Sha'ir Question

[ATHATH]

What's the action cost of summoning your gen familiar and sending it out to retrieve a spell? Is it a free action?

[MHCD]

What's the action cost of summoning your gen familiar and sending it out to retrieve a spell? Is it a free action?



Summon Gen Familiar: ...The summoning takes 12 hours and consumes raw materials that cost 100 gp.

Spells: ...A sha'ir decides what spell might be useful and sends out his familiar to retrieve it from the elemental planes. To do this, the sha'ir must summon his gen and tell it the name of the spell he seeks. The gen immediately plane shifts to seek the spell in the elemental planes.

[under the description of the gens:]
Fetch Spells: ...The time required depends upon the spell, as given in the sha'ir description.


You originally summon your gen familiar in a manner similar to a normal wizard/sorcerer, after which it remains summoned. As the "sending" text is included under "Spells", it does not automatically inherit an action type other than from the description, which only includes (1) choosing a spell - no action, (2) telling the gen the name of the spell - talking is usually a free action, (3) the gen "immediately planeshifts" to fetch the spell, "the time required...given in the sha'ir description".

So once your familiar is summoned, the only action/time required in the retrieval of the spell is according to the description under "Spells", which can range from one round to several hours.

[ATHATH]

Ah, thank you.

Also, does the gen come back and give you your spell at the beginning of the turn that it comes back, the end of it, or when its turn/initiative count comes around?

[MHCD]

Ah, thank you.

Also, does the gen come back and give you your spell at the beginning of the turn that it comes back, the end of it, or when its turn/initiative count comes around?

Regarding at what point during the Sha'ir's turn the familiar returns:


For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. A round can be a segment of game time starting with the first character to act and ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round to the same initiative count in the next round. Effects that last a certain number of rounds end just before the same initiative count that they began on.

Source (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/actionsInCombat.htm#theCombatRound)

So "the beginning" is correct. It doesn't matter at what point during your turn you send your gen to fetch a spell; it returns ready for your next turn (or however many rounds/minutes/hours it takes).

Someone else may be able to provide a better reference in RC or something, but it seems to me it would follow the same ruling as spell durations (which don't expire in the "middle" of your turn), draconic breath weapons (which don't recharge in the "middle" of your turn), etc.

Also, as the gen's "Fetch Spells" ability is linked to the Sha'ir's spellcasting, it doesn't appear to "take up the gen's turn" by RAW; in other words, a gen familiar can on its own initiative count in addition to leaving or returning from a spell fetch on its master's initiative count.