Familiar Questions

[TheCrowing1432]

1. Is there an alternate list of Familars in any of the splatbooks that isnt the standard list given in the SRD? Im not talking about Improved Familars. I just mean the basic familar that Wizards and Sorcerors can get without taking additional feats.

2. What happens to the familar if the master dies? Does it become an ordinary animal?

3. When you take feats that allow you to acquire better familars Dragon Familiar/Improved Familar, when/how do you get the new familar?

[WeaselGuy]

1) Stormwrack, Sandstorm and Frostburn all have alternate familiars (like Artic Foxes, Penguins, Seagulls and similar stuff)

2) Not sure exactly, but the fluff for a Tibbit says they are descendants of mage's familiars.

3) It always just says "ability to acquire a new familiar". I'm pretty sure you can dismiss your familiar in favor of a new one, but I could be mistaken.

[Coidzor]

Dragon Magazine expands the list of base familiars and, IIRC, the DMG has some base familiars for masters that are Large size or larger as well as Tiny size or smaller.

[Chronos]

By the rules, in order to get a new familiar, the first one must be either dead or dismissed, either one of which carries an XP penalty and a one-year delay. Most DMs think that this is way too harsh on the Improved Familiar feat, and instead allow the new familiar to immediately replace the old one without penalty.

[defiantdan]

Dragon Magazine 323 has new familiars for specialist wizards.

[ShurikVch]

There are also familiars in Dragon #280 and 341


2. What happens to the familar if the master dies? Does it become an ordinary animal?
From the Tome and Blood (3.0, but still...):
Death of a Master
If a master dies and the familiar survives, part of the master lives on in the familiar. It loses any extra hit points and skills it gained from the master but retains most of its familiar abilities. It is treated as having a master two levels lower (but never below 1st level). If the master is later brought back from the dead, the bond is reestablished, and the familiar gains whatever abilities go along with the master’s new level.

[Deophaun]

Most DMs think that this is way too harsh on the Improved Familiar feat, and instead allow the new familiar to immediately replace the old one without penalty.
If your DM is a stickler on this, remember that there is nothing that requires you to actually start with a familiar, even if you have it as a class feature. So, if you know you're going to get hit with a year-and-a-day wait, but you really want that improved familiar instead of the raven or cat or whatever, then don't take your starting familiar. You'll be able to pick up the improved one immediately when you get the feat.

[Greenish]

If your DM is a stickler on this, remember that there is nothing that requires you to actually start with a familiar, even if you have it as a class feature. So, if you know you're going to get hit with a year-and-a-day wait, but you really want that improved familiar instead of the raven or cat or whatever, then don't take your starting familiar. You'll be able to pick up the improved one immediately when you get the feat.Or be a changeling wizard and take the 5th level substitution level.

[Flickerdart]

If your DM is a stickler on this, remember that there is nothing that requires you to actually start with a familiar, even if you have it as a class feature.
Considering that it costs 100gp to summon a familiar, most starting characters won't be able to afford one even if they have the thing as a class feature.

[Thurbane]

Some good sources for lists of familiars can be found here (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=9955.0) and here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?187251-3-5-Complete-list-of-possible-Familiar).