Getting multiple familiars?

[137beth]

As the title says, are there any RAW ways to get multiple famliars? I don't see any in the familiar handbook. My reading of Obtain familiar is that it cannot grant a second one, as it only says "You can obtain a familiar in the same manner as a sorcerer or wizard", so if you already have a familiar it has no effect.
Is there something in a sourcebook that I missed?
(Obviously leadership can give you much of the effect of multiple familiars.)

[geekintheground]

a while back i read something about a feat called "Extra Familiar" but i forget where i read it and they didnt give a source, but i bet its in DragMag. maybe you can use it as a spring board?

[Agent 451]

I don't know of any way to do it RAW, but the Extra Familiar feat from Dragon #280 allows you to gain a second familiar.

[Graypairofsocks]

As the title says, are there any RAW ways to get multiple famliars? I don't see any in the familiar handbook. My reading of Obtain familiar is that it cannot grant a second one, as it only says "You can obtain a familiar in the same manner as a sorcerer or wizard", so if you already have a familiar it has no effect.
Is there something in a sourcebook that I missed?
(Obviously leadership can give you much of the effect of multiple familiars.)

There is also a Shadow Familiar feat in Tome of Magic, which grants a familiar with the dark template, you can have both it and a normal one, but you need Shadowcaster levels to take the feat.


I don't know of any way to do it RAW, but the Extra Familiar feat from Dragon #280 allows you to gain a second familiar.

Um, that feat is a way to do it by RAW.

Also that feat can be taken more than once.

[Chronos]

Yeah, you should be a little careful with Dragon material, since some of it is poorly designed, but it's official. And there aren't really any major issues with the Extra Familiar feat specifically. Were I the DM, I would allow it.

[MrNobody]

Prerequisite
Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, arcane caster level 3rd,
Benefit
You can obtain a familiar in the same manner as a sorcerer or wizard (see the sorcerer class description and the accompanying sidebar, page 52 of the Player's Handbook). As with a sorcerer or wizard, obtaining a familiar takes 24 hours and uses up magic materials worth 100 gp. For the purpose of determining familiar abilities that depend on your arcane caster class level, your levels in all classes that allow you to cast arcane spells stack.

First of all, mind that i'm giving an interpretation of this feat based on what it does not say, so it may not be strictly by RAW or RAI (doesn't saying you can't it's not equal to saying you can), but just a vile rule stretching.

So, in the prerequites and in the feat description it's not said that, to get this feat, you must not already have a familiar. This is important because leaves it really "open" and, by RAW, allows a 3rd level Wizard to take it.
The feat does not talk about getting new one, replacement and so on (like Dragon familiar), it only states that you generally obtain one: nothing is also said about familiars you could already have.

That said, if you are a 3rd level Wizard with 4 grade in knowledge (arcana) you are totally allowed to take this feat that doesn't modify at all you already existing familiar but gives you the ability of getting one.
This could be read either as "you get a second familiar", either as "you wasted a feat for getting something you already had, so you get nothing"!

[killem2]

Yeah, you should be a little careful with Dragon material, since some of it is poorly designed, but it's official.

It's not that bad. Quite a lot of it got published into the splat books we know and love today.

[Red Fel]

If you go with both an arcane class and a psionic class, you could take Psicrystal Affinity and gain a psicrystal. If you want a more classical feel, you could take Elemental Envoy and swap out your psicrystal for an elemental steward.

Neither of these precludes gaining a familiar from your arcane class.

[ace rooster]

Actually RAW the 'summon familiar' class feature allows you to obtain a familiar in the same way that craft wand allows you to create a wand, or a rogue can make a sneak attack that does unarmed damage with a sap. There is no explicit rule stating that you cannot repeat the use of the class feature to obtain more than one familiar at a time, though it is heavily implied. The only provision is that you must not have another class that grants you a familiar, as that explicitly prohibits you from having more than one.

Good luck trying to get that to fly with a DM though... they are more likely to restrict you to crafting only one wand in your lifetime, and allow the rogue only one non-lethal sneak attack ever.

[dextercorvia]

First of all, mind that i'm giving an interpretation of this feat based on what it does not say, so it may not be strictly by RAW or RAI (doesn't saying you can't it's not equal to saying you can), but just a vile rule stretching.

So, in the prerequites and in the feat description it's not said that, to get this feat, you must not already have a familiar. This is important because leaves it really "open" and, by RAW, allows a 3rd level Wizard to take it.
The feat does not talk about getting new one, replacement and so on (like Dragon familiar), it only states that you generally obtain one: nothing is also said about familiars you could already have.

That said, if you are a 3rd level Wizard with 4 grade in knowledge (arcana) you are totally allowed to take this feat that doesn't modify at all you already existing familiar but gives you the ability of getting one.
This could be read either as "you get a second familiar", either as "you wasted a feat for getting something you already had, so you get nothing"!

Unfortunately this, although not a bad place to start for a homebrew option. Since you gain a familiar like a Sorcerer or Wizard, and they explcitly don't get a 2nd one for multiclassing.


A character with more than one class that grants a familiar may have only one familiar at a time.

Aside from the Extra Familiar Feat, a Wizard can trade his familiar for an Animal Companion and then take Obtain Familiar. He can also take Wild Cohort, then 5 levels of Silverwood Arcanist (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031209a) to make the Wild Cohort have several familiar benefits.

It stretches the RAW slightly, but a Wizard might be able to Chain ACF the Animal Companion into an Urban Companion.

[Graypairofsocks]

Yeah, you should be a little careful with Dragon material, since some of it is poorly designed, but it's official. And there aren't really any major issues with the Extra Familiar feat specifically. Were I the DM, I would allow it.

There is both badly designed stuff and well designed.

The reason why you should be careful with Dragon is that some issues are very hard to obtain and some people only allow material that they have.

[MrNobody]

Unfortunately this, although not a bad place to start for a homebrew option. Since you gain a familiar like a Sorcerer or Wizard, and they explcitly don't get a 2nd one for multiclassing.

The same line you cited gives you the (probable) answer. He says "class", not feat.
But it could be a problem for the "stacking" in the feat's last paragraph...

[dextercorvia]

The same line you cited gives you the (probable) answer. He says "class", not feat.
But it could be a problem for the "stacking" in the feat's last paragraph...

Yeah, I caught that, too. It isn't as clear as I'd like, but arguing from a point of "the rules don't say I can't" never ends well in DnD. I would say that the general rule is that you can't have more than one familiar at a time(since class features were the only way when that rule was written), and that you need a specific override written into the feat/ability to change that.

[MrNobody]

Yeah, I caught that, too. It isn't as clear as I'd like, but arguing from a point of "the rules don't say I can't" never ends well in DnD. I would say that the general rule is that you can't have more than one familiar at a time(since class features were the only way when that rule was written), and that you need a specific override written into the feat/ability to change that.

Yeah, i think that too! I didn't like my own proposal but was the only thing that came to my mind that can bring to multiple familiars.
In comparison, getting multiple animal companions is far easier!

[nedz]

The reason why you should be careful with Dragon is that some issues are very hard to obtain and some people only allow material that they have.

You can buy all of the 3.0 onwards ones from Piazzo, older ones only as PDFs though.

[Graypairofsocks]

You can buy all of the 3.0 onwards ones from Piazzo, older ones only as PDFs though.

Do you mean Paizo?

And some of the last ones aren't available as PDFs.

[Chronos]

I never said that all Dragon material was poorly designed, and in fact cited Extra Familiar as an example of something that's just fine. But there's still enough poorly-designed stuff in there that you want to tread carefully.


Quoth killem2:

It's not that bad. Quite a lot of it got published into the splat books we know and love today.
Really? I'm not aware of any examples, other than the obvious Dragon Magazine Compendium. Still, though, what does that say for the material that wasn't chosen to include in a splatbook?

And even at that, Dragon Magazine Compendium also included some of the poorly-designed stuff. Just how do Dvati work, again?

[Zirconia]

Might it work to take the Improved Familiar feat, then now that you don't have a "normal/default" familiar any more, summon a new "default" familiar?

[137beth]

There is also a Shadow Familiar feat in Tome of Magic, which grants a familiar with the dark template, you can have both it and a normal one, but you need Shadowcaster levels to take the feat.

It looks like shadow familiar couldn't get you a second familiar for the same reason Obtain Familiar can't, unless I'm misreading something:smallconfused:

Now the next question is what happens when you combine extra familiar with improved familiar? Just from looking at the description of IF

When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed below are also available to the spellcaster.
it seems as if Improved Familiar+Extra Familiar would allow you to get two improved familiars. That seems rather potent at first glance (two extra actions per round!), although that could just mean two dead familiars. But then, I don't have the text of Extra Familiar in front of me, so I don't know if it specifies how it interacts with IF. Anyone know?

[Jeff the Green]

Dip druid and swap animal companion for an urban companion. Nottechnically a familiar, but it's better in almost all ways.

If you're okay with chaining ACFs, trade your familiar for an animal companion and your animal companion for an urban companion. Then take Obtain Familiar.

[dextercorvia]

it seems as if Improved Familiar+Extra Familiar would allow you to get two improved familiars. That seems rather potent at first glance (two extra actions per round!), although that could just mean two dead familiars. But then, I don't have the text of Extra Familiar in front of me, so I don't know if it specifies how it interacts with IF. Anyone know?

If you get Improved Familiar first, it definitely works.


Existing familiar feats apply to the new familiar.

Presumably that means existing feats when you call the new familiar, not just when you take the feat, but err on the side of caution if you can.