Familiar Bond

Your magical talents have been honed with or for another being in your life. Perhaps it is a childhood pet, a self-made construct or entity, or even a sibling, friend, or fellow adventurer. You have tailored your magics, specifically, to bring out the best of your companion, and you rely on them to support you similarly. This power manifests itself through deep personal experiences that have motivated you to seek symbiosis with this other entity (ie: perhaps you have faced a troubled childhood and relied on an imaginary friend or toy, even, to side with you in your darkest days). It may be that the deep connection that you possess another being or beings have seen you through so much hardship that you cannot imagine yourself without them. Regardless, your latent magical ability has taken that connection and breathed a whole new scale of magical life into it.

Design or assign another being or beings, of which you share your connection(s) with. They will be your companion(s), assisting you in your endeavors and collaborating alongside you for a shared purpose.

Spiritually Bound

You and your familiar are bound together on a spiritual level. They know all that you know, and vice versa. You may communicate, mentally, at any time. You share senses, skills, and conditions. This works out for better or for worse, however. If you or your familiar(s) is targeted by a negative condition and fails to shake it off, you are affected too. If one of you overcomes it, both of you overcome it. 

Your familiar(s) can understand any languages that you can, and communicate, mentally, to you even if they would normally be unable to speak. However, other characters will not be able to understand or even hear them, unless they are capable of speech.

Whenever you would level up, you companion would level up as well, gaining one ability score point of your choice, up to a max of 20. Whenever you would take a feat, they may also take either a feat, or two ability score points of your choice, up to a max of 20.

When casting spells with a range of self, you are able to target your familiar(s), so long as they are within your range of movement (traveling speed).

Starting from 1st level, when making ability checks or saving throws, you or your familiar may help the other once per short rest by rolling 1d4 and adding that to your companion's outcome. 

Harmonization

You know where your familiar is at all times, and vice versa. Because of this, accidents are rare to come. If you cast an area of effect spell that would normally hit your familiar and trigger a saving throw, they will automatically succeed in it.

Additionally, you and your familiar are quick to react to each others' movements and strategies. When rolling for initiative, roll for both yourself and your familiar. Use the higher roll for both, as if rolling with advantage. Your familiar will always make their move after you, however.

 

Safeguard

Starting from 6th level, you and your familiar(s) may expend your reaction on behalf of the other, when either of you are targeted. Doing so will consume the reaction of the targeted ally, as if they had reacted, themselves.

Additionally, when another creature that you can see makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw against you or your familiar, either of you may, once a day, hinder your opponent. Use your reaction to roll 1d4 and apply the number rolled as a penalty against the other creature's roll. You may do so after the creature rolls, but before effects of the roll occur.

Symbiosis

You and your familiar(s) have developed a strong, physical symbiosis which allows you to loan each other your strengths and abilities. Starting from 13th level, you may use a bonus action to activate symbiosis with your familiar. During symbiosis, you function as one character; you and your familiar share each others' feats, traits, and stats while sharing the same space. Your familiar(s) may act on your behalf as an additional action(s). However, they cannot move independently, and share a health bar with you. Gain bonus armor class equal to half of your familiar's, and add their modifiers and proficiencies to your own (negative and positive), for the purposes of rolls. Upon taking direct damage, roll a DC 16 constitution saving throw. Upon failure, you and your familiar will split apart, with you and your familiar taking half the damage, each. After splitting, you and your familiar may not use symbiosis again until you have taken a long rest.

Improved Synergy

You and your familiar have honed your symbiotic relationship down to near-perfection. Starting from 18th level, while in symbiosis, calculate temporary health equal to your current level and combined constitution modifier. Upon depletion, you and your familiar will split apart. Any damage left over will be split between both parties. Additionally, when taking direct damage, roll a DC 13 constitution saving throw to remain in symbiosis, instead of a DC 16. Upon splitting, you will be unable to merge again for symbiosis until after a short rest.