Find Familiar options

Quote from SunIsGettingRealLow96589 >>

allowing a 10 hp owl familiar to do the help action on the first attacl before the druid goes is so underwhelming that ive never seen a DM enforce raw on this  that says the owl goes after their spellcasters turn

That is because that is not RAW.

Find Familiar

Combat. The familiar is an ally to you and your allies. It rolls its own Initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can’t attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

There are two things at play here:

1. The familiar (owl in the case) acts on its own initiative which may be before or after the Druid.
2. The Druid uses the Ready Action on their turn and uses a Reaction to trigger it later in the Combat Round based on a specified trigger. (I think in this case, it is probably, "the owl distracts the enemy")

This particular combination requires that the familiar go after the druid in initiative.

Quote from SmiteMakesRight_3_5 >>

Quote from TarodNet >>

Quote from SunIsGettingRealLow96589 >>

 [...] If your wildshapped and use that to multiattack, then RAW, there may be some issued

 IMO, it's not possible to Ready Multiattack, since using it requires the creature to take the Attack action. The SAC also suggests Multiattack isn't intended to be used off-turn for situations like Opportunity Attacks (a Reaction):

What actions can monsters use to make Opportunity Attack? Are Multiattack and breath weapon actions allowed?

When making an Opportunity Attack, a monster can make any single melee attack listed in its stat block. A monster also has the option to make an Unarmed Strike as an Opportunity Attack, following the normal rules of an Unarmed Strike.

An action, such as a breath weapon effect, that doesn’t include a melee attack roll isn’t eligible to be chosen for an Opportunity Attack. Additionally, a monster can’t use its Multiattack when making an Opportunity Attack, because the use of Multiattack specifically predicates on taking the Attack action, and an Opportunity Attack takes a Reaction.

The Opportunity Attack is separate from Readying an action. I was looking at the Drider 2025 entry for Multiattack and unlike Extra Attack, it does not mention the extra attacks/abilities can only be used on its turn. It looks like, if a creature has Multiattack, they cannot use that as part of an Opportunity Attack, but they can use it as part of a readied Attack action.

 Yeah, I know my ruling isn't very well supported, and I didn't provide solid proof. Probably something I carried over from 2014.

Quote from TarodNet >>

 Yeah, I know my ruling isn't very well supported, and I didn't provide solid proof. Probably something I carried over from 2014.

It is strange that they didn't use the same wording as Extra Attack to restrict it to the creature's turn. I think it's a fair ruling with Extra Attack as a precedence. I don't want to get surprised by the hiding dragon with a readied Bite and 2 Claw as I turn the corner ...

It would be interesting to see how common this is in another thread.

You're right, Sorry I was thinking Burning Hands. Fire breathing spider is cool too. But even hidden on an ally, it will be caught up in aoe. The owl can also deliver the spell (burning hands, dragons breathing, or cure light wounds) and then GTFO.

Quote from SunIsGettingRealLow96589 >>

If you thnk yout dm might be open to homebrew, Check the familiars that warlocks get.

As dm, i might work to allow you to take a level of warlock (ignoring any multiclas requirement)  if all you take is pact of the chain and a warlock familiar.  No pact magic, no warlock spells, in exchange for ignoring the multiclass requremnt.

Other options are the familiard for strixhaven, famikiars in the Crooked Tree, and so on.

As for "help", technically your familiar takes itd turn inmediately after you, so they would help you on your next turn.

HOWEVER, on your turn, you can take the READY action to do what you normally plan on doing, and thr trigger would be "after my familiar helps me"

You can cast spells, you can one melee attack, and so on, so should work as a druid since druid normally gets one attack. If your wildshapped and use that to multiattack, then RAW, there may be some issued

 There are a million homebrew options. My over complicated point system could also be a homebrew. I also think (hope) most DMs will Rule of Cool and allow whatever for the sake of flavor. The point of the thread was a discussion aound my wish for D&D to do something official that allowed balance and flavor.

Quote from TarodNet >>

Quote from SunIsGettingRealLow96589 >>

 [...] If your wildshapped and use that to multiattack, then RAW, there may be some issued

 IMO, it's not possible to Ready Multiattack, since using it requires the creature to take the Attack action. The SAC also suggests Multiattack isn't intended to be used off-turn for situations like Opportunity Attacks (a Reaction):

What actions can monsters use to make Opportunity Attack? Are Multiattack and breath weapon actions allowed?

When making an Opportunity Attack, a monster can make any single melee attack listed in its stat block. A monster also has the option to make an Unarmed Strike as an Opportunity Attack, following the normal rules of an Unarmed Strike.

An action, such as a breath weapon effect, that doesn’t include a melee attack roll isn’t eligible to be chosen for an Opportunity Attack. Additionally, a monster can’t use its Multiattack when making an Opportunity Attack, because the use of Multiattack specifically predicates on taking the Attack action, and an Opportunity Attack takes a Reaction.

 Also, the "ready" to help yourself is super boring 😴 . Why are we playing this group game if we are ignoring the other players at the table. Give your buddy advantage... try it..  it'll be fun and you'll share the victory. 

Quote from SunIsGettingRealLow96589 >>

allowing a 10 hp owl familiar to do the help action on the first attacl before the druid goes is so underwhelming that ive never seen a DM enforce raw on this  that says the owl goes after their spellcasters turn

 10hp? What PHB or MM you using? 1 (1d4) on the Beyond app.

Players would have more interactions with other players if DMs enforced this rule. They dont because it's easier, but the shared storytelling experience is lessened for it.