The Find Familiar spell stipulates a range of 100 ft for seeing through your familiars eyes. 

"...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..."

Neither hawks nor ravens stay within 100 ft in any instance of flight, does this mean a 100 ft radius ground distance?  Even that makes no sense for flying my bird - it's just way too small of an area. For the sake of discussion, not talking about the owl, bat, or other familars - just the hawk and raven.

How do you guys handle this RAW range for Hawk and Raven familiars?

Thanks!

They can still move beyond that range, you just can't communicate with them until they circle back.

Well that's a wet blanket - what other animal did I want to "see through their eyes", the weasel?

At least your answer gives functional benefit, Marc Singer would cry.

100 ft high is seriously amazing advantage point. It can help you scout without issue. If you want further range use Clairvoyance, Arcane Eye or Scrying. I mean, what is the point of these spells if you can achieve their effects with an always on level 1 spell that cannot be dispelled?

It's a low level spell and is the most versatile and functional 1st level spell in all of D&D. These limits are piddly, be happy with the (seriously generous) amount you can already do with it. Outside on a clear day your familiar can, while keeping within 100 ft of you, scout a radius around you of maybe 30 miles easily. What more do you freakin' want?

Quote from Silvatomorrow >>

 

At least your answer gives functional benefit, Marc Singer would cry.

 Bravo! I wonder how many people would know that reference?

Cyb3rM1nd pretty much nailed it. Yes, the familiar must stay within 100 feet but that doesn't put a limit on how far it can see.

 Outside on a clear day your familiar can, while keeping within 100 ft of you, scout a radius around you of maybe 30 miles easily. What more do you freakin' want?

I understand the game balance issues, but there are other ways of balancing spells than limiting your hawk or raven familiar to a distance which precludes normal flight - these birds will jump up to over 100 ft instantly, now oops, telepathic link and seeing through their eyes is gone upon launch. 

As far as spell balance vs being L1 - I'm still getting used to 5e after not playing at all for over 30 years, and the AD&D version was very different.

Anyway, question has been asked and answered, appreciate all the responses.

A pact of the chain warlock with voice of the chain master can have an unlimited range (within same plane) on the connection to the familiar. The familiar will likely be an Imp or Sprite, not hawk though.

Quote from Unruly_Cow >>

A pact of the chain warlock with voice of the chain master can have an unlimited range (within same plane) on the connection to the familiar. The familiar will likely be an Imp or Sprite, not hawk though.

 
You choose the familiar. The pact of the chain just gives you more options to choose from. If a DM forces a choice, they're being a bit of a dick.

Quote from Silvatomorrow>>

I understand the game balance issues, but there are other ways of balancing spells than limiting your hawk or raven familiar to a distance which precludes normal flight - these birds will jump up to over 100 ft instantly, now oops, telepathic link and seeing through their eyes is gone upon launch. 

The rules don't enforce realistic flight physics. D&D's flying rules allow your hawk to stay within 90 feet of the ground.

I'm failing to see a real problem here. In real life, you can't see telepathically through the eyes of birds even a little bit. This is awesome. It's not meant to give you all the experience of being a bird. If you need a telepathic link to see beyond where you can normally, have them perch in a nearby tree.

Quote from mattdm >>

I'm failing to see a real problem here. In real life, you can't see telepathically through the eyes of birds even a little bit. This is awesome. It's not meant to give you all the experience of being a bird. If you need a telepathic link to see beyond where you can normally, have them perch in a nearby tree.

What I fail to see is why this is a problem for birds, but not for other types of familiars.  The fact that birds can reach beyond the range of the ability faster than other familiars is not, in any way I can think of, limiting to birds.  It makes them better at it: if you need to spy on something that's 100' away, you can do it with a bird in one round, while it would take you 3 rounds with your rat familiar.  It's like claiming magic weapons have a problem, because they hit more often and do more damage. o_O

Unless you are on a treeless plain, a bird familiar could perch while you see with its eyes. A kestrel (a small falcon) can hover in real life so even treeless plains aren’t a problem. I have no idea how small of a circle birds can make while flying but if I was the DM, I would assume that it can circle and stay in range.

Quote from Trirhabda >>

Unless you are on a treeless plain, a bird familiar could perch while you see with its eyes. A kestrel (a small falcon) can hover in real life so even treeless plains aren’t a problem. I have no idea how small of a circle birds can make while flying but if I was the DM, I would assume that it can circle and stay in range.

Birds can also stand on the ground.  Also, regardless of real-life physics and avian physiology, there's nothing in the game stopping the bird from not moving, even while in the air.  It would fall if it lost the ability to fly, was knocked prone, or had its speed reduced to 0, but while it is able to fly, is not prone, and has a positive speed, there's nothing in the rules forcing it to actually move in order to stay aloft.

I still fail to see how the "warg" ability is somehow useless, or lost on, or limited for birds as familiars, as opposed to other types of familiars.

(Trirhabda, I realize you weren't disagreeing with me, or even posting an opposing argument to mine.  Just wanted to clarify that, since upon re-reading my post, I realize it can be read as a refutation of your post.  It's not!)

There is also this part: 

"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."

It seems to ME that that means the person who has their familiar out, can ONLY see and hear through it, for 6 seconds at a time, and ONLY so long as it is within 100 feet of the person.  That is how that reads to me.

Quote from Tonio >>

What I fail to see is why this is a problem for birds, but not for other types of familiars.  The fact that birds can reach beyond the range of the ability faster than other familiars is not, in any way I can think of, limiting to birds.  It makes them better at it: if you need to spy on something that's 100' away, you can do it with a bird in one round, while it would take you 3 rounds with your rat familiar.  It's like claiming magic weapons have a problem, because they hit more often and do more damage. o_O

I mean, I can see OP's point to some degree. It's not about the fact that the bird is out of range faster.. it's that the normal behavior of the bird means it will be out of range almost immediately, before you even get a chance to look through its eyes (if it dashes, it can be out of range before you even get your turn).

Remember that Find Familiar does not mean you get to remote control your Familiar like a drone, and the familiar has the stats (including intelligence) of the animal form it takes. That means "simply don't let your familiar fly that high" is not necessarily something that is in your control. Even if you tell the bird to "stay low", the bird might have a different idea of what "low" is, since circling below 100ft might not be something it would ever even consider.

Quote from DerManiac >>

Quote from Tonio >>

What I fail to see is why this is a problem for birds, but not for other types of familiars.  The fact that birds can reach beyond the range of the ability faster than other familiars is not, in any way I can think of, limiting to birds.  It makes them better at it: if you need to spy on something that's 100' away, you can do it with a bird in one round, while it would take you 3 rounds with your rat familiar.  It's like claiming magic weapons have a problem, because they hit more often and do more damage. o_O

 

I mean, I can see OP's point to some degree. It's not about the fact that the bird is out of range faster.. it's that the normal behavior of the bird means it will be out of range almost immediately, before you even get a chance to look through its eyes (if it dashes, it can be out of range before you even get your turn).

Remember that Find Familiar does not mean you get to remote control your Familiar like a drone, and the familiar has the stats (including intelligence) of the animal form it takes. That means "simply don't let your familiar fly that high" is not necessarily something that is in your control. Even if you tell the bird to "stay low", the bird might have a different idea of what "low" is, since circling below 100ft might not be something it would ever even consider.

 
Kinda incorrect since you can communicate telepathically and it MUST obey your orders. If you say "don't fly higher than 100 ft" it will be unable to fly higher than 100 ft, whether it even understands that or not. 

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >> 

Kinda incorrect since you can communicate telepathically and it MUST obey your orders. If you say "don't fly higher than 100 ft" it will be unable to fly higher than 100 ft, whether it even understands that or not. 

I disagree. It will obey you to the best of its abilities. It doesn't make it omniscient and omnipotent. To use an exaggerated example: If you tell it to destroy the world, that doesn't mean it suddenly gets knowledge of how to best destroy the world just because the phrasing of the spell description leaves no room for error.

If you tell it "don't fly higher than 100ft" it will first need to gain knowledge of what 100ft is. I'd even argue that not even the PC would be able to look up and judge accurately how far 100ft in the air is... Perhaps if there is a reference point, like "fly no higher than the top of these trees", that would work.

Perhaps you can train the familiar to over time learn what 100ft is... I would say that's up to the DM and what the DM thinks an INT 2 creature is capable of.

Quote from DerManiac >>

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >> 

Kinda incorrect since you can communicate telepathically and it MUST obey your orders. If you say "don't fly higher than 100 ft" it will be unable to fly higher than 100 ft, whether it even understands that or not. 

 

I disagree. It will obey you to the best of its abilities. It doesn't make it omniscient and omnipotent. To use an exaggerated example: If you tell it to destroy the world, that doesn't mean it suddenly gets knowledge of how to best destroy the world because the phrasing of the spell description leaves no room for error.

If you tell it "don't fly higher than 100ft" it will first need to gain knowledge of what 100ft is. I'd even argue that not even the PC would be able to look up and judge accurately how far 100ft in the air is... Perhaps if there is a reference point, like "fly no higher than the top of these trees", that would work.

Perhaps you can train the familiar to over time learn what 100ft is... I would say that's up to the DM and what the DM thinks an INT 2 creature is capable of.

 
OK, lets go RAI route.

My way, which is also used by the people who made the game and shown in their streams and events: spiffy.

Your way: renders it [REDACTED] useless.

Which do you think is the intent?

It's D&D, not a simulator. Find Familiar is a game element not designed to mimic real birds or accurately portray anything.

It's magic, not science.

I mean, just because you give it an order doesn't mean it magically knows where 100' is, especially if you then go and move. Besides, with a hawk, you might give it an order like "Go circle that lake half a mile away and come back and tell me what you see" just as reasonably as "Go sit on that tree branch nearby and wait to swoop in on my enemy."