the local market. You have to (1) find a suitable creature, (2) gain its trust, (3) impress it with your magical power and flexibility, and (4) offer it something it cannot hope to acquire without becoming your loyal familiar— your protection and affection! If you never progress beyond animate rope and comprehend languages, your familiar is going to dump you like a sack of potatoes.

So part of your challenge is to convince your prospective familiar that you can control great magic, and you're going to keep getting more powerful. You don't want to make it fear you; you want to engender respect and pique its curiosity. By accompanying you on your crazy quests, the faithful familiar will also become more powerful...

How to Keep a Familiar

So once you've found a neat critter and convinced it to be your familiar, how do you make sure it stays with you? The short answer is that you never let it die, never disappoint it, and always at least appear to make a sincere effort to make things work out in the familiar's favor.

Your familiar is not signing on with the armed forces. It is agreeing to accompany you in the pursuit of riches and glory. Don't expect it to fight bravely by your side; expect it to be coming along for the ride. If it fought for you, delivered your touch spells for you, and never sat back to let its silly pet (that's you) do all the work, it would be a very one–sided relationship— and very unappealing to the familiar. So expect it to be looking for exactly the opposite arrangement.

If having a familiar sounds like a lot of work, good... it is. Your familiar is an intelligent creature, and your relationship with it is just as complex as the relationships you have with your real–life close friends — especially the moderately selfish ones.

The Rules

There are five main constraints which determine whether a creature can become your PC's familiar.

Intelligence

Rocks and lamp posts don't make good familiars. Any creature which cannot communicate its own desires or comprehend anyone else's is also incapable of becoming a familiar. In game terms: if it doesn't have an Intelligence score, it can't be a familiar. On the other hand, if it can advance in PC classes or if it has greater intelligence than an average member of the PC's race, it's too smart and will not serve the PC as a familiar.

Alignment

If the PC's alignment does not closely match the creature's alignment, the creature will not be interested in becoming the PC's familiar.

Hit Dice

A creature must be throroughly impressed by the PC before it will agree to become a familiar. The PC's sorcerer or wizard class level must be greater than twice the creature's HD.

Size

Size does matter. If the creature is too large or too small, it cannot be the PC's familiar. One size category smaller than the PC is too large. More than four size categories smaller than the PC is too small.

Type

Assuming that the PC is a member of the humanoid type, options are somewhat limited— animals, dragons, elementals, magical beasts, and certain outsiders are potential familiars. PCs can acquire animal familiars at 1st level, magical beasts at 3rd level, dragons at 5th level, outsiders at 7th level, and elementals at 9th level.

Aberrations do not make workable familiars for humanoid casters. Fey, giants, humanoids, monstrous humanoids, and undead aren't willing to become familiars for humanoid casters. Constructs, oozes, vermin, and most plants lack an intelligence score and thus cannot become familiars. Plants with intelligence scores may be acquired as if they were magical beasts. See New Feats for exceptions to these restrictions.

Also, note that you cannot have a swarm as a familiar.

The Exceptions

Rules were made to be broken, right? I mean, it seems kinda mean to say "hey, elven wizards could get a crested felldrake familiar... if only they were Large elves!"

Funny, but mean. So I'm inventing a few feats to allow casters to bend some of the rules a bit. The old improved familiar (DMG) was on the right track, but it's still too limiting and it just doesn't cover all the bases.

New Feats

Aberrant Empathy [Familiar]: Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge (think "dangerous quest").; Benefit: the humanoid caster may obtain a familiar of the aberration type which would otherwise be unavailable due to its type. Other restrictions still apply.
Fey Domination [Familiar]: Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge.; Benefit: the humanoid caster may obtain a familiar of the fey type which would otherwise be unavailable due to its type. Other restrictions still apply.
Giant Domination [Familiar]: Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge.; Benefit: the humanoid caster may obtain a familiar of the giant type which would otherwise be unavailable due to its type. Other restrictions still apply.
Greater Familiar [Familiar]: Using this feat, an elf can get a crested felldrake familiar.; Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge.; Benefit: the caster may obtain a familiar of one size category smaller than herself which would otherwise be unavailable due to its size. Other restrictions still apply.
Humanoid Domination [Familiar]: Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge.; Benefit: the humanoid caster may obtain a familiar of the humanoid type which would otherwise be unavailable due to its type. Other restrictions still apply.
Ilytharahasel Ritual [Familiar]: The secrets of binding a demon's mind and imprisoning it within an object were discovered long ago by the Ilythiiri dark elves, who later became the drow. By performing these fell rituals and opening a conduit to the Lower Planes, the caster can imbue an otherwise mindless being with a rudimentary consciousness and the ability to communicate with the caster. The link is costly, however; the caster (who must be of unshakeably evil mind and strong stomach) must effectively give up a feat slot to obtain and keep the familiar. If the familiar dies or deserts the caster, the feat slot becomes available again.; Prerequisite: evil alignment, the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this dark knowledge.; Benefit: the caster may obtain a familiar of the construct, ooze, plant, or vermin type which would otherwise be unavailable due to lacking an Intelligence score. Other restrictions still apply.
Monstrous Domination [Familiar]: Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge.; Benefit: the humanoid caster may obtain a familiar of the monstrous humanoid type which would otherwise be unavailable due to its type. Other restrictions still apply.
Undead Domination [Familiar]: Prerequisite: the ability to acquire a familiar, and some way of getting access to this rare knowledge.; Benefit: the humanoid caster may obtain a familiar of the undead type which would otherwise be unavailable due to its type. Other restrictions still apply.

Sources

Dungeon Master's Guide [17752]: Familiars (including the improved familiar feat) are discussed on pages 200–204.
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting [11836]: The improved familiar feat is described on pages 35–36.
Player's Handbook [17524]: Familiars are discussed on page 52, and mentioned on pages 54 and 57.
Original Material: Unless otherwise noted, the material on this page was created for the Xaeyruudh campaign.