Item Familiar and inheritance interpertation

[Uskardx42]

Got a new question.

Since an Item Familiar can be passed down or inherited, could that item familiar have more the the 3 special abilities listed in table 5-12 on pg. 171 of UA?

If the previous owner had used the item until they themselves were lv 14, and then they died and passed it on, the Item Familiar would have 2 special abilities.
If the new owner has the feat (Item Familiar) and successfully links to it, all investments become accessible to the new owner.
→ SO if an item had been passed down for generations what, how many, and at what levels could the invested abilities of the item familiar be?
Unlimited???

Unearthed Arcana pg. 173 - 174


As always, thank you for any help.

Uskardx42

[Uskardx42]

Any interpretations on this feat?

[Goaty14]

Probably not. As far as lore goes, an inherited item familiar would likely mean different things to different people PCs, or may as well mean nothing (i.e, they don't have the item familiar feat).

That's just lore. RAW, I have no idea.

[Bronk]

Got a new question.

Since an Item Familiar can be passed down or inherited, could that item familiar have more the the 3 special abilities listed in table 5-12 on pg. 171 of UA?

If the previous owner had used the item until they themselves were lv 14, and then they died and passed it on, the Item Familiar would have 2 special abilities.

If the new owner has the feat (Item Familiar) and successfully links to it, all investments become accessible to the new owner.
→ SO if an item had been passed down for generations what, how many, and at what levels could the invested abilities of the item familiar be?
Unlimited???

The new owner would get it, have to win an ego check, then bond with the item familiar themselves. From the SRD here:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm


New Owner Is Lower Level
The link partially succeeds. The alignment of the item familiar changes to match that of its new master, and the new owner can use all the item familiar’s special abilities and powers. However, the new master cannot benefit from any invested skill ranks or spell slots until his character level equals or exceeds that of the item familiar’s highest-level previous owner.

So, in your example, the new owners wouldn't get everything until they hit level 14 themselves. The "True Inheritance" stuff in the next section only alters the specifics of the ego check.

It wouldn't necessarily be unlimited power though, since new abilities are purchased with money, and would get increasingly expensive.

It looks like invested spell slots are tied only to the current owner, since they change with your level. You wouldn't want it to though, because otherwise you could pick up a new item familiar and lose most of your spell slots!

Skill bonuses could get pretty high, but you can't use a bonus higher than your rank in the skill. So, good, but not arbitrarily good.

[daremetoidareyo]

Skill bonuses could get pretty high, but you can't use a bonus higher than your rank in the skill. So, good, but not arbitrarily good.

You could, over generations, get at least 4 ranks in every skill...If the inheritor's just keep on dying at first level.

If you can find yourself a race that reproduces by budding or splitting, you got yourself a mega-loophole.

[Uskardx42]

The new owner would get it, have to win an ego check, then bond with the item familiar themselves. From the SRD here:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm



So, in your example, the new owners wouldn't get everything until they hit level 14 themselves. The "True Inheritance" stuff in the next section only alters the specifics of the ego check.

It wouldn't necessarily be unlimited power though, since new abilities are purchased with money, and would get increasingly expensive.

It looks like invested spell slots are tied only to the current owner, since they change with your level. You wouldn't want it to though, because otherwise you could pick up a new item familiar and lose most of your spell slots!

Skill bonuses could get pretty high, but you can't use a bonus higher than your rank in the skill. So, good, but not arbitrarily good.

-----------------------------------------------------

But the basic premise of the question still checks out.

If the item had been truly inherited / passed down, and the recipient won the ego check, then the new owner would have full use of any abilities that do not violate other rules?

With the topic if skill bonuses, what are your thoughts on the following question?

Lv 1 Wizard.
Ranks of Knowledge (arcane) = 4
Ranks of K (a) in item = 12 = +3 bonus to player ( See SRD page you linked.)

The way the SRD entry is worded indicates to me that, as long as the player has more ranks then the bonus from the item then there is no issue.

The next question that stems from that is what if the bonus is greater. Lets say +8.
Would the player be able to access 4 of the 8 bonus skill pts at 1st level and then as more skill points were added to the character would they then be able to access more of the bonus points?


This answer has me leaning VERY strongly towards Item Familiar feat and away from Ancestral Relic.

[Kelb_Panthera]

This statement:


However, the new master cannot benefit from -any- invested skill ranks or spell slots until his character level equals or exceeds that of the item familiar’s highest-level previous owner.

is pretty clear. Emphasis mine. You get no skill bonus or spell slots until you're an equal or higher level than the highest level any previous owner has attained.

[Uskardx42]

This statement:

is pretty clear. Emphasis mine. You get no skill bonus or spell slots until you're an equal or higher level than the highest level any previous owner has attained.

Good point. I don't think that part had stood out to me before.
Though other aspects of the item, like special abilities and powers are still accessible.
So the question of what could be built up in such an item still remains open.

Additionally I am still leaning towards Item Familiar and away from Ancestral Relic for those reasons.
And since the Item Familiar does not have a gold cap.

[Nifft]

Additionally I am still leaning towards Item Familiar and away from Ancestral Relic for those reasons.
And since the Item Familiar does not have a gold cap.

Item Familiar is a great feat.

It's just usually better to ignore the inheritance aspect -- unless you're doing something like your current PC was the apprentice-wizard of your previous PC, so their choices would have lined up pretty much exactly the same.