Post by Azral on Jul 8, 2014 14:23:28 GMT
Rules of the Game Familiars (Part One)
Managing a familiar can prove taxing for DMs and players alike. Exactly how vulnerable is a familiar during combat? What can the master do to protect the familiar? What happens to the familiar when the master and familiar must enter a dangerous environment together, such as traversing a fiery corridor or going underwater? Exactly what can the familiar communicate with the master?
We'll examine all these questions, and a few more, in this series. Much of the material in this series is drawn from the familiars section of Tome & Blood, which Bruce Cordell and I wrote. Material taken from Tome & Blood has been updated to fit the current D&D game rules.
This month, we solicited questions on this topic via the message boards (on this thread). Thanks to all those players who took the time to ask questions, and be sure to look for future Rules of the Game threads.
Familiar Basics
The sidebar on pages 52-54 of the Player's Handbook details a familiar's abilities and the advantages it brings to the master. Here's an overview, along with a few comments and clarifications. All the following traits and features apply to a familiar for as long as it remains a familiar -- that is, for as long as the familiar and the master are both alive and the master has not chosen to dismiss the familiar.
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From pages 52-54 of the Player's Handbook:
FAMILIARSFamiliars are magically linked to their masters. In some sense, the familiar and the master are practically one being. That's why, for example, the master can cast a personal range spell on a familiar even though he can normally cast such a spell only on himself. A familiar is a normal animal that gains new powers and becomes a magical beast when summoned to service by a sorcerer or wizard. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but it is treated as a magical beast instead of an animal for the purpose of any effect that depends on its type. Only a normal, unmodified animal may become a familiar. Thus, a druid/sorcerer can't use her animal companion as a familiar.
A familiar also grants special abilities to its master (a sorcerer or wizard), as given on the table below.
These special abilities apply only when the master and familiar are within 1 mile of each other.
Levels of different classes that are entitled to familiars (such as sorcerer and wizard) stack for the purpose of determining any familiar abilities that depend on the master's level.
| Familiar | Special |
| Bat | Master gains a +3 bonus on Listen checks |
| Cat | Master gains a +3 bonus on Move Silently checks |
| Hawk | Master gains a +3 bonus on Spot checks in bright light |
| Lizard | Master gains a +3 bonus on Climb checks |
| Owl | Master gains a +3 bonus on Spot checks in shadows |
| Rat | Master gains a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves |
| Raven1 | Master gains a +3 bonus on Appraise checks |
| Snake2 | Master gains a +3 bonus on Bluff checks |
| Toad | Master gains +3 hit points |
| Weasel | Master gains a +2 bonus on Reflex saves |
1 A raven familiar can speak one language of its master's choice as a supernatural ability.
2 Tiny viper.
Familiar Basics: Use the basic statistics for a creature of the familiar's kind, as given in the Monster Manual, but make the following changes:
Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master's character level or the familiar's normal HD total, whichever is higher.
Hit Points: The familiar has one-half the master's total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice. For example, at 2nd level, Hennet has 9 hit points, so his familiar has 4.
Attacks: Use the master's base attack bonus, as calculated from all his classes. Use the familiar's Dexterity or Strength modifier, whichever is greater, to get the familiar's melee attack bonus with natural weapons. Damage equals that of a normal creature of the familiar's kind.
Saving Throws: For each saving throw, use either the familiar's base save bonus (Fortitude +2, Reflex +2, Will +0) or the master's (as calculated from all his classes), whichever is better. The familiar uses its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn't share any of the other bonuses that the master might have on saves (from magic items or feats, for example).
Skills: For each skill in which either the master or the familiar has ranks, use either the normal skill ranks for an animal of that type or the master's skill ranks, whichever are better. In either case, the familiar uses its own ability modifiers. Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills (such as Craft) may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use.
Familiar Ability Descriptions: All familiars have special abilities (or impart abilities to their masters) depending on the master's combined level in classes that grant familiars, as shown on the table below. The abilities given on the table are cumulative.
Natural Armor Adj.: The number noted here is an improvement to the familiar's existing natural armor bonus. It represents the preternatural toughness of a spellcaster's familiar.
Int: The familiar's Intelligence score. Familiars are as smart as people, though not necessarily as smart as smart people.
Alertness (Ex): The presence of the familiar sharpens its master's senses. While a familiar is within arm's reach, the master gains the Alertness feat (page 89).
Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.
Share Spells: At the master's option, he may have any spell (but not any spell-like ability) he casts on himself also affect his familiar. The familiar must be within 5 feet at the time of casting to receive the benefit. If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the familiar if it moves farther than 5 feet away and will not affect the familiar again even if it returns to the master before the duration expires. Additionally, the master may cast a spell with a target of "You" on his familiar (as a touch range spell) instead of on himself. A master and his familiar can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast).
Empathic Link (Su): The master has an empathic link with his familiar out to a distance of up to 1 mile. The master cannot see through the familiar's eyes, but they can communicate empathically. Because of the limited nature of the link, only general emotional content (such as fear, hunger, happiness, curiosity) can be communicated. Note that the low Intelligence of a low-level master's familiar limits what the creature is able to communicate or understand, and even intelligent familiars see the world differently from humans, so misunderstandings are always possible.
Because of this empathic link, the master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does. For instance, if his familiar has seen a room, the master can teleport into that room as if he has seen it too.
Deliver Touch Spells (Su): If the master is 3rd level or higher, a familiar can deliver touch spells for him. If the master and the familiar are in contact at the time the master casts a touch spell, he can designate his familiar as the "toucher." The familiar can then deliver the touch spell just as the master could. As usual, if the master casts another spell before the touch is delivered, the touch spell dissipates.
Speak with Master (Ex): If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.
Speak with Animals of Its Kind (Ex): If the master is 7th level or higher, a familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same kind as itself (including dire varieties): bats with bats, rats with rodents, cats with felines, hawks and owls and ravens with birds, lizards and snakes with reptiles, toads with amphibians, weasels with similar creatures of the family Mustelidae (weasels, minks, polecats, ermines, skunks, wolverines, and badgers). Such communication is limited by the intelligence of the conversing creatures.
Spell Resistance (Ex): If the master is 11th level or higher, a familiar gains spell resistance equal to the master's level + 5. To affect the familiar with a spell, another spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level; see Spell Resistance, page 177) that equals or exceeds the familiar's spell resistance.
Scry on Familiar (Sp): If the master is 13th level or higher, he may scry on his familiar (as if casting the scrying spell) once per day.
| Master Class Level | Natural Armor Adj. | Int | Special |
| 1st-2nd | +1 | 6 | Alertness, improved evasion, share spells, empathic link |
| 3rd-4th | +2 | 7 | Deliver touch spells |
| 5th-6th | +3 | 8 | Speak with master |
| 7th-8th | +4 | 9 | Speak with animals of its kind |
| 9th-10th | +5 | 10 | -- |
| 11th-12th | +6 | 11 | Spell resistance |
| 13th-14th | +7 | 12 | Scry on familiar |
| 15th-16th | +8 | 13 | -- |
| 17th-18th | +9 | 14 | -- |
| 19th-20th | +10 | 15 | -- |
From the Sorcerer Entry (Player’s Handbook page 54):
Familiar: A sorcerer can obtain a familiar. Doing so takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp. A familiar is a magical beast that resembles a small animal and is unusually tough and intelligent. The creature serves as a companion and servant.
The sorcerer chooses the kind of familiar he gets. As the sorcerer advances in level, his familiar also increases in power.
If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the sorcerer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per sorcerer level; success reduces the loss to one half that amount. However, a sorcerer's experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar's demise or dismissal. For example, suppose that Hennet is a 3rd-level sorcerer with 3,230 XP when his owl familiar is killed by a bugbear. Hennet makes a successful saving throw, so he loses 300 XP, dropping him below 3,000 XP and back to 2nd level (see the Dungeon Master's Guide for rules for losing levels). A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs.
A character with more than one class that grants a familiar may have only one familiar at a time.
From the Wizard Entry (Player’s Handbook page 57):
Familiar: A wizard can obtain a familiar in exactly the same manner as a sorcerer can. See the sorcerer description and the accompanying Familiars sidebar for details.
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• For purposes of resolving spells and other effects, a familiar has Hit Dice equal to its own or equal to the master's character level, whichever is higher.
This effective Hit Dice total applies only when the familiar is subjected to some effect whose resolution depends on Hit Dice, such as sleep, holy word, circle of death, and the frightful presence special attack. The familiar does not gain any skills, improved ability scores, base saving throw bonus, base attack bonus, feats, or hit points from its effective Hit Dice (though being a familiar improves most of these things -- read on), nor does the familiar increase in size.
For example, a cat normally has 1/2 a Hit Die, and a sleep spell could normally affect eight cats (because sleep affects up to 4 Hit Dice worth of creatures). If a cat familiar has a 5th-level master, however, it effectively has 5 Hit Dice for purposes of how spells affect it and it is not subject to a sleep spell.
Temporary Hit Dice increases that the master gains (such as from a bard's inspire greatness power) don't increase a familiar's effective Hit Dice.
• A familiar's hit points are equal to one-half the master's hit points, rounded down.
The rules don't say so, but you can reasonably assume that a familiar uses its own hit points if they're higher than half the master's hit points.
Use the master's permanent hit point total when calculating the familiar's hit points. Include hit points from all the master's Hit Dice, including race and class Hit Dice. Include bonus hit points from the Toughness feat and from the master's permanent Constitution score. Do not add or subtract hit points from temporary changes to the master's Constitution score or temporary hit point boosts from spells such as aid or from effects that increase Hit Dice, such as the bard's inspire greatness power.
• A familiar's base attack bonus is the same as the master's.
As with hit points, use the master's base attack bonus from all classes and racial Hit Dice.
When attacking, a familiar uses the master's base attack bonus, its own relevant ability modifier (Strength or Dexterity as appropriate for the attack), plus the familiar's size modifier.
• A familiar uses its own skill ranks or the master's, whichever are higher.
A familiar is considered trained in any skill for which it has at least one rank. It also is trained in any skill for which the master has at least one rank. When both the master and the familiar have ranks in a skill, use only the highest number of ranks.
When making a skill check, a familiar uses its effective skill ranks, its own relevant ability modifier (as appropriate for the skill), plus the familiar's size modifier (if applicable), any applicable feats the familiar has, its racial modifier, and any synergy bonuses the familiar has from its effective skill ranks.
For example, a cat making a Hide check has a +4 racial modifier (+8 in areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth), a +8 size modifier, and a +2 Dexterity modifier. A standard cat has no Hide ranks, giving it a +14 Hide bonus. If the cat is a familiar whose master has 2 ranks in the Hide skill, the cat gets the benefit of those ranks and its Hide bonus becomes +16 (+20 in tall grass or heavy undergrowth).
Special Traits and Features
Familiars have several abilities and traits that function only when the familiar is in fairly close proximity to the master, and a few more that function more or less all the time.
Many of a familiar's special abilities depend on the master's level. In this case, "level" is the master's class level in a class that can have a familiar. If the master has two classes that can have familiars, add the class levels together. For example, a human 10th-level wizard, 5th-level fighter has 10 levels for purposes of determining familiar's special abilities (because fighter is not a class that can have a familiar). The example familiar still has 15 effective Hit Dice for resolving effects that depend on Hit Dice, and the familiar's hit points, base attack bonus, base saving throw bonuses, and skill ranks still are derived from the master's total Hit Dice (15).
A 5th-level wizard/5th-level sorcerer also is level 10 (because both classes can have familiars). Such a familiar, however, has only 10 effective Hit Dice for resolving effects that depend on Hit Dice, and the familiar's hit points, base attack bonus, base saving throw bonuses, and skill ranks are derived from their 10 Hit Dice master.
Some prestige classes grant spellcasters extra spells or extra levels of spellcasting. Such classes do not increase a familiar's abilities unless they also include an ability to have a familiar.
Any negative levels the master accrues have no effect on the familiar. If the master actually loses a level, however, the familiar's abilities are reduced accordingly. A master does not lose an improved familiar (from the Improved Familiar feat) if the character's level drops below the minimum requirement to obtain the improved familiar, but the improved familiar still suffers the effects of the level loss on its familiar abilities.
Here's an overview of familiar abilities that are affected by proximity to the master or the master's level, or both.
• The familiar's natural armor bonus improves.
The table on page 53 of the Player's Handbook shows the increase. Add the value shown on the table to the familiar's normal natural armor bonus. For example, a standard cat's natural armor bonus is +0. A cat familiar with a 1st- or 2nd-level master has a natural armor bonus of +1.
This trait doesn't simply provide an extra natural armor bonus, it actually improves the familiar's racial natural armor bonus. Additional natural armor bonuses from items or spells, such as amulets of natural armor or barkskin spells stack with the natural armor bonus from this trait, as noted in their descriptions.
The natural armor bonus from this trait increases with the master's level, as shown on the table. The familiar gets the benefit of this trait for as long as it remains a familiar; distance between the master and familiar is not a factor.
• A familiar's Intelligence score improves.
A familiar has an Intelligence score of at least 6, or higher if the master's level is 3rd or higher, as shown on page 53 of the Player's Handbook. The threshold for humanlike intelligence is 3 (see page 9 in the Player's Handbook), so a familiar is as smart as a person, but not necessarily as smart as a brilliant person or even an average person. A familiar's minimum Intelligence score of 6 makes it smart enough to understand at least one language, usually Common (though it doesn't gain the power of speech until the master reaches 5th level). This allows the familiar to respond to fairly elaborate commands and undertake fairly complex tasks. As rule of thumb, a 1st-level master's familiar is capable of doing anything a pre-adolescent human child can do. As the master's level increases, so does the familiar's ability to follow orders and perform tasks.
A familiar does not learn new languages as its Intelligence increases along with its master's level.
A familiar uses its own Intelligence score if it is higher than what its master's level allows. A familiar can benefit from spells and effects that boost Intelligence, such as the fox's cunning spell. As with any temporary Intelligence increase, the Intelligence enhancement does not give the familiar any extra skill points or languages, but the familiar uses its new, higher, Intelligence modifier for Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skill checks.
Rules of the Game Familiars (Part Two)
More Special Abilities
As noted in Part One, most of these abilities are affected by proximity to the master or the master's level, or both.
• A familiar gives the master the benefits of the Alertness feat when it is within arm's reach of the master.
When a familiar's master is at least 1st level, the master gains a +2 bonus on Spot and Listen checks when the familiar is nearby. These bonuses don't stack with the Alertness feat (if the master has it).
The rules don't define "arm's reach" as it applies to familiars. It's worth noting, however, that the Player's Handbook is written with Small or Medium characters in mind. It is also written so as to downplay the 5-foot grid that governs movement and combat. So, the master gains the benefits of the Alertness feat while the familiar is within 5 feet and while there is an unbroken line of effect between the master and the familiar (but see below). For example, if there's a closed door between the master and familiar, the master doesn't get the Alertness benefit.
• A familiar gains the improved evasion special quality.
If a familiar with a master of at least 1st level is subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, the familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails. The familiar gets the benefit of this ability even when flat-footed or denied a Dexterity bonus (though in the latter case it probably is less likely to make a successful save).
• A familiar and master can share spells.
The master decides when spells are shared. To be shared, the master must cast the spell and the spell must have the master as its target. The spell must have a target entry; effect and area spells cannot be shared. See Rules of the Game: Reading Spell Descriptions for a discussion of targets, effects, and areas. Spells with touch range cannot be shared unless the master targets himself with the touch.
The master and familiar can share spells even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the familiar's type (usually magical beast). The shared spell does not have to be an arcane spell; any spell the master casts himself can be shared with the familiar. The master cannot share spell-like abilities or supernatural abilities, nor can the master and familiar share effects from magic items.
To share a spell, the familiar must be within 5 feet of the master and there must be an unbroken line of effect between the master and the familiar. If the shared spell has a duration other than instantaneous, the familiar must remain with 5 feet of the master and maintain an unbroken line of effect to the master or lose the spell's benefits. Once the familiar loses the benefits from a particular casting of a spell, it cannot regain them again.
When the familiar and the master share a spell, they function as one being where the spell's effects are concerned. For example, if the master chooses to share a teleport spell with his familiar, the familiar doesn't count toward the spell's creature limit. Likewise, if the master shares a water breathing spell with his familiar, the familiar shares the master's portion of the spell's duration and does not count as another creature touched. A shared mirror image spell creates duplicates of both the master and the familiar, and a successful hit on either the master's or the familiar's image eliminates one duplicate master and one duplicate familiar. A shared protection from energy spell shields both the master and the familiar, but all energy damage that either the familiar or the master suffers is deducted from the total amount of energy the spell can absorb.
In spite of the foregoing, some aspects of the master and familiar always remain distinct. The master and familiar have two separate pools of hit points. If the master casts a cure wounds spell, the hit points bestowed must go either to the master or to the familiar. If points are left over after the chosen recipient reaches full hit points, the excess can go to the other pool. In a similar fashion, the master and familiar both have their own ability scores, and magic that enhances or improves an ability score must all go to either the master or the familiar.
Some spells have benefits that can be fully shared and other benefits that must be allocated to the familiar or to the master. For example, an aid spell grants temporary hit points and bestows a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear effects. If the master and the familiar share an aid spell, only one of them gets the temporary hit points, but both receive the morale bonus.
Some spells require special handling when shared. See Rules of the Game: All About Polymorph for an example.
The master also has the option of casting any spell with a target of "you" on the familiar as a spell with touch range. If the master does so, he does not share the effect with the familiar, but the familiar retains the spell's benefits for as long as the spell lasts no matter where the familiar goes afterward.
• The familiar and master have an empathic link with a range of one mile.
The rules don't say so, but master and familiar don't need line of sight or line of effect to each other for the empathic link to work. The link, however, does not cross planar boundaries. If the master and familiar are on different planes, the link is temporarily broken, just as though they were out of range. This is a supernatural ability, so if either the master or the familiar is within an antimagic field, telepathic communication between the two is not possible.
Empathy is nonverbal, but limited. The master and familiar don't share senses and can exchange only emotions. This requires as much effort as speaking (usually a free action), but empathic communication doesn't require a common language (or any language at all).
So, what, exactly, can a master and familiar communicate over the empathic link? As noted earlier, the link only transmits basic emotions, such as fear, hunger, happiness, or curiosity. So, the link is useful only for determining the master or familiar's emotional state. The familiar or master can report a state of fear over the link, but not what's causing that fear. You can reasonably assume that the link can transmit intensity of emotion. I suggest a four-step system: faint emotion (the merest stirring of an emotion, such as a feeling of fear when approaching a creepy building); moderate emotion (notable emotion, such as seeing a dangerous creature fairly close by); strong emotion (emotion that floods the mind, such as fear felt when a dangerous creature attacks); overwhelming emotion (emotion that drives out all other thoughts and feelings, such as when a dangerous creature has you in its claws).
Certain other key bits of information can travel over the empathic link (though the rules don't specifically say they do). If your familiar makes a successful saving throw against a hostile spell and feels a tingle, you'll feel the tingle, too. Likewise, you'll know if the familiar is unconscious, dazed, stunned, nauseated, sickened, or suffering from any other impairment that keeps it from acting. If the familiar falls prey to a charm or compulsion effect, you'll sense the familiar's muddled state of mind.
Some familiars (such as ravens and some improved familiars) have the ability to speak a language. Such familiars can use their empathic link power, but it still carries only basic emotions. The familiar can converse in the language the familiar knows (provided that the master also knows that language), but the two must be within normal speaking range to do so.
The empathic link makes a familiar an extension of the master's being, which means that when a familiar has been somewhere or experienced something, the master has the same connection to it as the familiar has. Once a familiar has been in a room, for example, the master can use a teleport spell to travel to that room as though he had been there himself. Likewise, if the familiar has seen an object, the master can use a locate object spell to find that object as though he had seen it himself (even though the master cannot view the object through the familiar's eyes while the familiar looks at it).
• A familiar can deliver touch spells for its master if the master is 3rd level or higher.
When casting a spell with touch range, the master can designate his familiar as the "toucher." The master and the familiar must be touching at the time of casting, and this requires the familiar and master to share the same space or be in adjacent spaces.
Once designated, the familiar can deliver the touch spell just as the master could. As normal, if the master casts another spell, the touch spell dissipates. If the familiar touches anything, the spell also dissipates.
Delivering a touch spell is a supernatural ability. The familiar uses an action to touch the spell recipient, usually the attack action, but no action is required to trigger the ability to deliver the spell.
Some touch spells have noticeable effects after they have been cast, and those effects are transferred to the familiar. For example, the chill touch spell makes the caster's hand glow blue. If the caster uses his familiar to deliver chill touch, the familiar glows blue.
The spell to be delivered does not have to be an arcane spell; the familiar can deliver any touch spell the master casts.
The familiar can make a melee touch attack to deliver the spell, or the familiar can use a natural weapon to make a melee attack that delivers the spell. In the latter case, the attack must defeat the defender's normal Armor Class, but a hit deals the attack's normal damage plus the spell effect. If the familiar misses with the natural weapon, it is still holding the spell. If the familiar is allowed more than one attack, the first attack in the series that hits delivers the spell.
It's worth noting that all the foregoing applies to spells with range touch (see Rules of the Game: Reading Spell Descriptions). Sometimes, a spell allows the caster to make a ranged touch attack to deliver the spell. Such a spell does not have touch range.
Rules of the Game Familiars (Part Three)
More Special Abilities
As with the abilities discussed in Parts One and Two, most of these abilities are affected by proximity to the master or the master's level, or both. Most of these abilities are extraordinary or supernatural.
• A familiar can speak with its master if the master is at least 5th level.
The familiar and master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication. In effect, the master and familiar have their own private language.
Eaves droppers can use spells such as tongues to understand a conversation between a master and familiar.
Speaking with the master is an extraordinary ability; using it usually is a free action, just as speaking is.
Familiars that can speak a language (or several languages) can converse with their masters normally if they choose. If they do so, anyone who overhears the conversation understands it, provided that the listener speaks the language used, just as with any other normal conversation.
• When the master is 7th level or higher, a familiar can speak with animals of its kind.
An animal that becomes a familiar becomes a magical beast (see below), so this ability causes some confusion. An animal familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same sort as itself (including dire variants) before it became a familiar (as shown on the table below).
| Familiar | Speaks With |
| Bat | Normal and dire bats |
| Cat | Normal and dire felines (housecats to dire tigers) |
| Hawk | Normal and dire avians (sparrows to eagles) |
| Lizard | Normal and dire reptiles (lizards to giant constrictor snakes) |
| Owl | Normal and dire avians (sparrows to eagles) |
| Rat | Normal and dire rodents (mice to dire rats) |
| Raven | Normal and dire avians (sparrows to eagles) |
| Snake | Normal and dire reptiles (lizards to giant constrictor snakes) |
| Toad | Normal and dire amphibians (frogs and toads) |
| Weasel | Normal and dire weasels, badgers, wolverines, and ferrets |
Speaking with an animal is an extraordinary ability; using it usually is a free action, just as speaking is. Speaking with an animal is otherwise similar to using a speak with animals spells (though not magical).
Improved familiars do not have the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind, but many improved familiars already speak one or more languages.
• A familiar with a master of 11th level or higher has spell resistance.
The spell resistance rating is the master's level +5. See Part One for a discussion of what constitutes the master's level. If the familiar already has spell resistance (as some improved familiars do), the two don't stack. The familiar uses the higher number.
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From page 298 of the Dungeon Master's Guide:
A creature can voluntarily lower its spell resistance. Doing so is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Once a creature lowers its resistance, it remains down until the creature's next turn. At the beginning of the creature's next turn, the creature's spell resistance automatically returns unless the creature intentionally keeps it down (also a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity).
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The rules don't mention how a familiar's spell resistance interacts with the master's spells. I recommend that you do not apply the familiar's spell resistance to spells the caster shares with the familiar. It does, however, apply to spells anyone casts on the familiar, including the master. The familiar can, of course, lower its spell resistance to receive a spell from anyone; see page 298 in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
• A master of 13th level or higher can scry on her familiar once a day.
This is a spell-like ability that the master gains through the familiar. The power works just like the scry spell cast at the master's caster level.
Abilities by Familiar Kind
The animal familiars shown in the Player's Handbook grant their masters additional abilities based on their kind, as shown on the table on page 52. As noted in the text accompanying the table, these abilities function whenever the master and familiar are within one mile of each other. Line of sight and line of effects between master and familiar aren't necessary, but the master and familiar must be on the same plane. The rules don't say so, but I recommend that you treat these abilities as a function of the empathic link between master and familiar (see Part Two). When the empathic link does not function, neither does the benefit the master gets from the familiar.
Familiars as Creatures
As noted in the Player's Handbook, an animal that becomes a familiar effectively becomes a magical beast. For purposes of resolving effects that depend on a creature's type, a familiar is not an animal but a magical beast. Spells such as speak with animals or animal growth do not work on familiars. Likewise, a ranger with animals as a favored enemy would not gain favoured enemy bonuses when dealing with the familiar (but a ranger with magical beasts as a favored enemy would).
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From page 52 of the Player's Handbook:
| Familiar | Special |
| Bat | Master gains a +3 bonus on Listen checks |
| Cat | Master gains a +3 bonus on Move Silently checks |
| Hawk | Master gains a +3 bonus on Spot checks in bright light |
| Lizard | Master gains a +3 bonus on Climb checks |
| Owl | Master gains a +3 bonus on Spot checks in shadows |
| Rat | Master gains a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves |
| Raven1 | Master gains a +3 bonus on Appraise checks |
| Snake2 | Master gains a +3 bonus on Bluff checks |
| Toad | Master gains +3 hit points |
| Weasel | Master gains a +2 bonus on Reflex saves |
1 A raven familiar can speak one language of its master's choice as a supernatural ability.
2 Tiny viper.
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The change from animal to magical beast has no other effects on the familiar. The familiar's Hit Dice, hit points, ability scores, attack bonus, skills, feats, and saving throw bonuses do not change as a result of the change in type. Once a creature becomes a familiar, however, most of its statistics change to reflect the master, as noted in Part One.
Improved familiars that are not animals retain their type when they become familiars, as noted on page 200 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Any familiar becomes an extension of the master and its powers improve as the master improves, as noted earlier. A familiar cannot earn experience points or have a class.
In spite of its links to the master, a familiar can think and act on its own. It can perform any number of tasks that don't exceed its physical limits. All familiars are as smart as people (the minimum Intelligence score for a familiar is 6), but usually not as smart as a particularly bright person. This makes familiars much better at most tasks than trained animals. All familiars have some sense of past, present, and future, can count (at least up to 100), and can recognize everyday creatures, objects, and activities. Animal familiars, especially if they have Intelligence scores of 9 or less, are apt to be distracted by things that are important to animals, such as food, other animals, and big, dangerous creatures lurking nearby (and remember that when you're Tiny, just about everyone else seems really big). The master probably will have to remind the familiar about the business at hand.
Unless the familiar actually speaks a language, it cannot relay the contents of any conversations it overhear, even when it can speak with the master. It can, however, describe who is talking, single out the creature who does the most talking, and assess the mood of the speakers. No matter what its Intelligence score, a familiar cannot read or write, so it cannot copy documents or relay their contents. A familiar probably can swipe a document, however.
Acquiring a Familiar
The rules speak of summoning a familiar, but do not go into much detail about the process other than noting that the process takes 24 hours and uses up materials that cost 100 gp. Here are a few thoughts to flesh out the process.
A familiar is not a conjured creature and is not subject to effects, such as protection from evil or dismissal, that banish or hedge out conjured creatures. It is better to think of the process as one of binding a familiar rather than summoning it. To begin, the master must first locate the kind of creature desired. Unless the master has the Improved Familiar feat, the prospective familiar must be a normal, unmodified animal. The prospective familiar cannot be an advanced animal, nor can it be another character's animal companion (through the animal companion class feature) or another character's familiar. If the master has the Improved Familiar feat, the character can acquire a more powerful creature as a familiar, but still must locate the creature first, and the creature cannot be an advanced specimen, nor can it be another character's companion or familiar.
The master can use any convenient means to locate the intended familiar. In cities, one could visit a shop and perhaps purchase a suitable animal. Improved familiars usually take more effort to locate. The familiar should be one or two size categories smaller than the master. Pages 203-204 of the Dungeon Master's Guide show alternative familiars for masters of various sizes.
After locating the familiar, the master must arrange to keep the familiar nearby for the daylong ritual that binds the two together. Lucky masters choose familiars that are friendly enough to stick around on their own, but sometimes the creature must be tethered or caged to keep it from wandering off.
The ritual fails if the intended familiar is hostile or unfriendly to the master (see Diplomacy skill description). If the intended familiar has an Intelligence score of 3 or higher (before any increase for becoming a familiar), the creature must be friendly toward the character. If the creature's attitude is unsuitable, the master can try any non-magical means to alter the creature's attitude, such as Diplomacy checks or bribes (or both). The ritual will not succeed if the intended familiar is under any charm or compulsion effect.
A character can have only one familiar at a time and a familiar can have only one master at time. A creature that already is (or has ever been) another character's familiar cannot become a new master's familiar.
The ritual itself can take any form the DM desires; however, a few gestures, chants, and perhaps some drawings sketched on the floor around the pair -- all repeated at intervals throughout the day -- is all that's necessary.
Rules of the Game Familiars (Part Four)
Familiars in Combat
Most masters usually avoid physical combat, which is a very good idea. When you have your familiar along, it's even more important to stay out of harm's way. Even when you're a high-level character, your familiar is easy prey for any foe powerful enough to challenge you.
Perhaps the best protection you can offer your familiar while adventuring is to leave the familiar at home or at least in camp. Not only does this strategy keep the familiar safe from the perils you face, it also leaves a trustworthy sentinel in charge. The familiar can keep watch over your goods and defend them if necessary. Even if the familiar cannot prevent a raid on your abode, it can provide you with valuable information about the event (in the form of an eyewitness account given to the best of the familiar's ability) or even shadow the trespassers back to their base.
If you remain within a mile of your familiar, you can get instant warning about any trouble thanks to the empathic link between master and familiar. Due to the limited nature of the link (see Part Two), you'll need to be prepared for false alarms. If you range farther afield, you can use scrying to keep up to date. The familiar provides an easy subject for the scrying attempt, and if you are 13th level or higher, you can scry on the familiar once a day without recourse to a spell or a scrying device.
Protection from Physical Threats
Even with its increased Armor Class and hit points, a familiar is even more vulnerable to melee and ranged attacks than you are. Since most familiars are size Tiny or smaller, the familiar can share your space. This doesn't provide the familiar with cover or any special defense, but at least you'll be on hand to intervene if the familiar gets into trouble. You might want to consider letting your familiar use you as a mount. If it does so, it can make a Ride check to claim cover (+4 to Armor Class) for 1 round. This is "soft" cover, and the familiar does not get a bonus on Reflex saves while claiming cover from you. The familiar cannot attack while claiming cover from you, but that's usually not a problem. Remember that if you have the Ride skill, the familiar can use your ranks (and its Dexterity score) to make Ride checks.
You can try to conceal your familiar inside a cloak or big pocket. Remember, however, that even a Tiny creature can create a considerable bulge. (Imagine what you'd look like when trying to carry a cat under your shirt.) When you're carrying your familiar in this fashion, your foes can still attack it. Use the rules for sundering a carried item. The attack provokes an attack of opportunity from you if you threaten the attacker. Use the familiar's Armor Class and your Dexterity modifier. Because the familiar is concealed in your clothing, the attack against it has a 50% miss chance.
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From page 158 of the Player's Handbook:
SUNDER
You can use a melee attack with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon to strike a weapon or shield that your opponent is holding. If you're attempting to sunder a weapon or shield, follow the steps outlined here. (Attacking held objects other than weapons or shields is covered below.)
Step 1: Attack of Opportunity. You provoke an attack of opportunity from the target whose weapon or shield you are trying to sunder. (If you have the Improved Sunder feat, you don't incur an attack of opportunity for making the attempt.)
Step 2: Opposed Rolls. You and the defender make opposed attack rolls with your respective weapons. The wielder of a two-handed weapon on a sunder attempt gets a +4 bonus on this roll, and the wielder of a light weapon takes a -4 penalty. If the combatants are of different sizes, the larger combatant gets a bonus on the attack roll of +4 per difference in size category.
Step 3: Consequences. If you beat the defender, you have landed a good blow. Roll damage and deal it to the weapon or shield. See Table 8-8: Common Armor, Weapon, and Shield Hardness and Hit Points to determine how much damage you must deal to destroy the weapon or shield.
If you fail the sunder attempt, you don't deal any damage.
Sundering a Carried or Worn Object: You don't use an opposed attack roll to damage a carried or worn object. Instead, just make an attack roll against the object's AC. A carried or worn object's AC is equal to 10 + its size modifier + the Dexterity modifier of the carrying or wearing character. Attacking a carried or worn object provokes an attack of opportunity just as attacking a held object does. To attempt to snatch away an item worn by a defender (such as a cloak or a pair of goggles) rather than damage it, see Disarm, page 155. You can't sunder armor worn by another character.
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A familiar concealed in your clothing is still subject to magical attacks, including area attacks that affect you. Normally things you carry aren't affected by area attacks unless you roll a natural 1 on your saving throw (see page 177 in the Player's Handbook); however, a familiar is a creature, not just a piece of equipment.
You also can carry a box or other container where the familiar can hide and claim total cover against all forms of attack. The table below gives statistics for such familiar carriers. All these carriers have latches inside and out that the familiar can operate. It takes the familiar a move action to enter or leave the carrier.
Familiar Carriers
Familiar Size[1] | Cost[2] | Weight | Hardness | Hit Points | Break DC |
| Fine | 8 gp | 8 lbs. | 5 | 5 | 23 |
| Diminutive | 15 gp | 18 lbs. | 5 | 7 | 23 |
| Tiny | 30 gp | 40 lbs. | 5 | 9 | 23 |
| Small | 60 gp | 90 lbs. | 5 | 11 | 23 |
| Medium | 120 gp | 200 lbs. | 5 | 15 | 23 |
1 A carrier's size as an object is the same as the size of the familiar for which it is made.
2 For an extra cost a carrier can be made airtight and watertight; see below.
A familiar carrier has a handle and straps so it can be carried in the hand or strapped to the back. For an extra 20% of the base cost (or an extra 10 gp, whichever is higher), a carrier can be airtight and watertight. A familiar sealed inside such a carrier can breathe for 30 minutes before suffering the effects of suffocation.
The careful master also provides his familiar with defensive magic. The ability to share spells makes this easy to do. Spells such as blink, blur, displacement, mage armor, and mirror image provide protection for both you and your familiar. You can get double duty from most of these spells by casting them on yourself and sharing them with your familiar (see Part Two). If you plan to have your familiar operate more than 5 feet away from you, however, it's best to simply cast these spells on your familiar. Remember that you can cast a spell with a target entry of "you" on your familiar instead of on yourself (see Part Two).
Protection from Magical Threats
Area spells probably are the biggest threats to a familiar's long-term survival. Fortunately, most area spells allow Reflex saving throws for half damage, and a familiar's improved evasion ability often allows the familiar to escape damage from an area spell altogether with a successful save and take only half damage even if it fails its save.
Unfortunately, a failed save can still be deadly to a familiar because it does not have very many hit points. Anything that improves the familiar's Reflex saves improves its chance to survive. Some cover (see the previous section on physical threats) grants the familiar a +2 bonus on Reflex saves, so keep your familiar close by unless you have good reason to have it elsewhere.
Spells that provide protection from attacks provide good protection against your familiar's occasional failed Reflex save. Protection from energy can be very effective in this regard, but you have to correctly guess what types of attacks you will encounter. Fortunately, this spell can be shared. If you expect a prolonged battle, you would do well to cast minor globe of invulnerability or globe of invulnerability. These spells create immobile spheres that exclude hostile spell effects while allowing you to cast your own spells without hindrance. Of course, if you or the familiar has to move, the protection is lost, but the spells are very effective so long as you can afford to stand your ground.
Effects that fill an area or affect multiple targets, but do not allow Reflex saves, are particularly dangerous to familiars, and there are more of these than you might think: acid fog, cloudkill, horrid wilting, sound burst, shout, magic missile, the various power word spells, and wail of the banshee, just to name a few. Many of these spells are high level, so you probably don't need to worry about them too much -- at least not right away. On the other hand, if you do have to face them, otherwise reliable defenses won't be effective. For example, minor globe of invulnerability cannot stop spells higher than 3rd level, and spells such as protection from energy won't stop horrid wilting. One defensive spell that offers some protection is spell resistance, which is worth casting even if your familiar already has spell resistance (because the spell probably provides better spell resistance than your familiar has). Best of all, you and your familiar can share the spell resistance spell. If you know what spells you'll face, getting the party cleric to cast spell immunity or greater spell immunity on your familiar can be very effective, as can casting protection from spells.
You will occasionally encounter foes who employ spells such as magic missile, charm monster, or finger of death to attack your familiar directly. It can be difficult to defend against these assaults, but the tips in the previous paragraph are effective here, too.
Having your familiar charmed can be most inconvenient, but it need not be a disaster. Any time your familiar makes a successful save against a charm or compulsion spell (or against any other spell without a visible effect), you'll know it if the familiar is within one mile -- the hostile force or tingle that it felt when making the successful save can be communicated over the empathic link. If your familiar fails a save against a charm or compulsion effect, you'll immediately know something is wrong if you're within one mile (the change in the familiar's thinking is detectable through the empathic link). There's little you can do if your familiar falls under a compulsion effect. If the familiar is within reach, you can try to grab it and hold on before it can hurt itself or do something you don't like. Or you can try to dispel the effect. Charm effects are easier to deal with. If someone charms your familiar and you give the familiar a contradictory order, the familiar gets a new saving throw (provided the spell affecting the familiar allows a new save when the subject is ordered to do something that's against its nature). Sometimes, a master will wish to be rid of a familiar, usually because the familiar has suffered some debilitating injury or because the master simply wishes to acquire a new familiar. To dismiss a familiar, the master simply wills it so, though breaking the link that binds the two is a full-round action.
Dismissing a Familiar
Immediately upon completing the dismissal, the master must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw to avoid losing experience points as noted on page 54 of the Player's Handbook. Immediately on being dismissed, the familiar loses all familiar abilities and becomes a normal creature of its kind. It suffers no other ill effects, except that its reduced Intelligence score most likely makes it unable to remember most of what it experienced as a familiar.
Once a master dismisses a familiar, he cannot obtain a new one for a year and a day.
Death of a Familiar
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From the Sorcerer Entry (Player's Handbook, page 54):
If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the sorcerer, the sorcerer must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per sorcerer level; success reduces the loss to one half that amount. However, a sorcerer's experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar's demise or dismissal. For example, suppose that Hennet is a 3rd-level sorcerer with 3,230 XP when his owl familiar is killed by a bugbear. Hennet makes a successful saving throw, so he loses 300 XP, dropping him below 3,000 XP and back to 2nd level (see the Dungeon Master's Guide for rules for losing levels). A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs.
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When a familiar dies, the master must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw to avoid losing experience points as noted in page 54 of the Player's Handbook. The master cannot obtain a new familiar for a year and a day. Most familiars can be raised from the dead. (If the familiar is of the elemental or outsider type, it takes a wish or miracle spell to bring it back from the dead.)
Bringing back the familiar from the dead re-establishes the link between master and familiar; however, the reincarnate spell is an exception. The spell brings back the familiar as an independent being and the resulting creature is no longer a familiar.
No matter how the familiar returns from the dead, the process does not erase the experience loss the master suffers. The familiar does not suffer any level or Constitution loss. If the master's experience loss has reduced the master's level, however, the familiar's abilities are reduced accordingly.
Death of a Master
If the master dies, and the familiar survives, it loses all abilities associated with being a familiar (as if it had been dismissed). As a house rule, you might want to delay the familiar's loss of abilities for a short time, say one day per level of the master.
If the master is later brought back from the dead, the familiar has whatever abilities that go along with the master's new level.
Familiars and Magic Items
A great way to both protect your familiar and perhaps give it some offensive power is to equip it with magic items. Consider purchasing items for your familiar or just give it items you no longer need (such as your +1 ring of protection when you acquire a +2 ring of protection).
Once you do so, however, you and your DM face a potentially difficult decision. Exactly which items can familiars use? Since most magic items fit users of any size, the simple answer is that it can use pretty much any item. No familiar can use an item that requires spell completion or spell knowledge because they are not spellcasters. Likewise, most familiars cannot speak, so they can't use command word items (the ability to speak with the master doesn't count). Familiars usually lack prehensile appendages, so they cannot employ weapons, either. What does that leave? That leaves potions (though you may have to open the potion vial and pour out the liquid), rings, and most items that can be worn or carried. Your DM may decide that your familiar's body type simply will not allow some items to fit your familiar. For example, you might persuade your DM to let your cat wear boots, citing the tale of "Puss in Boots" as an example, but don't count on your snake wearing boots. Creatures like owls and bats may have a have hard time with cloaks (since the garment interferes with their wings). All familiars have item locations similar to those found on a humanoid character, though the items worn there might have a considerably different shape. For example, a quadruped uses its back feet for the "foot" location and its front feet for the "hand" location. The hind legs correspond to a humanoid's legs and the front legs correspond to a humanoid's arms. For avians, treat the feet and legs as hands and arms and the wings as legs and feet. (If your familiar is a winged humanoid or winged quadruped, such as an imp or pseudodragon, its wings do not provide extra locations for magic items. The creature can wear "leg" items on its wings or hind legs, but not both.) A snake simply wears items over its head or body. In most cases, even if your familiar can't use an item you've found, it should be possible to make (or have made) an item your familiar can use. For example, you might fashion wing bands of speed for your bat or hawk's wings, and they would work just like boots of speed for your familiar.
For an in depth look at what items an animal can use or wear, check out Wild Life.
In Conclusion
That wraps up our look at familiars. I hope I've helped answer a few of your questions on this topic.
About the Author
Skip Williams keeps busy with freelance projects for several different game companies and was the Sage of Dragon Magazine for many years. Skip is a co-designer of the D&D 3rd Edition game and the chief architect of the Monster Manual. When not devising swift and cruel deaths for player characters, Skip putters in his kitchen or garden (rabbits and deer are not Skip's friends) or works on repairing and improving the century-old farmhouse that he shares with his wife, Penny, and a growing menagerie of pets.
Based on the original Dungeons & Dragons® game by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.
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