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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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?
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Does this mean, though, that Pact of the Chain Warlocks can get Celestial Imps or Celestial Quasits as familiars?
Thats how I read it.
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.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
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?
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.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
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.
🎵I'm on top of the world, looking down on creation, wreaking death and devastation with my mind.
As the power that I've found erupts freely from the ground, I will cackle from the top of the world.🎵