Favorite Familiars?

[Erit]

Seeing as the basic familiar list is rather accommodating, and there are I think three variations of Improved Familiar as well as Draconic Familiar, and I have no doubt there are more that I've missed, I'm curious; when you don't just trade out the class ability or ignore it entirely, what familiars do you lot prefer to take, and why? I'm partial to Winter Wolves, myself; they're rather handy in a fight, have a breath weapon, can speak, can be used as a mount by most races, and are wolves, creatures I have a soft spot for.

[Grim Reader]

Morphic Familiar, by far.

[Inevitability]

Imps, because having a direct line to infernal powers even the party cleric won't have for two levels is great.

[Blackhawk748]

Raven, talking scouts are handy.

[Troacctid]

I always take a Celestial Familiar if my alignment allows it. I believe that the lantern archon, coure eladrin, and musteval guardinal are easily the top three familiars in the game, and it's not especially close, either.

Imp and quasit would be the next in line after those.

[Deophaun]

Ghostly Visage. You want to give me immunity to mind-affecting and a scaling gaze attack that paralyzes its targets? Yes, please. Bonus points if you can change its feats to Lifesense or Ghostly Grasp.

[Elkad]

There are more powerful options, but for flavor combined with power, I have to go with Imp.
It's iconic for a reason.

[Vizzerdrix]

Osquips for the flavor. I love doing the pampered pet thing with them.
Musteval guradinals (natural choice for any ferret owner)
Earth mephets for my gishes.
Beholderkin eyeball (havent used one yet but they have an interesting ability)
Humming bird if Im optomizing
Hedgehog if I need a bit of ac
Formian workers if I can get enough to use their healing ability.


And Ive always wanted to find a rules legal way to turn a skurid into a familiar, or a familiar into a skurid permenantly. Maybe polymorph a squirrel or rat into one? Any ideas?

[A_S]

Mirror Mephit opens up some serious cheese, depending on your DM's rulings on how Simulacrum works.

Aside from that, I usually trade my Familiar out for other stuff, like Abrupt Jaunt.

[gorfnab]

Beguiler (SS) - continuous True Seeing and speech is nice.

[ryu]

Hummingbird. +4 initiative that stacks with improved initiative, nerveskitter, and high dex? At low levels I go first. At high levels I get other things and go first even harder.

[stack]

Ioun wyrd becuase...its a bunch of floating rocks. Magic!

[Âmesang]

My last caster-with-a-familiar utilized a quasit due to being chaotic evil; a fair amount of utility especially due to shared ranks in Use Magic Device, plus I like its alternate forms more than the imp's (since, at least, I can also use my wolf figurine for another character's animal companion).

…I also find it amusing that it has a higher Wisdom than its master. :smalltongue:

[Vizzerdrix]

Ioun wyrd becuase...its a bunch of floating rocks. Magic!

What is that from?

[Deadkitten]

What is that from?

I know its a familiar in Pathfinder, although I am not sure that it exists in 3.5.

One of my favorite things to do with the Ioun Wyrd was to play an Android Alchemist and take the Tumor Familiar discovery while also giving it the Protector familiar archetype. This gives you an effective +50% HP that slowly regenerates due to the familiars fast healing and the constant shield other effect.

I usually fluff it as either a life support system or an intelligent force field.

[The Viscount]

For the top list I'm going to go with the Imp first, because alternate form gives you flanking buddy and a regular familiar for being unobtrusive. Invisibility, flight, poison, the ability to speak languages, hands for wands. It has just about everything you want in a familiar.

The Eyeball Beholderkin is my other one and it's a familiar that doesn't get enough attention for how good it is. It can also fly and cast mage hand, but the main ability of interest is turning a touch spell into a ranged touch attack by channeling it through the thing.

[Eldariel]

One additional option I like is Pseudodragon for Mindsight funzies. In PF, Faerie Dragon is incredible, getting the Sorcerer-casting to use all Sorc spell wands without checks.

[Zaydos]

Not optimal, but I like blink dogs especially on Duskblades. Let it hold a charge for me, start of combat it runs up to an enemy and delivers the touch spell before teleporting back (or teleports to them, touches them, starts blinking and provides me with flanking).

Is it the best? No. Is it a free action touch spell 1/encounter which also provides a flank buddy and relatively resilient due to miss chances and teleportation? Yes.

[bean illus]

How does Morphic Familiar work with Improved Famiiar? Not at all? or all goes if you have the caster level?

[Elkad]

Aside from that, I usually trade my Familiar out for other stuff, like Abrupt Jaunt.

Sure, and then you buy it right back (at 3rd). Obtain Familiar is better, as it counts your PrC levels.

[Morcleon]

Lantern archon is far and away my favorite. Not only do you get a small amount of DR-piercing damage, you also get aid, continual flame, detect evil, greater teleport, and tongues, all at-will.

[Inevitability]

Lantern archon is far and away my favorite. Not only do you get a small amount of DR-piercing damage, you also get aid, continual flame, detect evil, greater teleport, and tongues, all at-will.

I'd have said this, but when a 3rd-level spell can also create and bind them for short periods of time they get less attractive.

[bookkeeping guy]

You know I have to say I wish some of the creature descriptions could be better.

LIke what is a lantern archon anyway? People keep mentioning and whenever I see the stats for one it forgets to describe what they actually look like? Is it a will o wisp or like a fairy or a midget angel?

Another thing I'd like to say...

Should you have to sacrifice a certain number of spell points per day to have an advanced more buffed up familiar? I'm not against advanced familiars...I think the idea sounds way cool and awesome but I have to also promote it being balanced and not getting a cool toy for free right? So how do you determine how many spell points you give up on your wiz or warlock to have a really tough familiar or whatever? (I understand someone will probably say they can't be wiz but you understand the idea don't you? )

Also I kind of hope there were more kits with humanoid familiars.

Beast familiars are cool I'm not dissing on that, but demon familiars like a succubus I'm sure a lot of people would think is cool...and maybe that's not the only option, like stuff like a nixie, or mermaid familiar if you were a water mage.

I could make the list go on...an earth mage might like a gnome familiar too...

What do you think?

[Morcleon]

I'd have said this, but when a 3rd-level spell can also create and bind them for short periods of time they get less attractive.

Slightly, but not tremendously so. Create Lantern Archon the spell isn't at-will, so you can't have aid active on every party member in perpetuity, nor can you pack the entire party inside an Enveloping Pit to get Greater Teleport many levels before you should normally have it whenever you want. Similarly, it requires a prepared caster, 1 hour of casting, and constitution drain.


You know I have to say I wish some of the creature descriptions could be better.

LIke what is a lantern archon anyway? People keep mentioning and whenever I see the stats for one it forgets to describe what they actually look like? Is it a will o wisp or like a fairy or a midget angel?

Another thing I'd like to say...

Should you have to sacrifice a certain number of spell points per day to have an advanced more buffed up familiar? I'm not against advanced familiars...I think the idea sounds way cool and awesome but I have to also promote it being balanced and not getting a cool toy for free right? So how do you determine how many spell points you give up on your wiz or warlock to have a really tough familiar or whatever? (I understand someone will probably say they can't be wiz but you understand the idea don't you? )

Also I kind of hope there were more kits with humanoid familiars.

Beast familiars are cool I'm not dissing on that, but demon familiars like a succubus I'm sure a lot of people would think is cool...and maybe that's not the only option, like stuff like a nixie, or mermaid familiar if you were a water mage.

I could make the list go on...an earth mage might like a gnome familiar too...

What do you think?

The lantern archon is the little glowy yellow ball.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG18.jpg

They aren't obtained for free. The feat Improved Familiar (and similar) are what allows a caster to get a stronger familiar. It would have to be a very powerful buff (or a very low spell slot cost) to justify that houserule being worth it.

Once you get to that point with more powerful creatures like succubi and gnome (presumably with class levels), you should just go ahead and take Leadership instead.

[bookkeeping guy]

So is there more than one feat of improved familiar? if you are using a level 20 cap system then would improved be a familiar like up to level 8 or so? And would there be another tier for a second feat of 'advanced familiar' or something like it?

[Morcleon]

So is there more than one feat of improved familiar? if you are using a level 20 cap system then would improved be a familiar like up to level 8 or so? And would there be another tier for a second feat of 'advanced familiar' or something like it?

Improved Familiar, Celestial Familiar, Planar Familiar, Dragon Familiar, and Darkness Familiar all do roughly the same thing, but with different types of creatures and different fluff. The highest level requirement for one of these is the Fire Bat (from Improved Familiar) at level 15, but that's a clear outlier, with most of them falling around levels 5-9. If you want anything more powerful than most of what is offered, you'll want to just take Leadership instead.

To my knowledge, there's nothing like an Advanced Familiar feat.

[Inevitability]

Shadowform Familiar is a very obscure, race-specific feat, but it's pretty great. Just don't try to combine it with Lantern Archon. :smalltongue:

[Doc_Maynot]

Rocs, like giant ravens you can ride.

[Vizzerdrix]

Mephling wizard with a mephit familiar has always been something Ive wanted to try out. Either as a master/slave thing, or a married couple.

[Inevitability]

Mephling wizard with a mephit familiar has always been something Ive wanted to try out. Either as a master/slave thing, or a married couple.

Muckdweller wizard with muckdweller familiar is very similar, and perhaps slightly more optimized.