I have a warlock tiefling with pact of the chain on an imp. If I understand correctly, my familiar can be summoned as any one of many forms plus the pact of the chain options, but when the handbook said it can take the form of a creature I've seen before does that include playable races like tiefling, human, elf ect... ?Basically I want to know if I can have my familiar appear as a butler or servant
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Where does it say "it can take the form of a creature I've seen before"? I cant find that in PHB under warlock, pact of the chain, imp, or find familiar.
You learn the find familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual. The spell doesn’t count against your number of spells known.
When you cast the spell, you can choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite.
Additionally, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to make one attack with its reaction.
Wild Shape
Starting at 2nd level, you can use your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen before. You can use this feature twice. You regain expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.
Your druid level determines the beasts you can transform into, as shown in the Beast Shapes table. At 2nd level, for example, you can transform into any beast that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower that doesn’t have a flying or swimming speed.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
As Sigred said, I think you are confusing it with wildshape. There is nothing about creatures you have seen that applies to familiars. You can put a butler outfit on an Imp or Sprite though and it would be adorable.
There's a new house rule--a PC can split their EXP between themselves and their familiar, allowing the familiar to choose a class and start leveling up.
(And if the Imp goes Warlock, and Pact of the Chain...Familiar-ception!)
There's a new house rule--a PC can split their EXP between themselves and their familiar, allowing the familiar to choose a class and start leveling up.
(And if the Imp goes Warlock, and Pact of the Chain...Familiar-ception!)
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
To be honest I've read so much in the past few weeks, ( my first time playing) between multiple phb and online I can't remember where I read it. It very well could have been in the wrong context.
I've never read anything on druids, just sorcerers, warlocks and wizards. They are alike in so many ways that's probably why I'm getting confused. I also remember a list of things your familiar can assume the form of that included a flying sword, I can't find that reference again either.
I've never read anything on druids, just sorcerers, warlocks and wizards. They are alike in so many ways that's probably why I'm getting confused. I also remember a list of things your familiar can assume the form of that included a flying sword, I can't find that reference again either.
There's definitely nothing about it turning into a flying sword from official sources. It sounds like you've been reading homebrew content. Information you read online from websites other than this one has a good chance of being innacurate.
I've never read anything on druids, just sorcerers, warlocks and wizards. They are alike in so many ways that's probably why I'm getting confused. I also remember a list of things your familiar can assume the form of that included a flying sword, I can't find that reference again either.
There's definitely nothing about it turning into a flying sword from official sources. It sounds like you've been reading homebrew content. Information you read online from websites other than this one has a good chance of being innacurate.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.
By default, a familiar cannot make attacks in combat. This does not apply to YOUR familiar because of your Pact Boon. I just want to point this out as a highlight of how your familiar is superior to generic familiars.
When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again.
Standard.
While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.
Scouting.
As an action, you can temporarily dismiss your familiar. It disappears into a pocket dimension where it awaits your summons. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.
Pokeball.
You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.
Your list is the standard list + Pact of the Chain special forms.
Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll.
The good stuff. This is usually the primary reason that people want to have familiars, and why non-Wizards sometimes go out of their way to get one. Since you're a Pact of the Chain Warlock, your familiar has extra bonuses/options available, so let's look at specifically what differs from a standard familiar.
Pact of the Chain
You learn the find familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual. The spell doesn’t count against your number of spells known.
When you cast the spell, you can choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms:imp, pseudodragon, quasit, or sprite.
Additionally, when you take the Attack action, you can forgo one of your own attacks to allow your familiar to make one attack with its reaction.
It is important to note that you don't just learn the spell; you learn the spell, and you can cast it as a ritual. Find Familiar is a ritual spell by default, but Chain Warlocks do not have the Ritual Casting class feature, so being explicitly allowed to cast this as a ritual is important to remember. Further, it doesn't impact your spell list.
Your familiar can take the form of one of the four special creatures listed. These forms have special traits like Magic Resistance & Invisibility.
Your familiar can attack in combat, with the following caveats:
You MUST take the Attack action (no spellcasting except bonus action spells)
You give up one attack for the familiar to make one attack
If you have Extra Attack you and your familiar can each attack once
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
Thanks!
I agree form is (for just the standard spell) where there is the most room for flavoring a familiar. The underlying common requirements are for the creature to be a CR 0 tiny* beast.
Octopus is the only exception to the tiny rule (even including Warlock forms), but that's probably just because there isn't already a tiny version of Octopus (feels lazy to me, but meh). CR 0 is the part that matters the most.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
Thanks!
I agree form is (for just the standard spell) where there is the most room for flavoring a familiar. The underlying common requirements are for the creature to be a CR 0 tiny* beast.
There are some other sources, but they are under the category of DM's discretion. Like the the Tressym from Storm King's Thunder:
"With the DM’s permission, a person who casts thefind familiar spell can choose to conjure a tressym instead of a normal cat."
The Monster Manual lists other possibilities, but they are oriented to either villians, or you have to RP/quest and get a special familiar to bond with you. But these are again up to the DM.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
Thanks!
I agree form is (for just the standard spell) where there is the most room for flavoring a familiar. The underlying common requirements are for the creature to be a CR 0 tiny* beast.
There are some other sources, but they are under the category of DM's discretion. Like the the Tressym from Storm King's Thunder:
"With the DM’s permission, a person who casts the find familiar spell can choose to conjure a tressym instead of a normal cat."
The Monster Manual lists other possibilities, but they are oriented to either villians, or you have to RP/quest and get a special familiar to bond with you. But these are again up to the DM.
Oooh good catch with the Tressym! That's a campaign specific option for Find Familiar.
It is also important to remember that the "special" familiars from MM, DMG, etc. are NOT compatible with the Find Familiar SPELL. Like the Pseudodragon variant familiar (not talking about the Chainlock version) that a character could potentially encounter in game, these are actual living creatures you could bond with, not a celestial/fey/fiend simply assuming the creature's form. These creatures can't be summoned/dismissed to the "pocket dimension", can't be used to deliver touch spells (IIRC, might be wrong on that one), can act on their own, and can permanently die.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
Thanks!
I agree form is (for just the standard spell) where there is the most room for flavoring a familiar. The underlying common requirements are for the creature to be a CR 0 tiny* beast.
There are some other sources, but they are under the category of DM's discretion. Like the the Tressym from Storm King's Thunder:
"With the DM’s permission, a person who casts the find familiar spell can choose to conjure a tressym instead of a normal cat."
The Monster Manual lists other possibilities, but they are oriented to either villians, or you have to RP/quest and get a special familiar to bond with you. But these are again up to the DM.
Oooh good catch with the Tressym! That's a campaign specific option for Find Familiar.
It is also important to remember that the "special" familiars from MM, DMG, etc. are NOT compatible with the Find Familiar SPELL. Like the Pseudodragon variant familiar (not talking about the Chainlock version) that a character could potentially encounter in game, these are actual living creatures you could bond with, not a celestial/fey/fiend simply assuming the creature's form. These creatures can't be summoned/dismissed to the "pocket dimension", can't be used to deliver touch spells (IIRC, might be wrong on that one), can act on their own, and can permanently die.
I don't think you are wrong at all, because it wasn't ever clearly defined in the books (but see below). I would allow the bond to be performed with a variant of the Find Familiar that would allow for the pocket dimension, see through eyes, and the touch spells parts, but not the change its form aspect and rule that dead is dead in that case. The main reason for my thinking is so they didn't have a familiar and a pseudo familiar at the same time. It's still less powerful that the chain lock version.
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
Thanks!
I agree form is (for just the standard spell) where there is the most room for flavoring a familiar. The underlying common requirements are for the creature to be a CR 0 tiny* beast.
Octopus is the only exception to the tiny rule (even including Warlock forms), but that's probably just because there isn't already a tiny version of Octopus (feels lazy to me, but meh). CR 0 is the part that matters the most.
"CR 0 is the part that matters the most."
This is the bit where it doesn't match for the Warlock Pact of the Chain since they can have CR1 familiars...
I have a warlock tiefling with pact of the chain on an imp. If I understand correctly, my familiar can be summoned as any one of many forms plus the pact of the chain options, but when the handbook said it can take the form of a creature I've seen before does that include playable races like tiefling, human, elf ect... ?Basically I want to know if I can have my familiar appear as a butler or servant
TC
Where does it say "it can take the form of a creature I've seen before"? I cant find that in PHB under warlock, pact of the chain, imp, or find familiar.
I think you're confusing Pact of the Chain (Warlock) with Wild Shape (Druid)
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
As Sigred said, I think you are confusing it with wildshape. There is nothing about creatures you have seen that applies to familiars. You can put a butler outfit on an Imp or Sprite though and it would be adorable.
What if your Imp familiar took 2 levels of Druid?
There's a new house rule--a PC can split their EXP between themselves and their familiar, allowing the familiar to choose a class and start leveling up.
(And if the Imp goes Warlock, and Pact of the Chain...Familiar-ception!)
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Then you would be making a Pun-Pun
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
To be honest I've read so much in the past few weeks, ( my first time playing) between multiple phb and online I can't remember where I read it. It very well could have been in the wrong context.
TC
I've never read anything on druids, just sorcerers, warlocks and wizards. They are alike in so many ways that's probably why I'm getting confused. I also remember a list of things your familiar can assume the form of that included a flying sword, I can't find that reference again either.
TC
There's definitely nothing about it turning into a flying sword from official sources. It sounds like you've been reading homebrew content. Information you read online from websites other than this one has a good chance of being innacurate.
And even this one if you wander into Homebrew :)
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
You definitely have to be using inaccurate sources. Find Familiar does not behave in the ways you've described, so how about we just give you a clear, concise explanation.
Let's start with the basics of what Find Familiar does:
These are the basic forms that can be chosen for a familiar.
By default, a familiar cannot make attacks in combat. This does not apply to YOUR familiar because of your Pact Boon. I just want to point this out as a highlight of how your familiar is superior to generic familiars.
Standard.
Scouting.
Pokeball.
Your list is the standard list + Pact of the Chain special forms.
The good stuff. This is usually the primary reason that people want to have familiars, and why non-Wizards sometimes go out of their way to get one. Since you're a Pact of the Chain Warlock, your familiar has extra bonuses/options available, so let's look at specifically what differs from a standard familiar.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Great writeup.
I will add that the form is the place I've seen the most latitude given by DMs, but it's always for specific reasons, and as I've seen it, it's always still just 'small normal animals'. (not talking about Warlocks here)
So for example it would be pretty common for a DM to allow a character to have a dove as a familiar, or a small dog, or a non-poisonous snake. Those are all DM-allowed exceptions, but they're somewhat common. I've never seen anyone allow flying swords or severed heads or 'just anything'.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Thanks!
I agree form is (for just the standard spell) where there is the most room for flavoring a familiar. The underlying common requirements are for the creature to be a CR 0 tiny* beast.
Octopus is the only exception to the tiny rule (even including Warlock forms), but that's probably just because there isn't already a tiny version of Octopus (feels lazy to me, but meh). CR 0 is the part that matters the most.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
There are some other sources, but they are under the category of DM's discretion. Like the the Tressym from Storm King's Thunder:
"With the DM’s permission, a person who casts the find familiar spell can choose to conjure a tressym instead of a normal cat."
The Monster Manual lists other possibilities, but they are oriented to either villians, or you have to RP/quest and get a special familiar to bond with you. But these are again up to the DM.
Now I want a flying severed head as my familiar.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Flying severed animal head.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Oooh good catch with the Tressym! That's a campaign specific option for Find Familiar.
It is also important to remember that the "special" familiars from MM, DMG, etc. are NOT compatible with the Find Familiar SPELL. Like the Pseudodragon variant familiar (not talking about the Chainlock version) that a character could potentially encounter in game, these are actual living creatures you could bond with, not a celestial/fey/fiend simply assuming the creature's form. These creatures can't be summoned/dismissed to the "pocket dimension", can't be used to deliver touch spells (IIRC, might be wrong on that one), can act on their own, and can permanently die.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I don't think you are wrong at all, because it wasn't ever clearly defined in the books (but see below). I would allow the bond to be performed with a variant of the Find Familiar that would allow for the pocket dimension, see through eyes, and the touch spells parts, but not the change its form aspect and rule that dead is dead in that case. The main reason for my thinking is so they didn't have a familiar and a pseudo familiar at the same time. It's still less powerful that the chain lock version.
But the MM versions still were oriented to NPCs per are-the-variant-familiars-rules-intended-for-players-and-npcs-or-just-npcs/ and it all still is up to the DM on how it works.
"CR 0 is the part that matters the most."
This is the bit where it doesn't match for the Warlock Pact of the Chain since they can have CR1 familiars...
You're responding to a post from over 2 years ago. If you have any current things to say about Find Familiar, a new thread is a good idea.