I know imps are supposed to be a Warlock only familiar, and if that is intended to remain the case in AL, I totally understand.
On the other hand, in one section of the DiA hardcover, there is a section on entering into contracts with devils. One of the devils that can offer a contract is an imp, and the imp can offer loyal service up to 9 years. The imp is also able to serve as a familiar. Would it be "AL legal" to have a contract with an imp in order to have it serve as your familiar?
Is there any posted guidance about this?
I can understand how some DM's might not be on board, and would be willing to "limit" myself to the owl abilities for familiars for portability. Or maybe even reskin an owl to serve as an imp..... Maybe I don't need that much help after all.
The only guidance listed in the AL Content Catalogue says
Deals with Devils: The following guidance applies: • The gold gained can’t exceed the character’s GP Limit. • Archdevil charms count against the characters Magic Item Limit.
Anything not prohibited in the ALCC or contrary to other general AL rules is allowed in AL.
One thing to keep in mind is that an actual imp familiar is not the same as a creature summoned by the familiar spell.
if it dies, it is gone.
you can't summon or unsummon it
you CAN share in its magic resistance if it is within 10'
you have a telepathic bond, you sense what the imp senses, you don't need to spend an action to see through the familiar's senses
you use the stats for the imp from the monster manual, not the ones in the players handbook (just in case there are any differences)
The biggest issue is that you can't hide it in a pocket dimension and if it dies, it returns to hell and it would probably be up to your DM to figure out if there is any way to get it back or whether your contract would still be in force.
from the MM:
"VARIANT: IMP FAMILIAR Imps can be found in the service to mortal spellcasters, acting as advisors, spies, and familiars. An imp urges its master to acts of evil, knowing the mortal's soul is a prize the imp might ultimately claim. Imps display an unusual loyalty to their masters, and an imp can be quite dangerous if its master is threatened. Some such imps have the following trait.
Familiar. The imp can enter into a contract to serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master. While the two are bonded, the master can sense what the imp senses as long as they are within l mile of each other. While the imp is within 10 feet of its master, the master shares the imp's Magic Resistance trait. If its master violates the terms of the contract, the imp can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond."
Also, a real imp is effectively an NPC. Even acting as a familiar, it is up to the imp whether to follow your instructions or exacly how to follow them.
"IMP Imps are found throughout the Lower Planes, either running errands for their infernal masters, spying on rivals, or misleading and waylaying mortals. An imp will proudly serve an evil master of any kind, but it can't be relied on to carry out tasks with any speed or efficiency. An imp can assume animal form at will, but in its natural state it resembles a diminutive red-skinned humanoid with a barbed tail, small horns, and leathery wings. It strikes while invisible, attacking with its poison stinger."
"Only imps are truly content to be summoned, and they easily commit to serving a summoner as a familiar, but they still do their utmost to corrupt those who summon them."
"If it dies outside the Nine Hells, a devil disappears in a cloud of sulfurous smoke or dissolves into a pool of ichor, instantly returning to its home layer, where it reforms at full strength. Devils that die in the Nine Hells are destroyed forever."
Unless you have a good spell to summon up a SPECIFIC devil to bring your particular imp back to where you are ... then if they die they could take a long time to get back to you which would be DM dependent though most AL DMs faced with that situation might just say that the imp is gone for the rest of the current module or even hardcover. In addition, if your imp dies in hell due to a cone of cold or some other damage type it is not immune to, it would be gone. (Of course you'd still be free to summon up a regular familiar as well using the normal spell).
Wow Thank you for that very thorough analysis of the benefits and costs of keeping imps. I would suppose that Infernal Calling would summon a demon, but getting that specific one might take knowing it's True Name, and I don't think it would want that particular bit getting out.
What about the contract for 9 years of service? Assuming he dies while we are in the Nine Hells, I would guess he's gone, and we are both released from the contact. However, if he's killed anywhere else, I don't see how that would get him out of the contract. Wouldn't it be on him to return in order to be able to fulfill the contract? Now he might not be able to return to the Prime Material himself. He might have to get a favor from someone higher in the chain to get him there. Might there be some other way, (a token of some sort) that would help the caster summon him should he be returned to the Nine Hells?
I especially like the part about the imp being a NPC, specifically an unreliable, lazy NPC. This part will be on the DM to decide whether and how much to roleplay without detracting from the rest of the party's enjoyment of the module. His motivation is to corrupt my LN caster to LE. If I'm already LE, the corruption has already occurred.
Wow Thank you for that very thorough analysis of the benefits and costs of keeping imps. I would suppose that Infernal Calling would summon a demon, but getting that specific one might take knowing it's True Name, and I don't think it would want that particular bit getting out.
What about the contract for 9 years of service? Assuming he dies while we are in the Nine Hells, I would guess he's gone, and we are both released from the contact. However, if he's killed anywhere else, I don't see how that would get him out of the contract. Wouldn't it be on him to return in order to be able to fulfill the contract? Now he might not be able to return to the Prime Material himself. He might have to get a favor from someone higher in the chain to get him there. Might there be some other way, (a token of some sort) that would help the caster summon him should he be returned to the Nine Hells?
I especially like the part about the imp being a NPC, specifically an unreliable, lazy NPC. This part will be on the DM to decide whether and how much to roleplay without detracting from the rest of the party's enjoyment of the module. His motivation is to corrupt my LN caster to LE. If I'm already LE, the corruption has already occurred.
I think that about sums it up. It is pretty cool and would work great in a home campaign or even maybe in AL if you have a consistent DM. However, in AL in general you might run into a wide range of rulings from different DMs and you can probably expect it to be targeted very early on if it's presence becomes known (e.g. scouting or performing the help action). Also, at higher levels it may end up getting killed by area of effect spells though the immunity to fire does help with fireballs but when killed there is no easy way back for the imp that I am aware of ... so unless you can come up with a spell or other ability to bring him back ... I'd expect the DM would likely have him remain dead for the remainder of the session if not longer if the imp is killed on the prime material.
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I know imps are supposed to be a Warlock only familiar, and if that is intended to remain the case in AL, I totally understand.
On the other hand, in one section of the DiA hardcover, there is a section on entering into contracts with devils. One of the devils that can offer a contract is an imp, and the imp can offer loyal service up to 9 years. The imp is also able to serve as a familiar. Would it be "AL legal" to have a contract with an imp in order to have it serve as your familiar?
Is there any posted guidance about this?
I can understand how some DM's might not be on board, and would be willing to "limit" myself to the owl abilities for familiars for portability. Or maybe even reskin an owl to serve as an imp..... Maybe I don't need that much help after all.
The only guidance listed in the AL Content Catalogue says
Anything not prohibited in the ALCC or contrary to other general AL rules is allowed in AL.
One thing to keep in mind is that an actual imp familiar is not the same as a creature summoned by the familiar spell.
The biggest issue is that you can't hide it in a pocket dimension and if it dies, it returns to hell and it would probably be up to your DM to figure out if there is any way to get it back or whether your contract would still be in force.
from the MM:
"VARIANT: IMP FAMILIAR
Imps can be found in the service to mortal spellcasters, acting as advisors, spies, and familiars. An imp urges its master to acts of evil, knowing the mortal's soul is a prize the imp might
ultimately claim. Imps display an unusual loyalty to their masters, and an imp can be quite dangerous if its master is threatened. Some such imps have the following trait.
Familiar. The imp can enter into a contract to serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master. While the two are bonded, the master can
sense what the imp senses as long as they are within l mile of each other. While the imp is within 10 feet of its master, the master shares the imp's Magic Resistance trait. If its
master violates the terms of the contract, the imp can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond."
Also, a real imp is effectively an NPC. Even acting as a familiar, it is up to the imp whether to follow your instructions or exacly how to follow them.
"IMP
Imps are found throughout the Lower Planes, either running errands for their infernal masters, spying on rivals, or misleading and waylaying mortals. An imp will proudly serve an evil master of any kind, but it can't be relied on to carry out tasks with any speed or efficiency. An imp can assume animal form at will, but in its natural state it resembles a diminutive red-skinned humanoid with a barbed tail, small horns, and leathery wings. It strikes while invisible, attacking with its poison stinger."
"Only imps are truly content to be summoned, and they easily commit to serving a summoner as a familiar, but they still do their utmost to corrupt those who summon them."
"If it dies outside the Nine Hells, a devil disappears in a cloud of sulfurous smoke or dissolves into a pool of ichor, instantly returning to its home layer, where it reforms at full strength. Devils that die in the Nine Hells are destroyed forever."
Unless you have a good spell to summon up a SPECIFIC devil to bring your particular imp back to where you are ... then if they die they could take a long time to get back to you which would be DM dependent though most AL DMs faced with that situation might just say that the imp is gone for the rest of the current module or even hardcover. In addition, if your imp dies in hell due to a cone of cold or some other damage type it is not immune to, it would be gone. (Of course you'd still be free to summon up a regular familiar as well using the normal spell).
Wow Thank you for that very thorough analysis of the benefits and costs of keeping imps. I would suppose that Infernal Calling would summon a demon, but getting that specific one might take knowing it's True Name, and I don't think it would want that particular bit getting out.
What about the contract for 9 years of service? Assuming he dies while we are in the Nine Hells, I would guess he's gone, and we are both released from the contact. However, if he's killed anywhere else, I don't see how that would get him out of the contract. Wouldn't it be on him to return in order to be able to fulfill the contract? Now he might not be able to return to the Prime Material himself. He might have to get a favor from someone higher in the chain to get him there. Might there be some other way, (a token of some sort) that would help the caster summon him should he be returned to the Nine Hells?
I especially like the part about the imp being a NPC, specifically an unreliable, lazy NPC. This part will be on the DM to decide whether and how much to roleplay without detracting from the rest of the party's enjoyment of the module. His motivation is to corrupt my LN caster to LE. If I'm already LE, the corruption has already occurred.
I think that about sums it up. It is pretty cool and would work great in a home campaign or even maybe in AL if you have a consistent DM. However, in AL in general you might run into a wide range of rulings from different DMs and you can probably expect it to be targeted very early on if it's presence becomes known (e.g. scouting or performing the help action). Also, at higher levels it may end up getting killed by area of effect spells though the immunity to fire does help with fireballs but when killed there is no easy way back for the imp that I am aware of ... so unless you can come up with a spell or other ability to bring him back ... I'd expect the DM would likely have him remain dead for the remainder of the session if not longer if the imp is killed on the prime material.