(PF) Pact Wizard VMC Witch, how does it work?

[Trisha]

Hello fellow gamers,
I have a few questions for this build that I am not quite sure how the rules interact, and so, I am hoping that some of you might provide me with some clarity. It would be much appreciated. <3

Currently I am building a Level 6 Azata Blooded Aasimar, Pact Wizard (from the Pathfinder Player Companion: Familiar Folio.) With the variant multiclass option of a Witch. Thematically I would like my patron to be an Azata for both of them.

But here is my list of questions.

Does the VMC Give me a second Familiar?

If so, Does it grant the entire "Witch's Familiar" class feature?

If I had two familiars, would the "True Form" ability from pact wizard only effect one? (Because technically both are being granted by wizard levels)

If not, does the progression from wizard and witch stack in this case effectively inflating my "level" for the sake of qualifying for an improved familiar?

If I take the improved familiar feat, and I have two familiars, would I have to take it twice if I wanted two improved familiars?

Some of these questions may sound like cheese...I admit, but I raise them, because a case could be made for all of them.

My goal is to eventually have two "Azata, lyrakien" as familiars, while having my Patron be an Azata, since I am Azata Blooded, I think it makes for an interesting and thematic charecter.

Thank you to anyone who reads and answers any of the questions. <3

[Daefos]

I'll give this a go.


Does the VMC Give me a second Familiar?
No. A character can only have one familiar, regardless of how many different sources are giving you one. Your familiar would, however, gain the benefits of being both a Pact Wizard's familiar and a VMC Witch's familiar, if they offered different abilities.


If so, Does it grant the entire "Witch's Familiar" class feature?
It doesn't appear to. It simply says that you gain a familiar, not that the class feature functions like the Witch's Familiar class feature. You could argue that it would, since the class feature the VMC grants you is literally called "Witch's Familiar", but I'd lean towards just granting you the familiar. Not that it really matters, since the only thing that makes a witch's familiar different from a wizard's is that witches use their familiars to store their witch spells. And since you're not a witch, and thus do not cast witch spells, it's a moot point.


If I had two familiars, would the "True Form" ability from pact wizard only effect one? (Because technically both are being granted by wizard levels)
As above, you only have the one. Even if you were allowed to have two familiars you're still only getting one from your wizard levels, as the VMC Witch is based on your character level, not wizard level. The fact that you are taking wizard levels at the time is irrelevant; Fighter levels would work equally well.


If not, does the progression from wizard and witch stack in this case effectively inflating my "level" for the sake of qualifying for an improved familiar?
No, these two features are not additive, they're redundant. Your wizard levels grant you a familiar that gains benefits based on your wizard level, and the witch VMC grants benefits as if you were a witch of your character level (which recursively "functions like the wizard’s Arcane Bond"). Since your wizard level and your character level are the same, both of these abilities set your familiar's statistics at the same numbers. The only benefit is that if you stopped taking wizard levels, then your familiar would continue to advance (though it would stop gaining abilities specific to the Pact Wizard archetype).


If I take the improved familiar feat, and I have two familiars, would I have to take it twice if I wanted two improved familiars?
Probably not, but unless your DM says otherwise, you still can't have two.

[Trisha]

Thanks for that clarification, it does mean I can't do some of what I wanted :(, but RAW is how my DM operates. :)