It means that your familiar can deliver a touch spell for you using their reaction, which in turn means that they still have their own action and movement available but they are unable to use any other "thing" they can do that would require the use of their reaction.
In more simple terms: the familiar can move, use an action and still deliver your touch spell "for free"
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
TL;DR. Yes a familiar can deliver a touch attack, but I've generally found it suboptimal because the familiar and wizard don't act together on a single initiative. 1) For defensive spell used to help the party it works great 2) For offensive spells it puts the familiar at great risk 3) It's possible to do it on the familiar's turn but this is very risky
IF you want to have the familiar use a touch spell. 1) Familiar moves into melee with an ally on it's turn. The Wizard casts a spell on it's turn and the Familiar uses it's Reaction to deliver the spell.
2) Familiar moves into melee with an ally on it's turn. The Wizard casts a spell on it's turn and the Familiar uses it's Reaction to deliver the spell. This is very dangerous because your 1 HP familiar is now in melee with an enemy!
3) Lets say the Wizard goes 1st in initiative. The Wizard chooses to Ready a Spell when the familiar is in melee with an enemy. This means you cast the spell and are now concentrating on it until the familiar's turn. Which means if you take any damage, you roll Concentration not to lose the spell. On the familiar's turn it gets into melee range of the target (either friendly or enemy) and the Wizard uses a Reaction to use the Readied Action to cast the spell while the familiar uses it's Reaction to deliver the spell. The familiar is now free to finish it's Action and Movement on its turn.
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I'm confused on the ability for familars to cast touch spells as a reaction. Can someone explain this please
It means that your familiar can deliver a touch spell for you using their reaction, which in turn means that they still have their own action and movement available but they are unable to use any other "thing" they can do that would require the use of their reaction.
In more simple terms: the familiar can move, use an action and still deliver your touch spell "for free"
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
I recommend reading these two threads to help explain
Choice of Familiar
Familiar Helping in Combat
TL;DR.
Yes a familiar can deliver a touch attack, but I've generally found it suboptimal because the familiar and wizard don't act together on a single initiative.
1) For defensive spell used to help the party it works great
2) For offensive spells it puts the familiar at great risk
3) It's possible to do it on the familiar's turn but this is very risky
IF you want to have the familiar use a touch spell.
1) Familiar moves into melee with an ally on it's turn. The Wizard casts a spell on it's turn and the Familiar uses it's Reaction to deliver the spell.
2) Familiar moves into melee with an ally on it's turn. The Wizard casts a spell on it's turn and the Familiar uses it's Reaction to deliver the spell. This is very dangerous because your 1 HP familiar is now in melee with an enemy!
3) Lets say the Wizard goes 1st in initiative. The Wizard chooses to Ready a Spell when the familiar is in melee with an enemy. This means you cast the spell and are now concentrating on it until the familiar's turn. Which means if you take any damage, you roll Concentration not to lose the spell. On the familiar's turn it gets into melee range of the target (either friendly or enemy) and the Wizard uses a Reaction to use the Readied Action to cast the spell while the familiar uses it's Reaction to deliver the spell. The familiar is now free to finish it's Action and Movement on its turn.