PDA

View Full Version : [Feats] Independent Familiar, Consistent Behavior



Cruiser1
2007-01-27, 01:20 AM
Independent Familiar [General]

You have a less deep connection with your familiar.

Prerequisites: Familiar

Benefit: If your familiar dies or is dismissed, you do not lose experience. You do not have to wait a year before acquiring a new familiar. Acquiring a new familiar still takes one day and costs 100 gold in materials.

Special: A wizard may select Independent Familiar as one of their wizard bonus feats.

[This feat came out of a desire to make familiars something one is actually willing to use and not something that casters just hide or avoid taking in the first place. I'm envious of Druids who can just immediately call a new animal companion without problem whenever their existing companion dies.]


Consistent Behavior [General]

You are able to behave in a calm and orderly fashion even when under pressure.

Prerequisites: Non-chaotic alignment

Benefit: When making an attack roll, saving throw, caster level check, ability check, or skill check, for a number of times a day equal to your hit dice, you may choose to roll 3d6 instead of d20. The effect of the number is exactly the same as it would be if it came up on a d20. For example, an attack roll affected by Consistent Behavior that came up three 6's (18) would have the same effect as rolling 18 on a d20, and would still threaten a critical if the weapon's critical range is at least 18-20.

[This feat came out of a desire to prevent a level 1 Wizard from being able to charm my epic character 5% of the time just because I rolled a 1 on my Will save. An alternate version of the feat would make 1's not be automatic failures on saving throws and attack rolls, but would still be 1's when seeing whether you save or hit.]

mikeejimbo
2007-01-27, 01:27 AM
Regarding the consistent behavior, you might like the bell-curve variant rules.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/bellCurveRolls.htm

Fizban
2007-01-27, 01:36 AM
While I like the mechanical concept of the independant familiar, I personally see the familiar as inexpendable. It has intellegence, and is often described as the arcanist's only friend. But yeah, mechanics wise, it sucks.
You might like this feat: Animal Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a). Essentially it lets any character have an animal companion with one less hit die than normal, and it takes a move action to command it instead of a free action. But that can be remedied with the accompianing Silverwood Arcanist PrC.

Yakk
2007-01-27, 12:44 PM
If you don't want your character to be charmed by L 1 characters 5% of the time, try getting some spell resistance. At SR 25, there is only a 1 in 400 chance that a L 1 character could charm you.