Alternatives to D&D 3.5's RAW on the penalty for losing a Familiar?

[Coidzor]

Has anyone seen any decent homebrew or 3rd party rules on the subject for something a bit less extreme than the standard penalty for losing a familiar or for purposefully getting rid of one(such as taking advantage of one of the methods of turning it into an undead creature)? I think Pathfinder may have slightly relaxed some of the penalties though the core of it is still there, but I'm going to have to doublecheck as I can't recall offhand.

Hell, any interesting houserules in that vein would be of interest, since I'm inquiring largely for that reason and for some familiar-like homebrew that's been bouncing around in the back of my head.

The main thing is that I want something much less strict than the harsh penalties of losing a wizard's familiar or the long-duration penalties of losing a paladin's special mount, but I also don't want familiars to be inherently disposable, or at least *easily* disposable like Animal Companions are. But I also don't want them to be potentially irreplaceable like some interpretations of the Wild Cohort feat.

[VoxRationis]

You guys on these forums repeatedly recommend crafting (spending potentially large amounts of XP to do so), use of spells with XP costs, etc., but you think 200/level is an overly harsh penalty? It's not that bad. Yes, it's bad enough that you want to avoid it. But that's the point of the penalty.

[sleepyphoenixx]

I just replace the penalty with the one from the Urban Companion ACF (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a).
So no XP loss and you only need to wait 24 hours to replace it.
Losing your companion for at least 24 hours is already penalty enough if you actually use it intelligently. Since getting a new one takes a ceremony requiring 24 hours to perform it's not something you do on the fly between encounters either. You actually need downtime for that.

[Coidzor]

You guys on these forums repeatedly recommend crafting (spending potentially large amounts of XP to do so), use of spells with XP costs, etc., but you think 200/level is an overly harsh penalty? It's not that bad. Yes, it's bad enough that you want to avoid it. But that's the point of the penalty.

A year and a day, while thematic, is a rather annoyingly long period of time, too. Also, one gets something from spending that XP when one crafts. Regardless though, it still seems too high or that XP might not be an appropriate expenditure for what I'm toying with here, so I'm interested in hearing about as many different ways of doing it as I can, the more novel the better, even if I don't especially like them. Sometimes reacting against something can be as useful creatively as seeing something one wants to steal or alter for one's own purposes. :smallsmile:

I had misremembered there being a chance of death from losing a familiar though. :smallredface: Now I'm left wondering where that artifact came in from, possibly a holdover from 2E?

[nedz]

2nd Party, and it may not be what you are looking for:
Betrayal of the Spirit Linked [General, Wizard] (DR336 p108)
Sacrifice your fluffy and turn it into a zombie or skeleton version.

[sleepyphoenixx]

I had misremembered there being a chance of death from losing a familiar though. :smallredface: Now I'm left wondering where that artifact came in from, possibly a holdover from 2E?

I don't know if it happened in 2E but it could be from Neverwinter Nights or Baldurs Gate iirc.

[JeminiZero]

I just replace the penalty with the one from the Urban Companion ACF (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a).
So no XP loss and you only need to wait 24 hours to replace it.
I also like to use this with one additional thing to note: Urban Companion requires an Animal Companion. So first swap your Familiar with an Animal Companion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#sorcererWizard) of 1/2 druid level, and then swap your Animal Companion for an Urban Companion. So you suffer 1/2 progression in exchange for no XP loss on death.

[Psyren]

Has anyone seen any decent homebrew or 3rd party rules on the subject for something a bit less extreme than the standard penalty for losing a familiar or for purposefully getting rid of one(such as taking advantage of one of the methods of turning it into an undead creature)? I think Pathfinder may have slightly relaxed some of the penalties though the core of it is still there, but I'm going to have to doublecheck as I can't recall offhand.

Pathfinder has no XP loss or XP payments so that part of it is gone. Replacing a slain familiar requires waiting 1 week, followed by an 8-hour ritual and paying 200gp per wizard level. You can also raise it if you're in a hurry.

[JimboG]

In my campaigns I always tell spellcasters that if their familiar is ever killed or permanently separated from them their character suffers a month of intense grieving, making them unable to concentrate on any crafting attempts and all dice-roll checks are halved until the the end of the month. A little harsh, yes, but it makes spellcasters very weary about the danger they put their familiars in and make losing it a detrimental (but ultimately temporary) event.

[Dr.Gara]

In my campaigns I always tell spellcasters that if their familiar is ever killed or permanently separated from them their character suffers a month of intense grieving, making them unable to concentrate on any crafting attempts and all dice-roll checks are halved until the the end of the month. A little harsh, yes, but it makes spellcasters very weary about the danger they put their familiars in and make losing it a detrimental (but ultimately temporary) event.

Tiny little thread harsh, eh? All dice roll, including things like damage? "I'm so bereaved, my Fireball is half as efficient as normal." A penalty I can get, but half is a bit much, isn't it? That makes them even more of a liability then any kind of a boon. Who wouldn't spend every measure of effort to keep their familiar alive, not because it's a useful asset, but because if it dies they are basically useless for a month.

[Astral Avenger]

I don't know if it happened in 2E but it could be from Neverwinter Nights or Baldurs Gate iirc.

In NWN 1, loosing your familiar as a wiz/sorc meant you took 2d6 damage, which nearly auto-killed you at levels 1 and 2 where the 7 damage that does on average is more than your health 90% of the time.

[Coidzor]

In NWN 1, loosing your familiar as a wiz/sorc meant you took 2d6 damage, which nearly auto-killed you at levels 1 and 2 where the 7 damage that does on average is more than your health 90% of the time.

Maybe. The funny thing is that I've only played those games briefly and I don't think I ever actually went with a wizard or sorcerer. XD