One of my players who is new to the game has their heart set on having a companion to be their friend, carry their stuff, etc. Mostly since it is their first game, I agreed even though it could come back to bite me a bit (oh well, that’s part of the game I suppose). Their character is a water-themed rogue / wizard (idk, they’ll figure it out), and as such anything like a modified steel defender / wildfire spirit would be out of place for them. Any ideas / recommendations?
You also have the freedom to reflavor anything to suit the player's needs. If you can't find an appropriate sidekick race, then make one up or reskin an existing one.
Suggest that they take Find Familiar (wizard) and let them reflavor it as a small water elemental. That way, it’s something built into their character sheet, so the other players won’t call favoritism or demand free stuff as well. (Seriously, favoritism sucks, even on accident.)
The suggestion of adding the companion as a sidekick is a good one. It will add to party strength, but not horribly so. I might suggest adding them as a Spellcaster Healer that would focus on the PC first, then the rest of the party as directed. This might add some additional survivability, without tipping the scales in combat too much. Link to UA Sidekick Rules if you don't have access to TCoE. You might also consider just adding the reskinned creature as a "pet" or even use the Beastmaster Animal Companion subset to give it some utility. Link to the UA if you like.
Looking at the CR1/2 and lower monster list, two suggestions come to mind, the Magmin and any of the Mephits. You will obviously have to reskin them to read as water and not fire, but should be easily done.
If you were to want to use the full blown Water Elemental, you would first have to drop the CR from 5 to 1/2, then apply the Sidekick modifications to the creature.
While Find Familiar might seem like an easy out here, a reskinned Tiny creature might not achieve the same results as something that would be able to carry objects for the PC. Also, changing the ability of this spell to accommodate the desired result could be a lasting precedent for other spell changes to accommodate others. If jealousy is a significant concern at your table, you might have bigger issues than creating a Sidekick for one player.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
water-themed rogue / wizard you got the Find Familiar get out clause
And as far as what type of familiar I'd think you really need the players input what do they want as a familiar?
Obviously having any type of fish as ones watery companion is going to have the fish out of water problem for probably 99% of any adventure... but there are so many other friends of water... A hermit crab... A sea gull... A water vole (such as Ratty in wind in the willows)... Dragon flies... Toads and Frogs... *(how could I forget Toads and Frogs!?!)
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Do they intend the companion to actually do things? Like be in fights or talk to NPCs? If that’s the case, I agree with the others about a sidekick, though then the sidekick should get a share of xp and treasure. But if they just want it like a flunky who carries stuff around, but doesn’t actually help the party overcome challenges, I’d just do it through role play. Like, this is my manservant, Tim. He carries my stuff, but he vanishes when the fighting starts.
100% find familiar or unseen servant for this. The PC is not asking for a party companion, they are asking for a personal servant. A sidekick totally devoted to one character is not a party resource, it's a character resource.
Just reskin a familiar and you can handwave it carrying more than it actually could if you like. As long as 1) it's not circumventing encumbrance rules with respect to the wizard and 2) he's not using it as a personal delivery service, having your stuff carried by another creature is actually an inconvenience. So allowing it for roleplay purposes would be fine by me.
If they are multiclassing, they already understand that you need to make concessions to get certain abilities. A personal companion is no different.
One of my players who is new to the game has their heart set on having a companion to be their friend, carry their stuff, etc. Mostly since it is their first game, I agreed even though it could come back to bite me a bit (oh well, that’s part of the game I suppose). Their character is a water-themed rogue / wizard (idk, they’ll figure it out), and as such anything like a modified steel defender / wildfire spirit would be out of place for them. Any ideas / recommendations?
You also have the freedom to reflavor anything to suit the player's needs. If you can't find an appropriate sidekick race, then make one up or reskin an existing one.
Suggest that they take Find Familiar (wizard) and let them reflavor it as a small water elemental. That way, it’s something built into their character sheet, so the other players won’t call favoritism or demand free stuff as well. (Seriously, favoritism sucks, even on accident.)
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
The suggestion of adding the companion as a sidekick is a good one. It will add to party strength, but not horribly so. I might suggest adding them as a Spellcaster Healer that would focus on the PC first, then the rest of the party as directed. This might add some additional survivability, without tipping the scales in combat too much. Link to UA Sidekick Rules if you don't have access to TCoE. You might also consider just adding the reskinned creature as a "pet" or even use the Beastmaster Animal Companion subset to give it some utility. Link to the UA if you like.
Looking at the CR1/2 and lower monster list, two suggestions come to mind, the Magmin and any of the Mephits. You will obviously have to reskin them to read as water and not fire, but should be easily done.
If you were to want to use the full blown Water Elemental, you would first have to drop the CR from 5 to 1/2, then apply the Sidekick modifications to the creature.
While Find Familiar might seem like an easy out here, a reskinned Tiny creature might not achieve the same results as something that would be able to carry objects for the PC. Also, changing the ability of this spell to accommodate the desired result could be a lasting precedent for other spell changes to accommodate others. If jealousy is a significant concern at your table, you might have bigger issues than creating a Sidekick for one player.
Good Luck!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
water-themed rogue / wizard you got the Find Familiar get out clause
And as far as what type of familiar I'd think you really need the players input what do they want as a familiar?
Obviously having any type of fish as ones watery companion is going to have the fish out of water problem for probably 99% of any adventure... but there are so many other friends of water... A hermit crab... A sea gull... A water vole (such as Ratty in wind in the willows)... Dragon flies... Toads and Frogs... *(how could I forget Toads and Frogs!?!)
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Sidekicks from Tasha's i agree are a good idea, and I think the DMG has a section on Hirelings as well that might be useful.
Do they intend the companion to actually do things? Like be in fights or talk to NPCs? If that’s the case, I agree with the others about a sidekick, though then the sidekick should get a share of xp and treasure.
But if they just want it like a flunky who carries stuff around, but doesn’t actually help the party overcome challenges, I’d just do it through role play. Like, this is my manservant, Tim. He carries my stuff, but he vanishes when the fighting starts.
100% find familiar or unseen servant for this. The PC is not asking for a party companion, they are asking for a personal servant. A sidekick totally devoted to one character is not a party resource, it's a character resource.
Just reskin a familiar and you can handwave it carrying more than it actually could if you like. As long as 1) it's not circumventing encumbrance rules with respect to the wizard and 2) he's not using it as a personal delivery service, having your stuff carried by another creature is actually an inconvenience. So allowing it for roleplay purposes would be fine by me.
If they are multiclassing, they already understand that you need to make concessions to get certain abilities. A personal companion is no different.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm