If the familiar has a sense that the wizard doesn't (for example, electricity sense or magnetism sense), can the wizard use it through the familiar?
If the wizard is of a naturally blind race (i.e. no eyes and no concept of vision), can they see through their familiar's eyes?
I've seen "use a familiar" suggested as a workaround for blind races, but I'm not sure its something that would work. If you have no concept of vision then how to you make any sense of what your familar is sensing?
"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."
Find Familiar Spell
Basic Rules p. 240
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
I've seen "use a familiar" suggested as a workaround for blind races, but I'm not sure its something that would work. If you have no concept of vision then how to you make any sense of what your familar is sensing?
Magic. That definitely a thing that can only be accomplished because we're talking about magic.
The link between the familiar and the spellcaster is created by a spell, so the ability to use the familiar's senses is being created by that spell too, and is a "spell effect", so yeah, magic.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
If the familiar has a sense that the wizard doesn't (for example, electricity sense or magnetism sense), can the wizard use it through the familiar?
If the wizard is of a naturally blind race (i.e. no eyes and no concept of vision), can they see through their familiar's eyes?
I've seen "use a familiar" suggested as a workaround for blind races, but I'm not sure its something that would work. If you have no concept of vision then how to you make any sense of what your familar is sensing?
See Wysperra's post. Your DM will need to interpret "special senses" for you, but generally speaking:
You can see and hear through the familiar even if you can't do either with your own senses.
Sensory "upgrades" a familiar has that apply to seeing and hearing generally apply, such as keen sight, keen hearing, darkvision, devil's sight, truesight, and blindsight (see caveat below).
You can't smell, taste, or feel through the familiar.
This may mean you can't use a familiar's blindsight through the familiar if you've managed to find one that uses these senses for it (grimlocks do but also have the hearing-based kind, not sure if anything you can have as a familiar has scent-vision but lacks hearing-vision).
This usually means you can't use tremorsense (which is touch-based) and always means you can't use Keen Smell through the familiar.
For other senses that have nothing to do with item 2 above, you also can't use them through the familiar.
If you have a specific familiar in mind, we can go over this in more detail.
Quindraco, you are incorrect. The Find Familiar specifically says "gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. "
It specifically says "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." It does not provide any mechanism for gaining the benefits of special senses through the familiar. Whether or not you gain these senses from your own body while remote sensing is a different conversation.
All the senses you mentioned are clearly special senses. There is no qualification of only sight/hearing based special senses.
It is also a different conversation whether or not smell, taste, and touch are "special". As noted above, the qualification of only sight/hearing explicitly exists as a limitation on what you can perceive through the familiar.
Yes, earlier it only mentions sight and hearing, but where the large print took away, the fine print returneth.
Incorrect. See below for an alternate presentation of the fine print which may be easier to understand.
While you do not get normal scent, taste, touch, you do get the special versions.
Double plus ultra incorrect. There is no text anywhere in find familiar distinguishing normal scent from special scent. As an example, there is simply no rules basis for failing to gain "normal" scent but succeeding in gaining Keen Smelling.
Here's the original sentence again, and then the sentence re-arranged into a grammatically identical form that may be easier to understand.
Original: "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."
Rearranged: "As an action, you can bollywoggle. Bollywoggling lasts until the start of your next turn and lets you see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn. While bollywoggling, you also gain the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has."
The critical difference between your reading and what the text actually says: The text does a) let you remotely see and hear and b) let you benefit from special senses. It does not let you remotely benefit from any senses which are neither seeing nor hearing. The best example I can think of is Keen Smell: If your DM rules that Keen Smell is a special sense, then while remotely sensing through your familiar, your own nose will benefit from Keen Smell. However, the spell has no text letting you smell through your familiar's nose.
If the familiar has a sense that the wizard doesn't (for example, electricity sense or magnetism sense), can the wizard use it through the familiar?
If the wizard is of a naturally blind race (i.e. no eyes and no concept of vision), can they see through their familiar's eyes?
I've seen "use a familiar" suggested as a workaround for blind races, but I'm not sure its something that would work. If you have no concept of vision then how to you make any sense of what your familar is sensing?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
It sound like you might be dealing with homebrew and that might change things, but RAW you use the senses the familiar has.
Magic. That definitely a thing that can only be accomplished because we're talking about magic.
The link between the familiar and the spellcaster is created by a spell, so the ability to use the familiar's senses is being created by that spell too, and is a "spell effect", so yeah, magic.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Short Answer: YES
Long Answer: Not only can you do so in game, but
You can do so in real life too!I, and I presume you, are a normal human being that does not have echolocation sense, as seen in Bats, Whales, Dolphins, Dormice, et. al. have.
But if you go blind, then you can take lessons from World Access for The Blind and learn how to echolocate.
So not only can you do it in game, but it is totally realistic.
Basically, your brain is a lot more flexible and capable than most think it is.
See Wysperra's post. Your DM will need to interpret "special senses" for you, but generally speaking:
If you have a specific familiar in mind, we can go over this in more detail.
Quindraco, you are incorrect. The Find Familiar specifically says "gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. "
All the senses you mentioned are clearly special senses. There is no qualification of only sight/hearing based special senses.
Yes, earlier it only mentions sight and hearing, but where the large print took away, the fine print returneth.
While you do not get normal scent, taste, touch, you do get the special versions.
It specifically says "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." It does not provide any mechanism for gaining the benefits of special senses through the familiar. Whether or not you gain these senses from your own body while remote sensing is a different conversation.
It is also a different conversation whether or not smell, taste, and touch are "special". As noted above, the qualification of only sight/hearing explicitly exists as a limitation on what you can perceive through the familiar.
Incorrect. See below for an alternate presentation of the fine print which may be easier to understand.
Double plus ultra incorrect. There is no text anywhere in find familiar distinguishing normal scent from special scent. As an example, there is simply no rules basis for failing to gain "normal" scent but succeeding in gaining Keen Smelling.
Here's the original sentence again, and then the sentence re-arranged into a grammatically identical form that may be easier to understand.
Original: "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."
Rearranged: "As an action, you can bollywoggle. Bollywoggling lasts until the start of your next turn and lets you see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn. While bollywoggling, you also gain the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has."
The critical difference between your reading and what the text actually says: The text does a) let you remotely see and hear and b) let you benefit from special senses. It does not let you remotely benefit from any senses which are neither seeing nor hearing. The best example I can think of is Keen Smell: If your DM rules that Keen Smell is a special sense, then while remotely sensing through your familiar, your own nose will benefit from Keen Smell. However, the spell has no text letting you smell through your familiar's nose.