Dread necromancer familiar. Can I take another?

[Sergio]

Given that ghostly visage or quasit are the best choices, I was wondering if there is a path I can walk which would give me a even better familiar.

Are there specific talents, roleplay stuff, rituals that can be made ingame, or stuff of this sort that would net me a better familiar?

[Kayblis]

Well, Wizards and Sorcerers can trade their familiars for an Animal Companion through an UA variant(page 58-59) with equivalent Druid level of half their own. And then pick the feat Obtain Familiar at level 3 to keep both.

Other than that, you have the feats Improved Familiar, Dragon Familiar, Planar Familiar... You know what, look up "3.5 Familiar Handbook" by Dictum Mortuum. The guy did a whole guide purely on familiars and how to optimize them.

[nolongerchaos]

Well, I'm not sure if it's what you meant, but if you spend some gp and "preform a ritual" over a matter of days, you can make your familiar Spell-Stitched (CArc, p161), which is a pretty cool and flavorful template. It'll require your familiar to be undead, so if it's not already corporeal undead, you'll need something like the Stitched Flesh Familiar from Libris Mortis to turn the familiar undead.

If you're looking for decidedly flavorful choices, you can pick up something like a Dragon Familiar (Draconomicion), and then apply the aforementioned feats and templates. Not much says Evil Necromancer like an undead baby dragon at your side magically stitched together from the parts of other baby dragons, especially if you go for the Gold (dragon) :smallwink:

[Sergio]

Well, Wizards and Sorcerers can trade their familiars for an Animal Companion through an UA variant(page 58-59) with equivalent Druid level of half their own. And then pick the feat Obtain Familiar at level 3 to keep both.

Other than that, you have the feats Improved Familiar, Dragon Familiar, Planar Familiar... You know what, look up "3.5 Familiar Handbook" by Dictum Mortuum. The guy did a whole guide purely on familiars and how to optimize them.

I saw that guide, but there is nothing really useful. Not even the ghostly visage is mentioned. I was looking for a way to abuse my familiar ~


Well, I'm not sure if it's what you meant, but if you spend some gp and "preform a ritual" over a matter of days, you can make your familiar Spell-Stitched (CArc, p161), which is a pretty cool and flavorful template. It'll require your familiar to be undead, so if it's not already corporeal undead, you'll need something like the Stitched Flesh Familiar from Libris Mortis to turn the familiar undead.

If you're looking for decidedly flavorful choices, you can pick up something like a Dragon Familiar (Draconomicion), and then apply the aforementioned feats and templates. Not much says Evil Necromancer like an undead baby dragon at your side magically stitched together from the parts of other baby dragons, especially if you go for the Gold (dragon) :smallwink:

I wonder form a roleplay standpoint how is the procedure of spellstitching? Should I become proficient in something in particuylar before spellstiching boys?

And you talk about gold dragons, wouldn't that mean that at least I find a corpse from which I take the parts needed to spellstich?

[nolongerchaos]

I saw that guide, but there is nothing really useful. Not even the ghostly visage is mentioned. I was looking for a way to abuse my familiar ~

I wonder form a roleplay standpoint how is the procedure of spellstitching? Should I become proficient in something in particuylar before spellstiching boys?

And you talk about gold dragons, wouldn't that mean that at least I find a corpse from which I take the parts needed to spellstich?

I think there's a chance that the Ghostly Visage familiar is unique to Dread Necros, so you'll probably have to look up a handbook for their optimal use.

Everything else you're looking for is either stuff you'll have to work out with your DM, or flavor stuff.

I'm away from books right now, but if I recall correctly, Dragon Familiar lets you pick a metallic or chromatic wyrmling based on your alignment and CL (DNs can only pick up a Gold Dragon Familiar if they're LN, at 12th level, I believe, so you can't actually be Evil with a Gold Dragon, but see what you can come up with). Now technically Stitched Flesh Familiar only specifies working on the traditional, basic familiars, and all of the options available to DNs are not on that list (especially not dragons), so you'll have to run it by your DM to see if they're okay with applying it to more powerful familiars. If you get the go-ahead, it's just a matter of fluff to say you took your baby dragon apart for study, them put it back with your dark magicks.

As for Spellstitching, the Template requires the creator to have Craft Wondrous Item (and a Wiz/Sorc, but it's not much of a stretch to add DNs to that list) and reads almost identically to item creation, but should, again, be fairly easy to refluff with the burning of black candles in a graveyard at midnight, or whatever floats your boat, instead of the traditional tinkering in a lab type creation.

[ATHATH]

The Shadow Familiar feat lets you pick up a few interesting things as your Familiar, IIRC.

[Bohandas]

Other than that, you have the feats Improved Familiar, Dragon Familiar, Planar Familiar... You know what, look up "3.5 Familiar Handbook" by Dictum Mortuum. The guy did a whole guide purely on familiars and how to optimize them.

Not seeing it in Google or Duck Duck Go

[Amphetryon]

Not seeing it in Google or Duck Duck Go

It's literally the first result I got in Google when I entered Dictum Mortuum. It doesn't include the "3.5" label explicitly, but it's the right result.

[Sergio]

I think there's a chance that the Ghostly Visage familiar is unique to Dread Necros, so you'll probably have to look up a handbook for their optimal use.

Everything else you're looking for is either stuff you'll have to work out with your DM, or flavor stuff.

I'm away from books right now, but if I recall correctly, Dragon Familiar lets you pick a metallic or chromatic wyrmling based on your alignment and CL (DNs can only pick up a Gold Dragon Familiar if they're LN, at 12th level, I believe, so you can't actually be Evil with a Gold Dragon, but see what you can come up with). Now technically Stitched Flesh Familiar only specifies working on the traditional, basic familiars, and all of the options available to DNs are not on that list (especially not dragons), so you'll have to run it by your DM to see if they're okay with applying it to more powerful familiars. If you get the go-ahead, it's just a matter of fluff to say you took your baby dragon apart for study, them put it back with your dark magicks.

As for Spellstitching, the Template requires the creator to have Craft Wondrous Item (and a Wiz/Sorc, but it's not much of a stretch to add DNs to that list) and reads almost identically to item creation, but should, again, be fairly easy to refluff with the burning of black candles in a graveyard at midnight, or whatever floats your boat, instead of the traditional tinkering in a lab type creation.

Thanks really a lot.

[Bonzai]

In Unearthed Arcana, wizards and sorcerers can trade their familiar for a skeletal minion. This minion levels up as you do. I would see if you can sweet talk your DM if you could swap out your "improved familiar class feature" to get this instead at lvl 1. With your negative energy touch you can keep it healed up, and latter awaken and spell stitch it.

[Dancingdeath]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm

Adding that or spellstitched seems like a good plan. I'd straight up apply the Phrenic template to a Ghostly Visage and walk away grinning. That's a lotta cheese.

As for how to apply it in game I'd do something like bathing it in psionic energies while having a Psion perform a ritual. Might be expensive.

Or, have it struck by a powerful psionic/reality altering blast and it becomes altered. Boom template added. Talk it over with your DM.

[Thurbane]

Quasits are pretty solid familiars, to be honest. Their innate abilities are pretty good, compared to most familiars.

Most casters have to give up a feat (or two) to get them.

If you can get some ranks in UMD, they can sit there invisibly buffing, summoning etc. with wands.

If you take levels in Fiend Blooded or Alienist (if you can wrangle the reqs), you can slap the Fiendish or Pseudonatural template on your Quasit.