How could something that can tell you exactly what's in the next room not be considered useful.
I thought the same thing, then...
DM: "Your rat scurries around the corner and it sees a large shadow pass over it. From the other room you hear a squish. Your rat is dead."
Me: "There goes another 10 gp." /sigh.
That would be a crappy DM.
At the very most, have the rat make a reasonable Dex save (10 or something).
I, personally, would assume the rat is not deaf and blind and would be able to avoid such a thing.
I was fine with it, turned out to be a manticore. I think it's reasonable though...its just a rat after all. I think if it fails stealth, it deserves to die...that's the IRL rule in my house anyway.
I think there's way more cases of DM's allowing familiars to do too much (like, hey this whole epic battle your owl is swooping in and out giving you advantage...and none of these at least-average intelligence baddies have thought to swat at it).
How could something that can tell you exactly what's in the next room not be considered useful.
I thought the same thing, then...
DM: "Your rat scurries around the corner and it sees a large shadow pass over it. From the other room you hear a squish. Your rat is dead."
Me: "There goes another 10 gp." /sigh.
That would be a crappy DM.
At the very most, have the rat make a reasonable Dex save (10 or something).
I, personally, would assume the rat is not deaf and blind and would be able to avoid such a thing.
I was fine with it, turned out to be a manticore. I think it's reasonable though...its just a rat after all. I think if it fails stealth, it deserves to die...that's the IRL rule in my house anyway.
I think there's way more cases of DM's allowing familiars to do too much (like, hey this whole epic battle your owl is swooping in and out giving you advantage...and none of these at least-average intelligence baddies have thought to swat at it).
Well, failing a stealth roll is one thing (still requiring an attack roll - it wouldn't be an auto-hit), though you never mentioned it, so I didn't make that assumption in my reply.
As far as the owl thing being over powered, not only are there multi-page threads dedicated to the owl familiar (I'm far too lazy to link them), it's really not that over-powered.
Either way, it's RAW. If the DM wants to homebrew it to make it not as effective, then that's up to the DM.
Personally, I don't see a problem with an owl giving advantage to a single attack against a single creature once per turn. *shrugs*
Eldritch Knight & Spider familiar on his shounder or hiding behind his shield. It moved out of cover, uses the Help action to give its master Advantage, then moves back into cover . . .
It never moves out of AoO range, its behind Full cover due to its size, and give Advantage once per round.
The only time its died on me is to AoE attacks andm once, to a monk with Polearm Mastery . . .
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Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Eldritch Knight & Spider familiar on his shounder or hiding behind his shield. It moved out of cover, uses the Help action to give its master Advantage, then moves back into cover . . .
It never moves out of AoO range, its behind Full cover due to its size, and give Advantage once per round.
The only time its died on me is to AoE attacks andm once, to a monk with Polearm Mastery . . .
how does it use its Help action without provoking an opportunity attack? Owl has Flyby, but think that's the only base-line familiar that can really Help without dying the first round.
Eldritch Knight & Spider familiar on his shounder or hiding behind his shield. It moved out of cover, uses the Help action to give its master Advantage, then moves back into cover . . .
It never moves out of AoO range, its behind Full cover due to its size, and give Advantage once per round.
The only time its died on me is to AoE attacks andm once, to a monk with Polearm Mastery . . .
how does it use its Help action without provoking an opportunity attack? Owl has Flyby, but think that's the only base-line familiar that can really Help without dying the first round.
I think the idea here was that that spider stayed on the Knight's body, so the spider didn't move out of range, simply went behind cover in such a way as to be out of line of sight.
I would argue, though, that the familiar would still be able to be targeted by melee attacks, as it's not traditional cover and one could argue that the hostile creature either reaches or strafes around the Knight to hit the back, aiming for the familiar, or pushes the shield against the Knight to do some bludgeoning damage. Maybe it would be at disadvantage, though? Depends on the DM, I think.
Eldritch Knight & Spider familiar on his shounder or hiding behind his shield. It moved out of cover, uses the Help action to give its master Advantage, then moves back into cover . . .
It never moves out of AoO range, its behind Full cover due to its size, and give Advantage once per round.
The only time its died on me is to AoE attacks andm once, to a monk with Polearm Mastery . . .
how does it use its Help action without provoking an opportunity attack? Owl has Flyby, but think that's the only base-line familiar that can really Help without dying the first round.
I think the idea here was that that spider stayed on the Knight's body, so the spider didn't move out of range, simply went behind cover in such a way as to be out of line of sight.
I would argue, though, that the familiar would still be able to be targeted by melee attacks, as it's not traditional cover and one could argue that the hostile creature either reaches or strafes around the Knight to hit the back, aiming for the familiar, or pushes the shield against the Knight to do some bludgeoning damage. Maybe it would be at disadvantage, though? Depends on the DM, I think.
i suppose it could sit there, shooting webs at the creature's eye. o.O
Then you didn't look very hard. Jeremy Crawford has already confirmed that familiars can be used this way. From a 2016 interview:
Can the familiar you conjure with the find familiar spell use the Help action to grant you advantage on your attack roll? A familiar can’t attack, but it can take non-attack actions, including Help. As the text of the Help action indicates (PH, 192), the action doesn’t require you to be able to attack; you simply need to be able to provide some sort of distraction.
I'm not sure if this has been covered yet, but a failure to appreciate a familiar to me indicates a lack of strategy and creativity. I keep a bat familiar just to detect and fly toward invisible mages. (Our reoccurring main bad guy is a wizard who casts Invisibility a lot.) Scouting is golden. Echolocation is awesome when in dark areas. Find Familiar, in my view, is the singular best 1st level spell. And it can be ritual cast no less.
This has got me thinking about the Warlock's special familiars. The Sprite in particular, as it has a +8 to Stealth and can always try to hide if it is invisible.
I couldn't care less about the in game benefits of familiars. They make good scouts and can take the Help action. Also, you can cast certain spells through them.
However, the real reason I like the spell is because of its thematic benefits. Your familiar can become an important member of the party and developing their personalities and preferences within the party is often something that helps make an enjoyable campaign.
you can cast it any time before the battle (even years) and it will be ready to use in combat or battle situations
the brass brazier is often overlooked or considered to be included with the 10gp material cost, remember you don't need material components that don't have a gp cost if you use a spell focus and a component pouch is assumed to have those things that don't have a gp cost... so you would have it covered either way
you already mentioned the 10gp in the introductory sentence, and then again as the 3rd point... you only pay it once and 10gp isn't really that much after level 1 or 2... many cast the spell many times paying 10gp each and every time and are somewhat happy to do so
not so easy to kill if you use them with a little care... any DM who has monsters ignoring the PC's and attacking familiars all the time is being unrealistic (the dragon breathes fire on the little stray cat sneaking up behind it, but while he ignores the wizard, fighter, and rogue they attack: fighter gets 4 attacks plus action surge for 4 more: rogue does a sneak attack: wizard cast meteor swarm and just like that the dragon lies dead at their feet... well worth the 10gp spent to cast find familiar
but it really is up to the DM if they want to kill off your familiar all the time
Agree with most of what you said but then again if the dragon is likely to ignore the familiar using the "help" action behind him because he is negligible, the familiar's "help" shouldn't be relevant. If you wanna play by the rules as written being unrealistic, a dragon turning around to prevent the "help" is perfectly justified, Dragons are pretty intelligent, and I'm sure they can come up with tactics to deal with it.
I think familiars are not very useful in a fight but very useful for exploration and scouting. The only way it gets caught is if enemies just so happen to be bored and try to hit the familiar, which shouldn't happen every time, or if magic is used to sense it which is more plausible by paranoid characters.
you can cast it any time before the battle (even years) and it will be ready to use in combat or battle situations
the brass brazier is often overlooked or considered to be included with the 10gp material cost, remember you don't need material components that don't have a gp cost if you use a spell focus and a component pouch is assumed to have those things that don't have a gp cost... so you would have it covered either way
you already mentioned the 10gp in the introductory sentence, and then again as the 3rd point... you only pay it once and 10gp isn't really that much after level 1 or 2... many cast the spell many times paying 10gp each and every time and are somewhat happy to do so
not so easy to kill if you use them with a little care... any DM who has monsters ignoring the PC's and attacking familiars all the time is being unrealistic (the dragon breathes fire on the little stray cat sneaking up behind it, but while he ignores the wizard, fighter, and rogue they attack: fighter gets 4 attacks plus action surge for 4 more: rogue does a sneak attack: wizard cast meteor swarm and just like that the dragon lies dead at their feet... well worth the 10gp spent to cast find familiar
but it really is up to the DM if they want to kill off your familiar all the time
Agree with most of what you said but then again if the dragon is likely to ignore the familiar using the "help" action behind him because he is negligible, the familiar's "help" shouldn't be relevant. If you wanna play by the rules as written being unrealistic, a dragon turning around to prevent the "help" is perfectly justified, Dragons are pretty intelligent, and I'm sure they can come up with tactics to deal with it.
I think familiars are not very useful in a fight but very useful for exploration and scouting. The only way it gets caught is if enemies just so happen to be bored and try to hit the familiar, which shouldn't happen every time, or if magic is used to sense it which is more plausible by paranoid characters.
I don't know, in a world of magic familiars may be common enough that they might get spotted even by the non paranoid. Especially the owl which is a favorite, how many owls do you see in the day. Are hawks native to the area etc. Rats, spiders odds are those are so common people are used to seeing them, but killing them just to remove them from your area isn't uncommon as well. So maybe rats/spiders in the streets get by fine but once they enter someones home people take action to remove them.
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How could something that can tell you exactly what's in the next room not be considered useful.
I thought the same thing, then...
DM: "Your rat scurries around the corner and it sees a large shadow pass over it. From the other room you hear a squish. Your rat is dead."
Me: "There goes another 10 gp." /sigh.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
That would be a crappy DM.
At the very most, have the rat make a reasonable Dex save (10 or something).
I, personally, would assume the rat is not deaf and blind and would be able to avoid such a thing.
I was fine with it, turned out to be a manticore. I think it's reasonable though...its just a rat after all. I think if it fails stealth, it deserves to die...that's the IRL rule in my house anyway.
I think there's way more cases of DM's allowing familiars to do too much (like, hey this whole epic battle your owl is swooping in and out giving you advantage...and none of these at least-average intelligence baddies have thought to swat at it).
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
Well, failing a stealth roll is one thing (still requiring an attack roll - it wouldn't be an auto-hit), though you never mentioned it, so I didn't make that assumption in my reply.
As far as the owl thing being over powered, not only are there multi-page threads dedicated to the owl familiar (I'm far too lazy to link them), it's really not that over-powered.
Either way, it's RAW. If the DM wants to homebrew it to make it not as effective, then that's up to the DM.
Personally, I don't see a problem with an owl giving advantage to a single attack against a single creature once per turn. *shrugs*
Eldritch Knight & Spider familiar on his shounder or hiding behind his shield. It moved out of cover, uses the Help action to give its master Advantage, then moves back into cover . . .
It never moves out of AoO range, its behind Full cover due to its size, and give Advantage once per round.
The only time its died on me is to AoE attacks andm once, to a monk with Polearm Mastery . . .
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
how does it use its Help action without provoking an opportunity attack? Owl has Flyby, but think that's the only base-line familiar that can really Help without dying the first round.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
I think the idea here was that that spider stayed on the Knight's body, so the spider didn't move out of range, simply went behind cover in such a way as to be out of line of sight.
I would argue, though, that the familiar would still be able to be targeted by melee attacks, as it's not traditional cover and one could argue that the hostile creature either reaches or strafes around the Knight to hit the back, aiming for the familiar, or pushes the shield against the Knight to do some bludgeoning damage. Maybe it would be at disadvantage, though? Depends on the DM, I think.
i suppose it could sit there, shooting webs at the creature's eye. o.O
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
A rather comprehensive list of free WotC D&D resources
Deck of Decks
Then you didn't look very hard. Jeremy Crawford has already confirmed that familiars can be used this way. From a 2016 interview:
Can the familiar you conjure with the find familiar spell use the Help action to grant you advantage on your attack roll? A familiar can’t attack, but it can take non-attack actions, including Help. As the text of the Help action indicates (PH, 192), the action doesn’t require you to be able to attack; you simply need to be able to provide some sort of distraction.
I'm not sure if this has been covered yet, but a failure to appreciate a familiar to me indicates a lack of strategy and creativity. I keep a bat familiar just to detect and fly toward invisible mages. (Our reoccurring main bad guy is a wizard who casts Invisibility a lot.) Scouting is golden. Echolocation is awesome when in dark areas. Find Familiar, in my view, is the singular best 1st level spell. And it can be ritual cast no less.
This has got me thinking about the Warlock's special familiars. The Sprite in particular, as it has a +8 to Stealth and can always try to hide if it is invisible.
Sounds like an excellent scout/spy.
I couldn't care less about the in game benefits of familiars. They make good scouts and can take the Help action. Also, you can cast certain spells through them.
However, the real reason I like the spell is because of its thematic benefits. Your familiar can become an important member of the party and developing their personalities and preferences within the party is often something that helps make an enjoyable campaign.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
Even at it's worst a familiar is one attack that isn't hitting a player.
Once singular hits are greater than 8hp it's a preemptive healing pot for a 5th of the cost and that's if it does nothing else.
Quite simply find familiar is the best wizard spell of it's level
Agree with most of what you said but then again if the dragon is likely to ignore the familiar using the "help" action behind him because he is negligible, the familiar's "help" shouldn't be relevant. If you wanna play by the rules as written being unrealistic, a dragon turning around to prevent the "help" is perfectly justified, Dragons are pretty intelligent, and I'm sure they can come up with tactics to deal with it.
I think familiars are not very useful in a fight but very useful for exploration and scouting. The only way it gets caught is if enemies just so happen to be bored and try to hit the familiar, which shouldn't happen every time, or if magic is used to sense it which is more plausible by paranoid characters.
I don't know, in a world of magic familiars may be common enough that they might get spotted even by the non paranoid. Especially the owl which is a favorite, how many owls do you see in the day. Are hawks native to the area etc. Rats, spiders odds are those are so common people are used to seeing them, but killing them just to remove them from your area isn't uncommon as well. So maybe rats/spiders in the streets get by fine but once they enter someones home people take action to remove them.