Gain Familiar?

[Colt]

Isn't there a feat that lets non-spellcasters get a familiar?

[cgoat]

I'm sure you could come up with a ritual with your GM to house rule it. Or have it in your background that it was your master's familar that has latched onto you after he died.

It would have to cost a feat. All the familars grant the effect of a feat anyways. Actually two. Since you gain alertness as well when its within' 5 feet. I'd tone it down so you'd only get one effect from it. But its a cool thing for character background. But of course when it dies you lose a ton of xp.

[JustinCognito]

I believe there's an Obtain Familiar feat in Complete Arcane.

[The Glyphstone]

But that requires you to have arcane spellcasting abilities already...

[Frojoe21]

So take one level of bard. You get the bare minimum spellcasting, proficiency with an exotic weapon, and Bardic knowledge, which is usefull at times.

[Mick_the_Rogue]

And you would get to sing of your epic exploits, though perhaps you wouldn't be as good at it as the best bards

[Malachi, the Lich King]

The only reason I can think of to take bard over wizard or sorcerer is the ability to wear armor. Maybe warmage would be better? I'd rather take sorcerer and get shield/mage armor and get the familiar without having to use up a feat to do so.....

Otherwise, it really doesn't make a lot of sense for a non-spellcaster to have a familiar.

[Beelzebub1111]

take the leadership feat and then get a pseudodragon/sorcerer as a cohort.

[MrNexx]

take the leadership feat and then get a pseudodragon/sorcerer as a cohort.

And what would its familiar be? ;-)

[Jades]

Its familiar would be a human. I've played with a dragon who had a human as a familiar.

[Lysander]

Of course if you character just wants the animal, psychic bond stuff aside....you could always buy a cat.

[Everyman]

The concept of a familiar (to me, anyway) is that it is a once mundane creature that becomes bound to your life force in some way. By doing so, it acts as an extra set of eyes and an extension of your being. Such characteristics scream "arcane spellcaster".

If you wanted a familiar without taking a spellcasting class, I'd say it would have some consequences and heavy prereq.s. Something akin to...
.................................................. .................................................. .
GAIN FAMILIAR [General]
Prereq.: Handle Animal 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Spellcraft 5
Benefit: You immediately gain a familiar. This familiar grants all the usual benefits and characteristics of a normal benefit, with the following exceptions.
Your "Master Class Level" is always equal to half your ECL, rounded down. In addition, your familiar never gains the ability to deliver touch spells for you (even if you can cast such spells), and its Intelligence score is one less than normal (such that a familiar with a master level of 3-4 would have an Intelligence of 6).
Should your familiar die or be dismissed, you must make a DC 15 Fortitude save. Failure results in the loss of 300 experience points per ECL; success results in the loss of one-half that amount.
If you gain another familiar through any other means, the familiar granted through this feat leaves, which is treated as though it was dismissed.
.................................................. .................................................. .
I know that this is obviously inferior to a normal familiar, but I think it should be due to that fact that you can not manipulate arcane energy. Besides, it isn't as if this familiar is completely useless, you know.

EDIT: I have recieved a PM asking why the familiars don't get the "deliver touch spell" ability and have (essentially) half progression. The reason's actually fairly simple: I don't want paladin's and clerics picking up on this. They already have a bunch of utility spells that rely on touch ranges. They do not need to augment that ability any more so than usual.

The reason for half progression is to prevent all characters from having uber-potent companions. Because you didn't use proper ways of gaining a familiar, it is only "half" as power. Besides, you still get to use your ECL. You can gain class levels in a variety of areas and your familiar will still level up.

[drivinghighway61]

Wouldn't being a gnome meet the requirement for ability to cast arcane magic?

[MrNexx]

Wouldn't being a gnome meet the requirement for ability to cast arcane magic?


No. They do not cast spells, but have spell-like abilities. That's also why they can't auto-qualify for Dragon Disciple.

[Colt]

hmm, i was interested in seeing about a familar for my rogue... oh well.

One more Q. How exactly do multiclass penaltys work?

[Rawhide]

I seem to remember a feat that gave you some 0-level spells, anyone know where I saw it?

[Virail]

There is a couple on Complete Arcane there is one or two in Libris Mortis. they are all pretty nifty.

[Everyman]

I seem to recall that those feats give you spell-like abilities. As such, you are still not a spellcaster even if you take these feats. You still need to be a caster to take the Obtain Familiar feat.

Oh, and I just realized something. A single level of a caster class doesn't help. You need X levels in a class. (Can't list exact number. Otherwise I'm breaking OGL limits).

As far as multiclassing works, I'll try and make it real simple.

STEP ONE: Look at your race's favored class. Note it.
STEP TWO: Note how many classes your have.
STEP THREE: Count the level difference between each class. For example, a rogue 3/warlock 1 would have a difference of two.

You start taking EXP penalties when there is more than one level difference between each class. Now then, you are a rogue. I hope you are a halfling as well. If that's true, then your favored class doesn't count when figuring out multiclassing penalties. As such, you could pick up a caster class now or several levels down the road and still not take penalties.

If rogue is not your favored class (different race), then you're going to suffer a 20% penalty on EXP for a bit, until the difference between your rogue and caster class is down to one. At that point, you're going to need to raise your classes equally, or suffer EXP. again.
...
It just occured to me that there is a way to get a familiar of sorts without sacrificing classes and feats. The Shadowdancer prestige class grants a Shadow companion starting at 3rd level. Now, if you are the type to hide in the shadows and strike rapidly without warning (and like to dance), this might be a solution for ya.

[Colt]

actually, i was thinking about geting Shadowdancer PRC anyway... i'm actually a changling rogue... still it's fav rogue.and i'm lv. 3 so i might either take shadow dancer or warmage. um what's the class features of warmage?

[ccelizic]

Lysander: Damnn you! I was going to say the same thing, except dog instead of cat.

You can even hire a trainer and give the pet obedience training so it can follow commands. I wouldn't send such an animal into combat, in fact I'd teach it commands that would keep it OUT f trouble. I wouldn't send it into combat, but then agian I wouldn't send a familiar into combat in a lot of cases outside of delivering a friendly touch spell to an ally and making it use the said ally for cover.

If you gave me, the player, the option to obtain a familiar without any spellcasting I'd immediately grab a raven and *BAMMO* instant recon/scout familiar, it even speaks 1 language so I can get it to report back on it's findings. A familiar is a pretty powerful option and it wouldn't give it to just anyone.

[Everyman]

Well, warmages can cast spells in armor and with shields (though their choices are limited). This means you won't have to worry about suffering arcane spell failure ever.

In addition, warmages do more damage with their spells than normally possible, because that's exactly what they train to do. Almost every freakin' spell is evocation or conjuration, and they get a bonus on damage rolls with spells based on their Int. modifier. They are the definition of heavy artillery.

They (to my knowledge) do not get familiars, so you're going to need to take a few levels before taking the "Obtain Familiar" feat in CA.

[Xanthir]

I believe it's a 10% XP penalty if any of your classes, not counting Favored Classes, are more than a level apart.

Of course, as long as you're playing 3.5, where cherry-picking was pretty much completely destroyed as a viable strategy, there is no problem with eliminating Favored Classes and letting people multiclass to their heart's content. If you wish, make it known beforehand that you'll squash it if it gets ridiculous. Personally, though, I feel that it's a plus to have freedom to multiclass. My favorite character has 3 character classes and two PrCs, and she's a very well-designed character.