When a wizard, or any spellcaster, for that matter, forms a magical bond with another creature it is a powerful thing. Be it an ancestral spirit, a baleful imp. or a curiously aloof cat, the conjuring and keeping of a familiar is not something to be taken lightly, and each and every familiar holds their own quirks and qualities to make them unique. There are countless wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers who claim to have mastered the conjuring of a familiar spirit, usually by means of a simple ritual or spell. But while these small motes of coalesced magical energy do indeed take the form of small and loyal companions, they are far more akin to magical pets than any true familiar.
A true Arcane Familiar is as much a part of the spellcaster who summoned it as their own soul, even if they do not always act as such. And creating such a bond is no trivial task. While a simple spell or ritual might be a fair place to start calling forth and properly bonding oneself with a true Arcane Familiar is an ordeal that most practitioners of the arcane arts are not prepared to undertake. And once the task is complete, a bonded caster is gifted with a companion that will remain with them through their entire life. This bonding ordeal ties spellcater and familiar together more closely than any simple summoned spirit, and in doing so, the familiar spirit gains new traits and abilities, as well as more definite limits on the ways it may interact with the world around it For this reason, some spirits may make additional requests of their bonded spellcaster, or refuse to accept the bond unless first persuaded. In rare cases, a familiar spirit may be forced or tricked into this bond, but such spirits are rarely amenable to their masters, and while bound to obey, will often go out of their way to make the caster’s life miserable in any way they can.
The powerful bond between a caster and their Arcane Familiar as is represented by the Arcane Familiar feat. This feat may be taken more than once, gaining an additional familiar each time. Your Arcane Familiar has two states, active and passive, which it can switch between as a bonus action on it's turn. In it's passive state, your Arcane Familiar enters and shares your space, perching on your shoulder, hiding in your pocket, or taking the form of a seemingly mundane object on your person. While in this state, your Arcane Familiar cannot be targeted or take damage. In it’s active state, your Arcane Familiar moves freely and may be targeted and take damage as normal. However it cannot willingly move more than 30ft from you. and if forced to do so, it reappears in your space in it’s passive state.
You and your Arcane Familiar are permanently bonded, which grants several bonded features. You and your Arcane Familiar can communicate telepathically. As an action, you can see through your Arcane Familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses. When you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll. Your Arcane Familiar cannot die unless you die. If it is reduced to 0 hit points, or fewer, it's physical form is destroyed, and you may restore it during a short or long rest by expending a hit dice.
You may only have one Arcane Familiar active at a time. By default, your Arcane Familiar has a size category of tiny. It has hit points equal to your spellcasting modifier. It uses your AC, and shares your saving throw and skill bonuses. It uses your spellcasting modifier and Spell save DC for any spells it can cast. It is immune to your attacks and spells unless you choose to ignore this immunity. It cannot attack, flank, or pick up and manipulate objects unless otherwise noted. It acts independently of you. but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. Your Arcane Familiar gains additional traits, senses and abilities based on it s form, as chosen from the list at the end of this chapter.