Stats for Familiars?

[PrinceOfMadness]

I've been putting together a fifth level wizard for a campaign our group will be running soon (tm) and recently realized that I can have a familiar. Now, familiars provide a lot of great bonuses seemingly, but I can't seem to find stats for the blasted things. Can someone help me out? I've been through the PHB I, DMG, and the Monster Manuals. I'm specifically looking for stats for the snake familiar, but if there's a compendium somewhere that's great too.

[ArcturusV]

Depends on what type you want. You do have to look in the Monster Manual I's Animal Section for the Tiny Viper (Player's Handbook Familiar). You'll want page 280 for it's stat block. 281 has notes on it's venom.

Then adjust its stats for it's Familiar status as marked out in the Player's Handbook, which includes bumping up it's Int, adjusting its HP (but not it's HD), adding to it's skill list if your wizard has higher ranks than the animal would have. There's an issue with BAB where the book says that you use the familiar's BAB in the first part of the Familiar's section... then under Familiar Basics, says you use the Wizard's BAB. Change it's type to Magical Beast, change it's saving throws to the Wizard's if the wizard's bonuses are better.

Of course, other books have other familiars.

Stormwrack has the Sea Snake, which has mostly the same stats as the Tiny Viper, except it's Venom is better and it has a Swim Speed. I think most of the "Terrain" books have alternate Familiar lists. Most of them are just terrain specialist versions of Player's Handbook familiars. So instead of Owls, Frostburn will give you Snow Owls. Instead of a Hawk, Sandstorm will give you a Desert Hawk.

Book of Exalted Deeds also has an alternate familiar feat for Celestial familiars. Just in case there's some Celestial Snake out there that you might want. Not that I can recall if there is one off the top of my head.

[mattie_p]

Hyperlinked here tiny snake (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/snake.htm#viperSnake). (Also found on p280 of MM1).

Then modify as follows:

Hit dice = 5, hit points = 1/2 your wizard (rounded down).

BAB is equal to yours, modified by str or dex (in the viper's case, +3 for dex). Damage is unchanged.

Saving throw is +2 Fort, +2 Ref, +0 Will, or your base save bonuses from classes, whichever is better, modified by its own ability modifiers (Fort unchanged, Reflex +3, Will +1).

For skills it uses your own skill ranks, or its own, whichever is higher. It uses its own ability modifiers on top of those ranks, including racial bonuses, size bonuses, and bonuses for having a movement method (climb, swim).

[PrinceOfMadness]

Thank you! I must have skipped right over that section of the MM.

[CaladanMoonblad]

Some people want a straight up bonus from their familiar (hedgehog +1 AC, Rat +2 Fort, etc.) and others want a scout/spy (choose a bird or bat). Others want something like a cohort, which can talk and report anything it sees (Raven); including to others than your character (use it to ferry messages for instance).

So it really depends on what you want out of it.

But yes, Arcturus above is entirely correct; a familiar is more a template than anything else. Find your base creature, and apply the changes; for a 5th level Wizard, that's a +3 AC, an Int 8, and a slew of special qualities.

One tactic that I've seen people use, is to cast Shocking Grasp on the familiar, allowing it to "hold the charge" and then deliver a fly by touch attack (my eldritch knight for instance, causes his cat familiar to "poof up" and then act friendly to someone by rubbing against their legs... and delivering 5d6 damage to boot).

Edit: ah, some of my information was delivered while I was typing.

[Urpriest]

I'd just like to point out that since making a familiar involves using the familiar rules to modify an existing animal, you should have a decent grasp of how to read and modify monster stats. If you aren't used to this, you might want to read my Monster Handbook for a through explanation.

[ksbsnowowl]

You'll regret having the familiar the first time it dies. XP bombs are no fun.

Also, having your familiar deliver offensive touch attacks is sure to make that XP bomb explode, as any Tiny creature will incur an attack of opportunity as it tries to deliver said touch attack. Tiny creatures have no threatened area, and so must enter a creature's space to attack; this will provoke an AoO when they leave the foe's threatened square to enter the foe's own space.

[ArcturusV]

Unless you have your DM rule your own way.

For example, a guy in a group I DMed decided that instead of having his rat scramble up to players to deliver a touch spell, that he was just going to THROW the rat. So I let him make Ranged Touch Attacks to throw his rat at enemies to deliver touch spells. No AoO because, well, not like you get an AoO against a Grenade-Like Weapon.

But yeah, mostly you use deception to allow a familiar to deliver touch spells. Like the cat thing mentioned. Or ambush tactics like having your Tiny Viper drop out of a tree to land on an enemy, or your Rat come out of a hole in the ground/wall.

Their out of combat power usually far outweighs the In Combat power. Unless something REALLY weird is happening. Though having a Familiar "Aid Another" is something I do see a lot in combat. Things like using them to help make Heal Checks to stabilize, or aiding an Intimidation, etc.

Like my Sorcerer who's familiar had a higher Intelligence than the Master.

[TuggyNE]

I suppose one of the handy things about Improved Familiar is it lets you get quite a few options that are only Small, not Tiny, which avoids the rampant AoO problem.

[ericgrau]

Normally I'd use a familiar to deliver touch buffs on allies, though those spells aren't the greatest.

The other use is as a generic body to do your bidding. There are many ways to abuse action economy, especially with improved familiars that can use items. They can scout with invisibility or accept a polymorph. Some can UMD. They're a good target for the cleric's silence because, with nothing else to do, they can ready actions to move every round and lock down the foe. You can move one into a strategic position and then benign transposition with an ally, or baleful transposition with a foe. Especially with the flying familiars. Etc. It is a blank slate your for effects.