I wish there was an option of making familiars bigger and better, to make them able to play more prominent role in the game, especially around higher levels. For example, casting Find Familiar spell with a higher level slot to summon familiar as a more powerful creature (pseudodragon or imp for a second-third level spell slot, full-sized young dragon for a eight-ninth level spell slot).
If DM allows take the Tressym from the Storm Kings Thunder campaign. It can see invisible creatures, detect poisons, adv on perception checks and its a cat with wings. So its dope.
Cats are terrible familiars - the first time you encounter a red dragon, the cat will desert you for a cosy spot along its flank! Any one taking a cat as a familiar doesn't really understand the relationship a cat has with its "master."
"But a familiar is smarter than a normal cat!" That just means it will get you to do what it wants easier!
And you better be using the "gritty healing" rules, as anything less than 10 hours is definitely a short nap.
There's a reason the Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as deities - any creature* that certain of its place at the centre of the universe just has to be right!
Cats are terrible familiars - the first time you encounter a red dragon, the cat will desert you for a cosy spot along its flank! Any one taking a cat as a familiar doesn't really understand the relationship a cat has with its "master."
"But a familiar is smarter than a normal cat!" That just means it will get you to do what it wants easier!
And you better be using the "gritty healing" rules, as anything less than 10 hours is definitely a short nap.
There's a reason the Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as deities - any creature* that certain of its place at the centre of the universe just has to be right!
*Barring Teenagers, ofc.
Have you ever read Andre Norton's Catfantastic anthologies, by any chance?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I wish there was an option of making familiars bigger and better, to make them able to play more prominent role in the game, especially around higher levels. For example, casting Find Familiar spell with a higher level slot to summon familiar as a more powerful creature (pseudodragon or imp for a second-third level spell slot, full-sized young dragon for a eight-ninth level spell slot).
You summon a spirit that takes animal form, and gains the statistics of that animal form, but it remains a spirit (either celestial, fiend or fey). This is one of my favorite power ups in the whole game, and it comes at first level. Role playing the choice of the form of the familiar is as important as any other background aspect to a character.
I think a character should have to encounter a creature before it they can choose that form. As a character grows more powerful, they could choose to attempt to summon a more advanced form, with an appropriate Arcana Check or something like that, but the size of the creature should maybe still be limited to tiny. If you want to summon a pseudo dragon after you have met one for the first time, I would say DC 15 Arcana check. If you want to overchannel find familiar and blast it with a 9th level spell slot for a full sized dragon. Go for it. Arcana Check DC 30 (young dragon)... ???
I think that use of the Ready action solves some of the problems with coordinating and initiative. No matter where the wizard and the familiar end up in the initiative train, either one can use the Ready action like this.
If the Wizard’s turn comes up first:
Wizard: I get ready for Hooty the Owl to flyby the enemy and help me by distracting it. At that time I will cast Chill Touch on the enemy with advantage to my attack roll.
If the Owls turn comes up first:
Owl: Hooty the Owl is ready for his master to attack the enemy with magic. As soon as his master gathers his will and focuses it on the enemy, Hooty dives in for a flyby to help distract the enemy. Wizard gains advantage on attack (and possibly, the enemy suffers disavantage on a Save?)
I think that use of the Ready action solves some of the problems with coordinating and initiative. No matter where the wizard and the familiar end up in the initiative train, either one can use the Ready action like this.
If the Wizard’s turn comes up first:
Wizard: I get ready for Hooty the Owl to flyby the enemy and help me by distracting it. At that time I will cast Chill Touch on the enemy with advantage to my attack roll.
If the Owls turn comes up first:
Owl: Hooty the Owl is ready for his master to attack the enemy with magic. As soon as his master gathers his will and focuses it on the enemy, Hooty dives in for a flyby to help distract the enemy. Wizard gains advantage on attack (and possibly, the enemy suffers disavantage on a Save?)
Yes, those both work... but using the Ready action on a spell just to gain Advantage (from the familiar's Help action) is risky: if you're attacked after you Ready the spell, but before you cast it, you can lose it (you need to roll Concentration).
Also, the problem is worse if you're using the familiar to deliver touch spells. In that case, the familiar can't do a flyby, but needs to stay in melee range of the enemy, if it acts first. If the wizard acts first, then the wizard can Ready the spell, with the condition "when my familiar is within melee range of the enemy, I cast", then on the familiar's turn, it can move towards the enemy, the spell gets cast, familiar uses its Reaction to deliver it (you can use your reaction during your turn), and moves away (assuming it has movement left), with no OA because of flyby. But in that case, you're still at risk of losing the spell if attacked after Readying but before the familiar acts.
On the other hand, for some unexplained reason, I had never considered delivering non-attack Touch spells via familiar (Fly, Invisibility, Magic Weapon, Stoneskin, etc.)!
The rules for Reaction are (in my opinion annoying restrictive).
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it.
This means that if the familiar wins initiative and "Readies" an action for "master to target someone with an attack or spell attack", the familiar can either move or help, not both. It's the same reason I despise the answer to rogue hiding in combat as "ready an attack", because if your melee focused there is no "charge" Action anymore.
It does work for you reading your Spell Action to cast a spell against whoever the Owl is aiding, but this is AWFUL. 1) You're now "reading" a spell, so anything that causes damage to you between your turn and the owls causes Concentration checks or you lose the spell. Possibility wasting both a Spell Slot AND your entire action. 2) This uses up you Reaction every round, so you now can't use it for Shield or Counter-spell or any number of other possibilities.
The rules for Reaction are (in my opinion annoying restrictive).
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it.
This means that if the familiar wins initiative and "Readies" an action for "master to target someone with an attack or spell attack", the familiar can either move or help, not both. It's the same reason I despise the answer to rogue hiding in combat as "ready an attack", because if your melee focused there is no "charge" Action anymore.
It does work for you reading your Spell Action to cast a spell against whoever the Owl is aiding, but this is AWFUL. 1) You're now "reading" a spell, so anything that causes damage to you between your turn and the owls causes Concentration checks or you lose the spell. Possibility wasting both a Spell Slot AND your entire action. 2) This uses up you Reaction every round, so you now can't use it for Shield or Counter-spell or any number of other possibilities.
You're right, of course. I totally misread the "owl goes first" description as "owl goes first, moves, helps, and flies away using flyby, then wizard goes and casts with advantage". There's no need for Readying an action in that case.
And yeah, delivering attack spells with the familiar is pretty bad in practice, for the reasons we both described. =/
But I thought I'd point out most of those problems go away when delivering helpful spells to allies, which I hadn't thought of, and will now try. =)
In a campaign, my DM allowed my Great Old One warlock to have a gazer for a familiar.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
The rules for Reaction are (in my opinion annoying restrictive).
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it.
This means that if the familiar wins initiative and "Readies" an action for "master to target someone with an attack or spell attack", the familiar can either move or help, not both. It's the same reason I despise the answer to rogue hiding in combat as "ready an attack", because if your melee focused there is no "charge" Action anymore.
It does work for you reading your Spell Action to cast a spell against whoever the Owl is aiding, but this is AWFUL. 1) You're now "reading" a spell, so anything that causes damage to you between your turn and the owls causes Concentration checks or you lose the spell. Possibility wasting both a Spell Slot AND your entire action. 2) This uses up you Reaction every round, so you now can't use it for Shield or Counter-spell or any number of other possibilities.
Thanks for helping me work out the mechanics on this. I think good command of game mechanics helps give story telling a good foundation.
If the owl’s initiative is lower than the wizard, we can say the owl wasn’t in good position to help on the wizards turn, but could we say that the owl gets Ready to help at the beginning of the next round?
I realize now that if the owl’s initiative is higher than the wizard, it doesn’t need to use the Ready action (and probably shouldn’t), it just helps by flying by the target the owl selects.
Does the telapathic bond with the wizard mean the owl familiar automatically knows who the wizard is targeting? Or should the owl choose it’s target based on some insight the familiar might have over the enemy. I guess the owl would know what the wizard is thinking, but would still be free to choose its’ own target. How much control should the DM have over the familiar, and how much should the player have?
If the owl's initiative is lower, that just means the wizard's first attack won't get the benefit of Help. But then, on the owl's turn, it can Help, and then, next round, on the wizard's turn, they can make their attack and benefit from the owl's Help. The Help action does not need to happen the same round as the attack. There's really no need for the owl to Ready an action in order to Help.
The telepathic bond might not mean the familiar automatically knows who the wizard is targeting, but it does mean the wizard can let the owl know. I'm pretty sure you can communicate even when it's not your turn.
As for how much control the DM should have over the familiar... I'd think as little as possible. Or, put another way, as much as they'd have over a player character. The familiar "acts on its own, but always follows your commands". I'd be surprised if a DM insisted on taking control of the familiar's actions at any point; they pretty much play under the control of the wizard's player; at least I've always seen it that way.
When D and D meets pokemon haha.
I wish there was an option of making familiars bigger and better, to make them able to play more prominent role in the game, especially around higher levels. For example, casting Find Familiar spell with a higher level slot to summon familiar as a more powerful creature (pseudodragon or imp for a second-third level spell slot, full-sized young dragon for a eight-ninth level spell slot).
If DM allows take the Tressym from the Storm Kings Thunder campaign. It can see invisible creatures, detect poisons, adv on perception checks and its a cat with wings. So its dope.
my wizard is a librarian who grew up with no friends so she learned to summon her own. A big orange cat named Magnanimous. She calls him Mangs.
Grianne Wildpaw: Wood Elf Druid level 12 (8W-4L)- - Coliseum of Conquest: Master of Faerie Fire. Just don't ask her to spell it.
Grianne Wildpaw: Wood Elf Druid level 6 (2W-1L)- - Coliseum Reborn : Master of a Myriad of forms.
Runt, the Stormchosen: Half-Orc barbarian level 5 -- The Guild
Tomoe Gozen: Human Fighter Samurai level 5 -- Cronero (Solo Campaign)
I chose a cat because it was on my mini.
Cats are terrible familiars - the first time you encounter a red dragon, the cat will desert you for a cosy spot along its flank!
Any one taking a cat as a familiar doesn't really understand the relationship a cat has with its "master."
"But a familiar is smarter than a normal cat!"
That just means it will get you to do what it wants easier!
And you better be using the "gritty healing" rules, as anything less than 10 hours is definitely a short nap.
There's a reason the Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as deities - any creature* that certain of its place at the centre of the universe just has to be right!
*Barring Teenagers, ofc.
Roleplaying since Runequest.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
“Surviving Port Nyanzaru” - Dungeon Master Tier 1
I think that use of the Ready action solves some of the problems with coordinating and initiative. No matter where the wizard and the familiar end up in the initiative train, either one can use the Ready action like this.
If the Wizard’s turn comes up first:
Wizard: I get ready for Hooty the Owl to flyby the enemy and help me by distracting it. At that time I will cast Chill Touch on the enemy with advantage to my attack roll.
If the Owls turn comes up first:
Owl: Hooty the Owl is ready for his master to attack the enemy with magic. As soon as his master gathers his will and focuses it on the enemy, Hooty dives in for a flyby to help distract the enemy. Wizard gains advantage on attack (and possibly, the enemy suffers disavantage on a Save?)
“Surviving Port Nyanzaru” - Dungeon Master Tier 1
Tonio that doesn't work.
The rules for Reaction are (in my opinion annoying restrictive).
This means that if the familiar wins initiative and "Readies" an action for "master to target someone with an attack or spell attack", the familiar can either move or help, not both.
It's the same reason I despise the answer to rogue hiding in combat as "ready an attack", because if your melee focused there is no "charge" Action anymore.
It does work for you reading your Spell Action to cast a spell against whoever the Owl is aiding, but this is AWFUL.
1) You're now "reading" a spell, so anything that causes damage to you between your turn and the owls causes Concentration checks or you lose the spell. Possibility wasting both a Spell Slot AND your entire action.
2) This uses up you Reaction every round, so you now can't use it for Shield or Counter-spell or any number of other possibilities.
In a campaign, my DM allowed my Great Old One warlock to have a gazer for a familiar.
Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods.
“Surviving Port Nyanzaru” - Dungeon Master Tier 1
If the owl's initiative is lower, that just means the wizard's first attack won't get the benefit of Help. But then, on the owl's turn, it can Help, and then, next round, on the wizard's turn, they can make their attack and benefit from the owl's Help. The Help action does not need to happen the same round as the attack. There's really no need for the owl to Ready an action in order to Help.
The telepathic bond might not mean the familiar automatically knows who the wizard is targeting, but it does mean the wizard can let the owl know. I'm pretty sure you can communicate even when it's not your turn.
As for how much control the DM should have over the familiar... I'd think as little as possible. Or, put another way, as much as they'd have over a player character. The familiar "acts on its own, but always follows your commands". I'd be surprised if a DM insisted on taking control of the familiar's actions at any point; they pretty much play under the control of the wizard's player; at least I've always seen it that way.
I have a Hawk, named Tony.
Tiny Elementals (Fire, Water, Air, Ice, Lighting... etc) because they look freakin' cool and have useful perks. :)
"Lawful Good does not always mean Lawful Nice."
Rogues get the most value out of familiars, especially Warlock familiars that have the ability to turn invisible.