the rundown on familiars (4E)

[Kol Korran]

hi there. so, the players in my group will be getting all kinds of nifty magic items soon, and i had an idea- the player playing the wizard realy loves animals (cats especially), and he has taken to a pseudo dragon that has been accompanying them. so i thought- why not instead of a magic item i could give him an pseudo dragon (well, a babu pseudo dragon more likely), which might have some magical/ beneficial powers?

but here is the problem- i don't have the Arcane Power book, so i don't know nothing of the rules of it. sure, i can just homebrew something (having ideas allready) that would reseble the powers of a magical item, but it would be nice to know what the rulesintended (we might get the book later on, and i want it to be similar)

so, can anyone give me the rundwon on familiars in 4E? what are the prequisites to getting one (feat? ritual? giving up other class features?) what are the basic mechnincs of the familiar (benefits, hindrances), and anything else i should know about? also, if there are different kinds of familiars, can you give an example or two? i'm especially interested in anything magical, housecats, and pseudo dragons.

any other comments or questions are welcomed at well. thank you.
Kol.

[Mnymosene]

Getting a familiar just takes a feat and being from an arcane class.
The familiars can't die permanently anymore.They have two modes, active and passive. They have different benefits for each (passive works all the time)
There are options for a cat familiar and a dragonling familiar.
They can't make attacks and generally cannot pick up or manipulate objects.
They use you defenses and have only one hp.
If they die they reappear after your next short rest.

[Jokes]

Rules:
A familiar cannot attack, flank or manipulate objects (unless otherwise specified, ie Rat or Disembodied hand.)
It shares your defences and skill. It has 1hp and acts like a minion. It is not a target for any of your attacks (unless you want to). If it dies, it takes until a short or extended rest to recall it, with no penalty for it dying. It has two benefits, a constant and an active, and two modes, Passive and Active. While in passive, you gain the Constant Benefit and the familar shares your space, it cannot be attacked while in passive mode. You can use a minor action to switch the familiar to active mode, where it gains both the constant and active benefits. In active mode, it occupies the space of a tiny creature and you spend your actions to give it actions. So you spend a move action to move it up to it's speed, or a standard action to use a certain skill. The familiar cannot move more than 20 squares away from you, unless it is a benefit (ie Cats have no range limit). A familiar cannot speak (except parrots and ravens) but can communicate with you in "gibberish" that only you and the familiar can understand.


Arcane Familiar (Feat)
Prerequisite: Any Arcane Class
Benefit: You gain a Familiar. For each Familiar feat you have beyond this one, your familiar gains +1 bonus to it's defences.

Dragonling:
Speed 5, fly 6 (hover)
Constant Benefit:
You can read and speak draconic.
When you spend a healing surge, you regain 2 additional hitpoints (3 at level 11, 4 at level 21)
Active Benefit:
Dragons Breath: Once per encounter, you can use your dragonlings space as the origin square for a close blast arcane attack power.

Cat
Senses: Low light vision
Speed 6
Constant Benefit:
You gain a +2 to acrobatics checks and you can make an acrobatics check to reduce damage from a fall even if you aren't trained.
Active Benefit:
Independant Spirit: A cat familiar has not range limit on the distance it can exist away from you.
Silent Predator: A cat familiar gains a +5 bonus to it's stealth checks.

[Thajocoth]

There are more feats to upgrade them too, and any time you take a familiar feat, the familiar gains +1 more to all defenses.

A constant benefit of a familiar might be something like +2 athletics and +2 to warding ritual checks... Or resist 5 poison... It's a benefit you always have for having them.

An active benefit is based on them. It could be something like you get resist 1 to ranged & melee damage while they're adjacent to you, or once per encounter you can cast a spell through their location, or or something...

It's a minor action to switch them to/from active/passive mode, but if they take any damage, they're out of the fight until you have a short rest.

They must be within a certain distance of you (with one explicitly stated exception, the Cat.) They're Tiny sized. They have varying speeds from 2 to 10, I think, averaging at about 3-5. There are a few in Arcane Power, but a lot more in a Dragon article. March's I think... May have been April. Some are specifically only attainable at Paragon or Epic tier, like the various Mephets, Rakshasa Claw or Beholderkin.

My Warforged Artificer, Struct, has a Canine Construct as his familiar that he named Relic. It's one of the ones from the Dragon mag. There were much more optimal choices but... I liked it best RPwise.

Dragonling is a specific familiar with specific stats. I'm wary to post them in their entirety though...

[Kol Korran]

thanks people! (especially jokes for the detailed explanation). this gave me some insight. i think i have thought of something a quite mroe powerfull, but this have helped me down things a bit.
thanks a lot!

[KillianHawkeye]

Familiars in 4E also differ flavor-wise from those of older editions. In 4E, your familiar is not really a seperate creature which you find and bind to you with magic, but rather it is like a manifestation of your own soul that develops its own personality. It is literally a piece of you, which is why it can return to life so easily or vanish and reappear at will.

[Tiki Snakes]

Familiars in 4E also differ flavor-wise from those of older editions. In 4E, your familiar is not really a seperate creature which you find and bind to you with magic, but rather it is like a manifestation of your own soul that develops its own personality. It is literally a piece of you, which is why it can return to life so easily or vanish and reappear at will.

Except when it isn't. (See Book Imp, Bound Demon for good examples.)
Though personally I like both ways, it's worth remembering they are both equally valid by 4th edition. :)

[Burley]

For a character I made, but never got passed the first session: I had it all planned out with my DM that I would:
A) Join the Tinkerer's Guild
B) Pay an entrance fee/dues to take a Rite of Passage thing
C) Be awarded a set of Tinkerer's Gloves (Burglar's Gloves, reflavored), which belonged to a former member of the guild, who wore them so long that a small bit of his soul still resided in the gloves.
D) Take the Obtain Familiar feat to pull out that bit of soul as my Rat Familiar.

Sadly, that campain lasted about a half of a session. :smallfrown:

Anyways, if you want to give him a familiar, why not give him an item of actual use, and let him take the feats for extended benefit. Forcing a familiar on the player may not go over well...

[Kol Korran]

Originally postend by Burley:
Anyways, if you want to give him a familiar, why not give him an item of actual use, and let him take the feats for extended benefit. Forcing a familiar on the player may not go over well...

most of my players, the wizard included are barand new. not just to D&D, but to roleplaying in general, so they have little idea of the possibilites ,ideas and so on.
i have planned for them to get special pwoer items, sort of soulbind items. the items are fairly pwoerfull, reflect the character, and improve in time, equelling several other items together. most players i think will be excited about the idea, but the wizard's player... not so much. he doesn't relay find magic items impressive or that cool. but he always takes a considerable interest at anything mildly cute that might be near by, and he is an avid animal lover, and raises 3 cats.

so i thought this might be better. i think he would lvoe the familiar no matter it's powers as long as it's cute and interesting. but in order to keep him balanced with the rest of the team i though to make it an especailly "magical familiar", with it's own personality, like in the old game. i'm thinking of basing it on the wonderous figurines, and maybe adding simple powers. that way it could replicate a magic item, without feeling like it.

i wanted to know about familiars in general in order to maybe save myself some work, and understand the general them of it.

anyway, back to the drawing board.

[Burley]

i wanted to know about familiars in general in order to maybe save myself some work, and understand the general them of it.

anyway, back to the drawing board.

Well, I suggest you read up on them. Borrow the Arcane Power book, if you can.
A Familiar is basically a minion, which uses the PCs defenses. For the most part, they have no attacks, but (when in active mode) some can augment their masters abilities.
When in passive mode, they give a constant bonus and cannot be attacked by any means.
Some of the familiars give bonus languages, or resistances to something. Some, like the amazingly cool Rat, can make thievery checks at your skill modifier +2, from 10 squares away. (So awesome.)
There are a lot of options, and you may want to give the player the chance to look over them.

[Mando Knight]

Some, like the amazingly cool Rat, can make thievery checks at your skill modifier +2, from 10 squares away. (So awesome.)

Well, awesome so long as you've got Thievery trained, like if you're a Rogue/Sorcerer (or vice versa)... otherwise it's not quite worth it.

[Starsinger]

Well, awesome so long as you've got Thievery trained, like if you're a Rogue/Sorcerer (or vice versa)... otherwise it's not quite worth it.

Pretty sure Thievery is a class skill for Warlocks.

[Tiki Snakes]

Pretty sure Thievery is a class skill for Warlocks.

Or anyone, if your DM is using the backgrounds option and you pick wisely.