A Familiar Run By A Player

[DragonBaneDM]

Hey guys!

So I've got an upcoming game with a new DM where I'll be playing a Druid, but two of my friends will be playing a Feylock and his Pact of the Chain sprite!

What the DM has asked me to do is come up with some ideas on how we can give this new player, who's going to be taking on the role of the Sprite, a good opportunity to grow as a player and learn the system.

So the way I want to tackle this is by sort of building a mega-familiar that starts off being able to attack and cast spells, then grows its own class features as time goes on. I'm thinking some sort of mix between Rogue and Sorcerer?

Or maybe we just start her off as a basic Sprite and then when we all hit Level 2 she gets to pick her own class?

What would you do?

[JellyPooga]

As cool an idea as this is (and it is a cool idea), I would recommend that...well, you don't.

One; new DM. It's hard enough doing things by the book when you get behind the Screen of Power for the first time. The last thing you need is something complicating matters.

Two; new Player. It's hard enough learning the ropes when you pick up the dice for the first time. The last thing you need is to learn the "wrong" rules before you learn the basics. Walk before you Run and all that.

There's nothing stopping players from having shared backstories, but intermingling and blurring the lines between character abilities and story is a fuzzy area at best. Give this new player a Halfling or Gnome (if they want to be "little people") Bard (for that magical fey feel, if that's what they're after), built in all the usual ways. Tie the character into the Feylock players backstory with the Warlock Patron being the Bards boss/benefactor/parent or whatever...let them call each other "master" and "familiar", but play things by-the-book this time around.

[gfishfunk]

As cool an idea as this is (and it is a cool idea), I would recommend that...well, you don't.

I agree with the above. Instead, I recommend playing the familiar to level 2, and then giving the new player a chance to create a new character using the basic system and adding the new character in.

[Talamare]

I agree with Jelly on this, however I would do one small house rule that they would really enjoy

After the familiar chooses hafling or gnome, make that persons height only 5"~10"
It has NO mechanical benefits, AND attacks can be made against them as normal with again NO mechanical benefits

However, it will be easier to roleplay the a familiar if you're tiny


... Actually if you do make them Tiny, allow them to levitate upto 5' off the ground but make it clear that it won't help slow down your falling ever/at all

[RickAllison]

I'm in the minority on this, but I say go for it! His HP will be low, but high enough to actually contribute and he can just be re-summoned if he does something foolish. You might remove control at some point and have him roll up a new character, but it would be a memorable first experience.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I agree with those saying this is a bad idea - and I wrote the book (https://www.dropbox.com/s/s3crmpfdbc5u5x5/Fey%20Creatures%20Complete.pdf?dl=0) on playing as a sprite.

Let the player learn the system first, then you can mix it up a bit later.

[Sitri]

Hey guys!

So I've got an upcoming game with a new DM where I'll be playing a Druid, but two of my friends will be playing a Feylock and his Pact of the Chain sprite!

What the DM has asked me to do is come up with some ideas on how we can give this new player, who's going to be taking on the role of the Sprite, a good opportunity to grow as a player and learn the system.

So the way I want to tackle this is by sort of building a mega-familiar that starts off being able to attack and cast spells, then grows its own class features as time goes on. I'm thinking some sort of mix between Rogue and Sorcerer?

Or maybe we just start her off as a basic Sprite and then when we all hit Level 2 she gets to pick her own class?

What would you do?

It very well may lead to some balance/confusion in the game, so I understand why a lot of people are voting against it. That being said, when I was learning D&D as a kid we really butchered all kinds of rules and balance issues to hell and we still had fun. If you are having fun it is a win. If you start struggling with balance issues, live and learn hopefully you still had fun until it fell apart.

If you do go ahead with it, I would probably use the stats for winged tiefling from SCAG; I don't think I can link it here. Or the Winged elf stats from this (http://www.dmsguild.com/product/171785/Races-Revived-Rare-Elf-Subraces) free/pay what you want download and refluff it as a tiny sprite. I would probably make it a sorcerer, but whatever the player is into.

The fact the new player could be resummoned would give a safety net, but the DM should be prepared to cut the ropes if the player seems to be abusing that privilege or it is decreasing fun by decreasing threat.


I agree with those saying this is a bad idea - and I wrote the book (https://www.dropbox.com/s/s3crmpfdbc5u5x5/Fey%20Creatures%20Complete.pdf?dl=0) on playing as a sprite.

Let the player learn the system first, then you can mix it up a bit later.

Holy balls. I just did a quick glance but this looks like some pretty elaborate work. I look forward to being able to give it a thorough read.

I am guessing the artwork is internet finds, but if you replace it with some public domain/community commons stuff, I really think you should put this up on the DM's Guild.

For curiosity how much time went into this? And yes I plan to steal from it for my current game.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Holy balls. I just did a quick glance but this looks like some pretty elaborate work. I look forward to being able to give it a thorough read.

I am guessing the artwork is internet finds, but if you replace it with some public domain/community commons stuff, I really think you should put this up on the DM's Guild.

For curiosity how much time went into this? And yes I plan to steal from it for my current game.

I've been working on it sporadically for nine months (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?417292-Ninja_Prawn-s-Fey-PC-Races-Project). Originally it started as an attempt to make playable pixies, but once I'd put in the groundwork for tiny races, tiny weapons and flying PCs (this was before WotC's aarakocra came out, remember), it made sense to build on it.

I'm running two PbP games using the rules (A Faerie Affair and Woodland Storm! - links in my sig) and we haven't encountered too many balance issues. That said, we've mostly just been doing social stuff; I haven't put the rules under too much 'stress'.

And yes, the fact that I don't own the copyrights on the images (indeed, I don't even know where some of them came from... and at least three are owned by WotC) is the main thing that's keeping me from putting this up on the DM's Guild. I don't really know how to go about finding images that are legal, and I seriously doubt I would find enough good ones. It was difficult enough finding things with the whole Internet to search...

At the end of the day, as long as people have fun playing with it, I'm happy. Having it available for free here is fine.