I was reading through the Warlock Find Familiar spell (granted through the pact of the chain) and it says "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."
This got me to thinking what other things in combat would a familiar be able to do.
Cast a spell, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, Search or Use an Object. This is the list of things you can do as an action in combat.
Casting a spell is extremely limited due to very few familiars are able to cast and the ones that are mainly are able to cast things like invisibility.
Dash, Disengage, Dodge and Hide all fall in the same category. They are trying to get the familiar out of harms way.
Help is able to give advantage on the next attack. You could grant yourself or an ally advantage on the next attack roll against a creature.
Search is interesting because you could have a familiar look for a key, switch or make any other sort of perception/investigation roll in the middle of combat.
Use an Object is also very interesting. While a familiar can't make an attack, he could cause something to fall (a barrel or box) or string up a rope or toss a bag of ball bearings across the floor. Basically have a chance to put the enemy in a bad position by knocking them prone.
I understand that most of these would have to be run by a DM and approved. I'm just trying to think of creative ways to use a familiar especially in combat. If any of these don't work for some reason please let me know. (there is always some weird rule I miss on stuff like this) Also if anyone has other creative or interesting uses of a familiar besides scouting ahead or getting a bird's eye trying to find whatever you are tracking.
This is extremely DM dependent, but if Familiars can cast spells out of a Ring of Spell Storing, that is an absolutely huge advantage because it will let the Familiar Concentrate on a spell for the Wizard, freeing the Wizard up to use other spells.
The general consensus (again DMs can always overrule) is that familiars can in fact do all of those combat actions. Non-Warlock familiars, or warlock familiars in 'standard' familiar forms, might not be able to accomplish some tasks for other reasons (no thumbs, not enough intelligence, etc). But the consensus, and I think there's Sage Advice and twitter rulings to back this up, is that a familiar can use a magical item (wand of magic missiles), can Help in combat, etc etc. And, fwiw, a DM ruling it can't do them would be going against RAW. Still the DM's call, but the familiar doing these things is not adding anything to RAW.
I had my invisible imp stealing things from the bad guys' temple just the other day while I waited outside. :)
How many DMs would rule against a familiar doing something to distract the enemy as a type of help? I'm thinking some kind of taunting, perhaps similar to the taunts in Braveheart. It draws the attention of the enemy allowing the rogue to get advantage on an attack.
It's legal and (somewhat) rational. It would also mark the owl as a part of combat and make the target realize this is no normal owl, but an owl who fights with the enemy!
How many DMs would rule against a familiar doing something to distract the enemy as a type of help? I'm thinking some kind of taunting, perhaps similar to the taunts in Braveheart. It draws the attention of the enemy allowing the rogue to get advantage on an attack.
I mean...I'm all for DMs overruling RAW if there's a good reason to (don't ask me about my obsession over houseruled falling damage). But a familiar using the Help action is perfectly RAW, and makes perfect sense to boot. I don't care how tough you are, a raven flying into your face is going to distract you. Or a rat climbing up the inside of your robes. There is no good reason I can see to rule against that. It's not a judgment call, it's RAW, and it also makes sense.
That said, if the tactic becomes OP or even super common, it is also perfectly plausible for that enemy to take one of their actions next turn to swat the low-HP familiar out of the game. No real need to rule against it, just have the enemy eliminate the irritation.
I was thinking more of taunting at a distance versus them being up in the face. Maybe a quasit or an imp making rude gestures, a cat yowling off in the distance or something like that.
This could possibly be applied to what ever versions of minor illusion that allow for movement to have something look like it was drawing a bow or something. (Which I understand is a different mechanic altogether but would fulfill the same result, at least in my mind).
I was thinking more of taunting at a distance versus them being up in the face. Maybe a quasit or an imp making rude gestures, a cat yowling off in the distance or something like that.
This could possibly be applied to what ever versions of minor illusion that allow for movement to have something look like it was drawing a bow or something. (Which I understand is a different mechanic altogether but would fulfill the same result, at least in my mind).
I think it would depend on the usual restrictions on the Help action. The biggest restriction is that you can't use Help in combat from a distance. The action requires the enemy to be within 5 feet of you. I mean...a cat yowling from 20 feet away when you're in life or death combat isn't going to distract anyone :) It'd be like someone just shouting 'Hey!' at you from a distance while you were fighting off an armed mugger. Help requires melee distances, and I wouldn't see why a familiar would be different.
Yeah, the Mastermind rogue subclass gets a feature that explicitly permits them to Help from up to 30ft away if the target can see them, but otherwise you have to be within 5ft.
The creature taking the Help action doesn't have to stay within 5ft though - they can Help and then move away. That's why the owl is so popular as a familiar (esp for Arcane Tricksters). Owls have Flyby, which means they don't provoke opportunity attacks as long as they're flying, so enemies will actually have to burn an Action to take them out.
I'm actually currently playing as a tome warlock so I only have a regular familiar primarily as an owl for the exact reason why most people do. I can get it to assist me (if you want to RP or make it 'realistic' say he rakes his talons at the target or drops some 'pellets' over him, all things that would be within the 5' space) then use the owl ability 'fly by' which would allow it to then escape WITHOUT provoking an opportunity attack.
I've actually had a major discussion with my DM but I found a sage advice tweet and a commonly asked question pdf both stating that you don't need to remain in the 5' space in order to maintain the help (which makes the owl unique, what else would that feature do if every familiar needed to remain until someone else activated the help?) I can link them if anyone needs it.
Back to the OP's first post... as a chain warlock you actually have an upgraded familiar. You're granted 4 special familiars not available anywhere else; the imp, quasit, Sprite or pseudodragon.
The imp and quasit can both turn invisible & shapeshifter (into a selection if tiny creatures) at will. Quasit can also use their action to claw (low damage and poison for 1m) and Scare 1/day.
Imp can fly and use Sting action. Also has devil's sight.
Sprite can also fly. Also invis. Can use short sword or he can shoot his tiny widdle short bow & also inflict poison.
pseudodragon is probably the worse. Can fly & limited telepathy. Also sting. Looking into it, it looks like the 'best' attack - con fail of 11 poisons for an hour, if they fail by 5 or more they actually go straight to unconscious...... but how often is someone going to even fail that throw? Let alone roll a 4 or lower (not even counting bonuses).
IMO, chain familiars rank actually pretty close to each other, though if I had to, I'd go imp due to at will invis AND fly AND shapeshifter. Quasit and Sprite close tie but 'maybe' Sprite due to fly but if they're both invis it should be that bad either way. Pseudodragon bottom bottom. Also, if your DM is strict I think it's also the only one without opposable fingers.
That being said, a chain familiar gives a lot choices. Most just minor improvements to combat (oh, since theyre invisible I don't think they would provoke OoA either) but it most DEFINITELY shines during exploration and RP. At will invis tiny creature with opposable thumbs that you can also see through their mind (that may also be able to fly)? You can literally go almost anywhere unless this place is not just fort Knox but fort Knox with invisible detectors (even then, the 2 fiend ones can shapeshift into an ordinary centipede or cat and just stroll in)
Use chain master whatchamacallit and speak THROUGH your familiar. Who needs cell phones?
I'll admit I'm more combat oriented and not a major RP'er so my uses are limited. Check the internet for some chain uses and you'll see incredibly creative uses.
I agree with most of your analyzes but I will say the 1 thing you forgot about the Pseudodragon is his advantage on perception checks that rely on sight hearing or smell. It is his advantage over the other familiars is he can be a tracker or lookout.
Since we are on the topic, how much information do you allow the familiar to pass on to its owner via telepathic communication?
It seems to me that if the familiar can pass on all info on its turn, there is rarely, if ever, need for the owner to spend their action to perceive through the familiar’s senses.
Since we are on the topic, how much information do you allow the familiar to pass on to its owner via telepathic communication?
It seems to me that if the familiar can pass on all info on its turn, there is rarely, if ever, need for the owner to spend their action to perceive through the familiar’s senses.
As always, will depend on the familiar of course. I don't see the link as for example saying that the familiar would have photographic memory. So if you send your owl into a room to sneak a peek at an open book on the desk, the owl won't be able to tell you later what was written in the book. The owl doesn't know, and I'd rule that it couldn't even give you a good mental image of the page later on via telepathy. But if you are looking through its eyes, you could read the page.
Likewise, my warlock currently has a familiar that I'm playing intentionally as not perfectly reliable. He'll do what I ask of course. But if I ask him to go to a town square and look around, and he comes back and I ask him only then "Oh, did you see a guy in a green cloak with a beard?" he might say "I don't know, I saw a bunch of humans, you guys all look alike." (As opposed to if I tell him to look for the guy with the beard, which he could do.) I'm playing him that way on purpose, just as a safeguard against having my familiar take over a lot of the action/risk of the players. But it's plausible that an imp would see the world that way :)
The other reason to use the senses is if you need to be seeing it right now. One of the first uses of my familiar when I got him was to fly around to the door on the opposite side of a room, and we coordinated him opening that door just before we burst in through our door, to better insure surprise. I wanted to be able to see through his senses at that other door (which I'd never been to) before giving him the 'go' to start the ambush. If he just says "there's a guy here", I want to be able to see who it is.
And if you rule that telepathy involves complex and detailed 'mental images', you are stepping on the 'share senses' ability too much.
I use the telepathy spell as a guideline for what can be communicated to/from a familair:
"You create a telepathic link between yourself and a willing creature with which you are familiar. <snip>
Until the spell ends, you and the target can instantaneously share words, images, sounds, and other sensory messages with one another through the link, and the target recognizes you as the creature it is communicating with. The spell enables a creature with an Intelligence score of at least 1 to understand the meaning of your words and take in the scope of any sensory messages you send to it."
But most familiars don't have a language in their stat block, so I don't think they can go listen on a converstation and then come back and tell you what was said or understand verbal requests from other party members. But sharing images of who was present and their general actions (were they yelling or fighting or talking) seems reasonable. If you had a raven familiar with its mimicry ability, I think you could get more information -- it can reproduce sounds that it heard and relay them to you, but not understand the meaning of those words (because they lack language).
As for what familiars can do, I say that they can do anything an equivalent animal in the real world can be trained to do. Since they obey their master, they are motivated to do what is asked of them and telepathy eliminates any communication barrier. Trained animals can know hunderds of behaviors and understand hundreds of cues. I rull that because motivation and communication issues are solved, it isn't necessary to spend lots of time training. You can make the request and the familiar does it (if physically capable).
But most familiars don't have a language in their stat block, so I don't think they can go listen on a converstation and then come back and tell you what was said or understand verbal requests from other party members. But sharing images of who was present and their general actions (were they yelling or fighting or talking) seems reasonable. If you had a raven familiar with its mimicry ability, I think you could get more information -- it can reproduce sounds that it heard and relay them to you, but not understand the meaning of those words (because they lack language).
If we're talking about the chain lock familiars then all of them understand and speak common, except the pseudodragon which still knows it but can't speak it.
As for what familiars can do, I say that they can do anything an equivalent animal in the real world can be trained to do. Since they obey their master, they are motivated to do what is asked of them and telepathy eliminates any communication barrier. Trained animals can know hunderds of behaviors and understand hundreds of cues. I rull that because motivation and communication issues are solved, it isn't necessary to spend lots of time training. You can make the request and the familiar does it (if physically capable).
I would say that they're at least little smarter than the average animal. As a magical creature that is also a fey/fiend/celestial it should have a little more awareness and consciousness than the average frog
Imp has 11 int. Pseudodragon has 10. Quasit has 7. Sprite has 14.
Other than that. I hear you. though it does have SOME greater intelligence from RAW in that it understands and obeys your command. Good luck getting your normal house cat or quipper fish to listen to you.
Not to derail, this is a related issue that just occurred to me and I'd like to get everyone's opinion.
Setup: I the warlock send my Imp familiar along with another party member, Fred, to go do some sort of adventure thing (details unimportant). I just tell my familiar "Go with Fred, and do whatever he tells you to do." (This part isn't my question, so I'd rather avoid 'would that work' questions--if you'd like, substitute any command you think would be necessary..."Go with Fred and help him scout, go with Fred and do what he says unless he says to hurt yourself, etc etc.) The point, Fred and my Imp familiar go off together, without me. They travel well away from me, more than 100 feet and outside my telepathy and 'see through its senses' range. So the Imp is alone, following my commands to help Fred. Okay. I don't think there's any problem with that, I'd certainly allow it as a DM, can't think of any RAW not to.
The Issue: Fred and Imp get into combat.
The Question: Can the Imp familiar attack their opponent during that combat?
My RAW Answer: No, because I the warlock am not in combat, don't know what's going on, and thus cannot 'give' my attack to the Imp. The imp could take other actions--Help, for example, but doesn't have an attack of its own.
What would any of you think the ruling should be? RAW? Or allow an attack? Or am I wrong and RAW would allow an attack? I as a DM would allow it. I see the main reason for the Imp not having an attack of its own as simply game balance. Letting the warlock essentially have two attacks is too much. But without the warlock character there, it's not a balance issue. If I told the Imp to 'help Fred', I'd let the imp in the warlock's absence attack the monster trying to kill Fred.
I was reading through the Warlock Find Familiar spell (granted through the pact of the chain) and it says "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."
This got me to thinking what other things in combat would a familiar be able to do.
Cast a spell, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, Search or Use an Object. This is the list of things you can do as an action in combat.
Casting a spell is extremely limited due to very few familiars are able to cast and the ones that are mainly are able to cast things like invisibility.
Dash, Disengage, Dodge and Hide all fall in the same category. They are trying to get the familiar out of harms way.
Help is able to give advantage on the next attack. You could grant yourself or an ally advantage on the next attack roll against a creature.
Search is interesting because you could have a familiar look for a key, switch or make any other sort of perception/investigation roll in the middle of combat.
Use an Object is also very interesting. While a familiar can't make an attack, he could cause something to fall (a barrel or box) or string up a rope or toss a bag of ball bearings across the floor. Basically have a chance to put the enemy in a bad position by knocking them prone.
I understand that most of these would have to be run by a DM and approved. I'm just trying to think of creative ways to use a familiar especially in combat. If any of these don't work for some reason please let me know. (there is always some weird rule I miss on stuff like this) Also if anyone has other creative or interesting uses of a familiar besides scouting ahead or getting a bird's eye trying to find whatever you are tracking.
This is extremely DM dependent, but if Familiars can cast spells out of a Ring of Spell Storing, that is an absolutely huge advantage because it will let the Familiar Concentrate on a spell for the Wizard, freeing the Wizard up to use other spells.
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The general consensus (again DMs can always overrule) is that familiars can in fact do all of those combat actions. Non-Warlock familiars, or warlock familiars in 'standard' familiar forms, might not be able to accomplish some tasks for other reasons (no thumbs, not enough intelligence, etc). But the consensus, and I think there's Sage Advice and twitter rulings to back this up, is that a familiar can use a magical item (wand of magic missiles), can Help in combat, etc etc. And, fwiw, a DM ruling it can't do them would be going against RAW. Still the DM's call, but the familiar doing these things is not adding anything to RAW.
I had my invisible imp stealing things from the bad guys' temple just the other day while I waited outside. :)
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Familiar uses Help Action to help Rogue. Rouge gets Sneak Attack, it's what I mostly see.
99% of the time, yeah and it's just about always an owl.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
How many DMs would rule against a familiar doing something to distract the enemy as a type of help? I'm thinking some kind of taunting, perhaps similar to the taunts in Braveheart. It draws the attention of the enemy allowing the rogue to get advantage on an attack.
It's legal and (somewhat) rational. It would also mark the owl as a part of combat and make the target realize this is no normal owl, but an owl who fights with the enemy!
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I mean...I'm all for DMs overruling RAW if there's a good reason to (don't ask me about my obsession over houseruled falling damage). But a familiar using the Help action is perfectly RAW, and makes perfect sense to boot. I don't care how tough you are, a raven flying into your face is going to distract you. Or a rat climbing up the inside of your robes. There is no good reason I can see to rule against that. It's not a judgment call, it's RAW, and it also makes sense.
That said, if the tactic becomes OP or even super common, it is also perfectly plausible for that enemy to take one of their actions next turn to swat the low-HP familiar out of the game. No real need to rule against it, just have the enemy eliminate the irritation.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
I was thinking more of taunting at a distance versus them being up in the face. Maybe a quasit or an imp making rude gestures, a cat yowling off in the distance or something like that.
This could possibly be applied to what ever versions of minor illusion that allow for movement to have something look like it was drawing a bow or something. (Which I understand is a different mechanic altogether but would fulfill the same result, at least in my mind).
I think it would depend on the usual restrictions on the Help action. The biggest restriction is that you can't use Help in combat from a distance. The action requires the enemy to be within 5 feet of you. I mean...a cat yowling from 20 feet away when you're in life or death combat isn't going to distract anyone :) It'd be like someone just shouting 'Hey!' at you from a distance while you were fighting off an armed mugger. Help requires melee distances, and I wouldn't see why a familiar would be different.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Yeah, the Mastermind rogue subclass gets a feature that explicitly permits them to Help from up to 30ft away if the target can see them, but otherwise you have to be within 5ft.
The creature taking the Help action doesn't have to stay within 5ft though - they can Help and then move away. That's why the owl is so popular as a familiar (esp for Arcane Tricksters). Owls have Flyby, which means they don't provoke opportunity attacks as long as they're flying, so enemies will actually have to burn an Action to take them out.
I'm actually currently playing as a tome warlock so I only have a regular familiar primarily as an owl for the exact reason why most people do. I can get it to assist me (if you want to RP or make it 'realistic' say he rakes his talons at the target or drops some 'pellets' over him, all things that would be within the 5' space) then use the owl ability 'fly by' which would allow it to then escape WITHOUT provoking an opportunity attack.
I've actually had a major discussion with my DM but I found a sage advice tweet and a commonly asked question pdf both stating that you don't need to remain in the 5' space in order to maintain the help (which makes the owl unique, what else would that feature do if every familiar needed to remain until someone else activated the help?) I can link them if anyone needs it.
Back to the OP's first post... as a chain warlock you actually have an upgraded familiar. You're granted 4 special familiars not available anywhere else; the imp, quasit, Sprite or pseudodragon.
The imp and quasit can both turn invisible & shapeshifter (into a selection if tiny creatures) at will. Quasit can also use their action to claw (low damage and poison for 1m) and Scare 1/day.
Imp can fly and use Sting action. Also has devil's sight.
Sprite can also fly. Also invis. Can use short sword or he can shoot his tiny widdle short bow & also inflict poison.
pseudodragon is probably the worse. Can fly & limited telepathy. Also sting. Looking into it, it looks like the 'best' attack - con fail of 11 poisons for an hour, if they fail by 5 or more they actually go straight to unconscious...... but how often is someone going to even fail that throw? Let alone roll a 4 or lower (not even counting bonuses).
IMO, chain familiars rank actually pretty close to each other, though if I had to, I'd go imp due to at will invis AND fly AND shapeshifter. Quasit and Sprite close tie but 'maybe' Sprite due to fly but if they're both invis it should be that bad either way. Pseudodragon bottom bottom. Also, if your DM is strict I think it's also the only one without opposable fingers.
That being said, a chain familiar gives a lot choices. Most just minor improvements to combat (oh, since theyre invisible I don't think they would provoke OoA either) but it most DEFINITELY shines during exploration and RP. At will invis tiny creature with opposable thumbs that you can also see through their mind (that may also be able to fly)? You can literally go almost anywhere unless this place is not just fort Knox but fort Knox with invisible detectors (even then, the 2 fiend ones can shapeshift into an ordinary centipede or cat and just stroll in)
Use chain master whatchamacallit and speak THROUGH your familiar. Who needs cell phones?
I'll admit I'm more combat oriented and not a major RP'er so my uses are limited. Check the internet for some chain uses and you'll see incredibly creative uses.
Good luck
I agree with most of your analyzes but I will say the 1 thing you forgot about the Pseudodragon is his advantage on perception checks that rely on sight hearing or smell. It is his advantage over the other familiars is he can be a tracker or lookout.
Since we are on the topic, how much information do you allow the familiar to pass on to its owner via telepathic communication?
It seems to me that if the familiar can pass on all info on its turn, there is rarely, if ever, need for the owner to spend their action to perceive through the familiar’s senses.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
As always, will depend on the familiar of course. I don't see the link as for example saying that the familiar would have photographic memory. So if you send your owl into a room to sneak a peek at an open book on the desk, the owl won't be able to tell you later what was written in the book. The owl doesn't know, and I'd rule that it couldn't even give you a good mental image of the page later on via telepathy. But if you are looking through its eyes, you could read the page.
Likewise, my warlock currently has a familiar that I'm playing intentionally as not perfectly reliable. He'll do what I ask of course. But if I ask him to go to a town square and look around, and he comes back and I ask him only then "Oh, did you see a guy in a green cloak with a beard?" he might say "I don't know, I saw a bunch of humans, you guys all look alike." (As opposed to if I tell him to look for the guy with the beard, which he could do.) I'm playing him that way on purpose, just as a safeguard against having my familiar take over a lot of the action/risk of the players. But it's plausible that an imp would see the world that way :)
The other reason to use the senses is if you need to be seeing it right now. One of the first uses of my familiar when I got him was to fly around to the door on the opposite side of a room, and we coordinated him opening that door just before we burst in through our door, to better insure surprise. I wanted to be able to see through his senses at that other door (which I'd never been to) before giving him the 'go' to start the ambush. If he just says "there's a guy here", I want to be able to see who it is.
And if you rule that telepathy involves complex and detailed 'mental images', you are stepping on the 'share senses' ability too much.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
I use the telepathy spell as a guideline for what can be communicated to/from a familair:
"You create a telepathic link between yourself and a willing creature with which you are familiar. <snip>
Until the spell ends, you and the target can instantaneously share words, images, sounds, and other sensory messages with one another through the link, and the target recognizes you as the creature it is communicating with. The spell enables a creature with an Intelligence score of at least 1 to understand the meaning of your words and take in the scope of any sensory messages you send to it."
But most familiars don't have a language in their stat block, so I don't think they can go listen on a converstation and then come back and tell you what was said or understand verbal requests from other party members. But sharing images of who was present and their general actions (were they yelling or fighting or talking) seems reasonable. If you had a raven familiar with its mimicry ability, I think you could get more information -- it can reproduce sounds that it heard and relay them to you, but not understand the meaning of those words (because they lack language).
As for what familiars can do, I say that they can do anything an equivalent animal in the real world can be trained to do. Since they obey their master, they are motivated to do what is asked of them and telepathy eliminates any communication barrier. Trained animals can know hunderds of behaviors and understand hundreds of cues. I rull that because motivation and communication issues are solved, it isn't necessary to spend lots of time training. You can make the request and the familiar does it (if physically capable).
If we're talking about the chain lock familiars then all of them understand and speak common, except the pseudodragon which still knows it but can't speak it.
I would say that they're at least little smarter than the average animal. As a magical creature that is also a fey/fiend/celestial it should have a little more awareness and consciousness than the average frog
By RAW familiars get the stat block of the form they've been summoned into.
None of the non-chain lock familiars have langauge in their stat block.
And the non-chain lock familiars have low intellegence (1-3).
Imp has 11 int. Pseudodragon has 10. Quasit has 7. Sprite has 14.
Other than that. I hear you. though it does have SOME greater intelligence from RAW in that it understands and obeys your command. Good luck getting your normal house cat or quipper fish to listen to you.
Not to derail, this is a related issue that just occurred to me and I'd like to get everyone's opinion.
Setup: I the warlock send my Imp familiar along with another party member, Fred, to go do some sort of adventure thing (details unimportant). I just tell my familiar "Go with Fred, and do whatever he tells you to do." (This part isn't my question, so I'd rather avoid 'would that work' questions--if you'd like, substitute any command you think would be necessary..."Go with Fred and help him scout, go with Fred and do what he says unless he says to hurt yourself, etc etc.) The point, Fred and my Imp familiar go off together, without me. They travel well away from me, more than 100 feet and outside my telepathy and 'see through its senses' range. So the Imp is alone, following my commands to help Fred. Okay. I don't think there's any problem with that, I'd certainly allow it as a DM, can't think of any RAW not to.
The Issue: Fred and Imp get into combat.
The Question: Can the Imp familiar attack their opponent during that combat?
My RAW Answer: No, because I the warlock am not in combat, don't know what's going on, and thus cannot 'give' my attack to the Imp. The imp could take other actions--Help, for example, but doesn't have an attack of its own.
What would any of you think the ruling should be? RAW? Or allow an attack? Or am I wrong and RAW would allow an attack? I as a DM would allow it. I see the main reason for the Imp not having an attack of its own as simply game balance. Letting the warlock essentially have two attacks is too much. But without the warlock character there, it's not a balance issue. If I told the Imp to 'help Fred', I'd let the imp in the warlock's absence attack the monster trying to kill Fred.
Thoughts?
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)