The way I read it every time you cast FF you choose what your familiar will be.

"...a spirit that takes an animal form you choose..."

"...the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice)..."

"When you cast the spell, you can choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite."

So today when I cast FF I can choose to have a celestial Imp, then next day a fiend sprite. Is this right? I cannot find anything that says otherwise.

Thanks

I'm pretty sure the intent is that only the stat block changes, not whether it's a celestial, fey, or fiend. It's still the same creature, and the spell only speaks of changing its form, not its type.

That makes sense. So once chosen it remains  celestial, fey, or fiend.

Thanks

The wording of the spell does seem to suggest that you only ever have the one familiar. It says explicitly that if you cast the spell again after your familiar drops to 0 HP and poofs out, that it "reappears". Also, casting the spell again while you already have your familiar doesn't create a new one, it just lets you change its form. So I think it's always a specific spirit chosen during your first casting of the spell.

That being said, I think letting the caster summon a different spirit of a different type isn't going to break anything, and would only have an actual effect on the game in some specific rare circumstances. But storywise I like the idea that your first time casting the spell causes you to bond with a specific spirit and you maintain a relationship with that spirit throughout your character's lifetime. :)

When you first use the spell you call to the planes and gain the service of a spirit. Now, a spirit is a loose and undefined term - specifically so that you can choose what this means based on your RP. Some may say, for instance, this is the spirit of some being that wanders those planes as a spirit while others, like me, say that this is untapped spiritual energy fashioned into sentience by your magic - you create, basically, a fake life or spirit, which you then give a material body to. You could even say it is a deceased soul that has not moved on and agrees to become your familiar for snippets of life it may have in your service. All up to you, but be it by seeking a being or creating it - you gain a spirit that becomes bound to you as a familiar.

You, when making or gaining this spirit, choose the nature - now this could be just the source of where you got the ethereal energy to make this spirit or it could be where the spirit was. Celestial spirits may be from the planes of the deities or perhaps you gained it from a god (clerics, paladins), while fiend spirits may be lost souls or the essence of demons or just such as or a boon granted by your patron if a warlock. Fey spirits are wild, they could just be raw arcane magic you used to create something sentient or perhaps it's just one of those spirits the feywild is filled with like how even rocks and grass have sentient spirits. The choice in this nature is your RP fluff extended to fit the theme and origin of this "spirit" and how you are creating/obtaining it. Basically: divine, nature/arcane or demonic?

While you have such a spirit bound to you and you cast the find familiar spell again you unmake the physical form and give that same spirit a new form but it remains the same spirit and so it keeps the nature you first gave it.

However, as stated in the spell, you have the option ti dismiss the familiar forever. this means the spirit is unbound and no longer your familiar. What this means is up to you. Perhaps this the spirit was a gift of your patron and you've returned it or maybe you created it so now it is unmade, or perhaps it was existing being before you bound it and it goes back to being that. What you decide is up to you, but the important thing to note is that it's gone and no longer your familiar.

Once you have permanently dismissed the familiar when you next cast find familiar you get a new familiar, which may be a different nature than your previous one.

--

Or simply put: if you permanently dismissed forever the familiar then casting the spell after that gets you a new familiar with a new type. If you did not dismiss the familiar then you can only change the form.

So the answer of your question on whether you change the type: that is up to you.

Does this mean, though, that Pact of the Chain Warlocks can get Celestial Imps or Celestial Quasits as familiars?

Thats how I read it.

Quote from Tonio >>

Does this mean, though, that Pact of the Chain Warlocks can get Celestial Imps or Celestial Quasits as familiars?

Yes. In just the way that the normal familiars are no longer beasts, the warlock extra familiar forms are not what they are in the monster manual and become Celestial, Fiend or Fey.

You have to remember the familiar is not "really" these creatures. It's a spirit taking the form of one.

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

Quote from Tonio >>

Does this mean, though, that Pact of the Chain Warlocks can get Celestial Imps or Celestial Quasits as familiars?

 

Yes. In just the way that the normal familiars are no longer beasts, the warlock extra familiar forms are not what they are in the monster manual and become Celestial, Fiend or Fey.

You have to remember the familiar is not "really" these creatures. It's a spirit taking the form of one.

Gotcha... just never really thought about it!  Currently playing a wizard, so my owl being "fey" rather a beast, isn't really that odd.  There must be fey owls in the Feywild, I guess... and I sorta assumed the same goes for celestial and fiend versions of regular animals in the outer planes.  So thinking about a "fiendish rat" or "celestial hawk" isn't much of a stretch... but suddenly considering a "celestial imp" just feels weird.  Of course, you're completely right in pointing out the familiar is not a rat, haw, owl, or imp, but a "spirit" which takes that form.

If i have a familiar in form of a pseudodragon and in a fight it takes damage so it has 3/10 HP, what happens when i cast FF again to change its form to an imp?
Does the max HP change according to the imps statblock and has the familiar still 3 HP? Or have i now an IMP with 3/10 HP until i completly dismiss the FF and cast it again?

Quote from Hydra88 >>

If i have a familiar in form of a pseudodragon and in a fight it takes damage so it has 3/10 HP, what happens when i cast FF again to change its form to an imp?
Does the max HP change according to the imps statblock and has the familiar still 3 HP? Or have i now an IMP with 3/10 HP until i completly dismiss the FF and cast it again?

 
Since health gets replaced by the new statblock, they'll return to max health. It's a very small amount of health and the time means it cannot be cast in combat. So, not an issue. 

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

 
Since health gets replaced by the new statblock, they'll return to max health. It's a very small amount of health and the time means it cannot be cast in combat. So, not an issue. 

If the Pseudodragon familiar was acquired by the 2024 Pact of the Chain Invocation (instead of the 2014 Pact Boon), it can be cast in Combat with a Magic Action, as long as the caster has 10gp worth of Incense on hand for the material component.

Pact of the Chain

You learn the Find Familiar spell and can cast it as a Magic action without expending a spell slot.

When you cast the spell, you choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Skeleton, Slaad Tadpole, Sphinx of Wonder, Sprite, or Venomous Snake.

Additionally, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to make one attack of its own with its Reaction.

This thread has lead to several questions.

What is the difference between a fiend imp or a celestial imp?   If you get an Imp, you get the stat block on page 352.

How can you cast the Chain pact during combat?  Isn't it a Ritual spell with a 1 hour cast time?

Quote from Character77006 >>

This thread has lead to several questions.

What is the difference between a fiend imp or a celestial imp?   If you get an Imp, you get the stat block on page 352.

How can you cast the Chain pact during combat?  Isn't it a Ritual spell with a 1 hour cast time?

 It matters for spells like hallow.

Refer to the post above yours.

I did read the post above mine.

What is hallow?  I don't see it in the pages for warlock in the 2024 book.

Reading the eldritch invocation.  It states it is the find familiar spell which is a 1 hour cast time ritual.   So how do you cast it in combat?

The post above does not state anything about the difference between a fiend imp or a celestial imp?

Quote from Character77006 >>

I did read the post above mine.

What is hallow?  I don't see it in the pages for warlock in the 2024 book.

Reading the eldritch invocation.  It states it is the find familiar spell which is a 1 hour cast time ritual.   So how do you cast it in combat?

The post above does not state anything about the difference between a fiend imp or a celestial imp?

 Are you just trolling me?

Hallow is a spell. You can see details if you hover your cursor over the word.

The post above you quoted the invocation. Part of it is, "You learn the Find Familiar spell and can cast it as a Magic action without expending a spell slot."

No I am not a troll, I only have the book and came here to learn more.

What is a Magic action?   I assumed that is an action that takes as long as the spell needs to be cast.  I didn't know about the cursor.   Still after reading that, I am not sure how that affects the familiar?  The stat block from page 352 says that the imp is a fiend.  So how do you get a non fiend imp?

Quote from Character77006 >>

No I am not a troll, I only have the book and came here to learn more.

What is a Magic action?   I assumed that is an action that takes as long as the spell needs to be cast.  I didn't know about the cursor.   Still after reading that, I am not sure how that affects the familiar?  The stat block from page 352 says that the imp is a fiend.  So how do you get a non fiend imp?

 Which book do you have? The original 5th Edition Players' Handbook, or the 2024 5th Edition Players Handbook, sometimes referred to as Edition 5.5?

The Pact of the Chain is quite different between the two versions; in the original 5th Edition, it was a Pact Boon, and you had to cast Find Familiar as a ritual.

In the 2024 version, the Magic Action is a special type of action for casting spells and using magic-like abilities. And the description of the version of the Find Familiar spell granted by the Pact of the Chain invocation allows you to cast the spell by taking a single Magic Action on your turn.   Characters made with the 2024 Rules that take the Pact of the Chain Invocation in the D&D Beyond Character Creator concur.

Quote from Character77006 >>

No I am not a troll, I only have the book and came here to learn more.

What is a Magic action?   I assumed that is an action that takes as long as the spell needs to be cast.  I didn't know about the cursor.   Still after reading that, I am not sure how that affects the familiar?  The stat block from page 352 says that the imp is a fiend.  So how do you get a non fiend imp?

Re: Creature Type (Fiend/Celestial/Fey) : Find Familiar doesn't conjure an imp. It conjures a spirit that has the nature (or Creature Type) of being a Fiend, Celestial or Fey - your choice. You may give it a form of your choice as detailed in the Find Familiar spell, or the additional forms granted by the invocation, which determine the physical body the spirit will have and what statblock it will use. So, if you chose Imp, it will have the Imp statblock but retains the Creature Type you chose for the spirit (so if you chose Celestial but gave it the form of an Imp, it will have the Imp statblock except will still be a Celestial). 

The choice matters in some instances. The spell Hallow allows the caster to designate specific creature types like Fiends or Celestials to prevent them entering the space. If a Hallow spell designates Fiends but not Celestials, then your Imp Familiar, technically being a Celestial, can still enter freely while a normal, Imp, being a Fiend, would not. There are various spells that can be limited or triggered by specific Creature Types. Hallow is just one example.

Re: Ritual/Action/In-Combat : Find Familiar normally has a casting time of 1 hour if using a spell slot or 1 hour and 10 minutes if casting as a ritual. However the Pact of the Chain invocation lets you bypass this casting time, being able to cast it as a single Magic action instead.

I only have the new 2024 5th Edition Players Handbook.

So the 1 casting action is a round/turn or 6 seconds?

I still a little bit unclear on timing/turns/rounds/etc.    I do understand the difference between action/bonus action/reaction.