Interesting uses for a Familiar: Level 3

[Damon_Tor]

I'm trying to come up with some good ways to use a familiar in a low-level campaign, minimizing my resource use and with a focus on battlefield control.

The familiar in question is likely an owl. Possibly a bat because of some obscuration tactics I might use.

So far I've come up with:

Ball Bearings- This seems unambiguously useful: basically give my owl the ability to zip out and cast a weaker version of the "grease" spell. It won't stop everyone coming down that hallway, but it will trip a few of them, slow some others. By giving him multiple bags of Ball Bearings he can fill a whole hallway full of the things. How long does it take to collect ball bearings anyway? Note to self: invest in an Unseen Servant as well.

Lantern Carrier- A fairly minor, if handy, ability, but it comes it combos nicely with...

Pyrotechnics- Limited by requiring a mundane source of fire, this spell creates a 40X40 sphere of full obscurity with no concentration required. Pyrotechnics is hindered by action economy: normally you have to spend an action throwing a torch or something, which means you don't get to cast it until turn two. But if you have a familiar, it acts on its own initiative. If it goes before you do, command it to move into the desired position then cast the spell normally on your turn. If it goes after you, ready the spell and cast it with your reaction instead. And of course it was already carrying your lantern, remember? It already has some mundane fire right there.

Dragon's Breath- Probably the only really good use of this spell, this interaction was confirmed as viable by Crawford via Sage Advice. By casting it on your familiar, you get really significant damage output using only a minor action of yours. Of course once the owl starts breathing fire on things it's 1 HP is going to make it an instant target, right? But wait you just made a giant cloud of obscurity with Pyrotechnics (see above). This is the reason I'd want to go with a bat: his Blindsight would let him breathe fire in there while still having a good idea where the bad guys are if they try to get through it. Their attacks on him would have disadvantage.

[Greywander]

I made a similar thread, though focused on the chainlock imp familiar (though some or most of it applies to any familiar). You can find that thread here:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?571635-The-many-uses-of-an-imp-familiar

There's also a much older thread that covers many of the same topics. That thread can be found here:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?472928-Celestial-Fey-and-Fiend-A-Guide-to-Familiar-Keeping

I'm always looking for new and interesting ways to use my abilities in-game. Familiars are pretty great for this.

I'd suggest keeping anything pertinent to animal familiars here, and anything relating to chainlock familiars or imps specifically can go into the first thread I linked.

With regards to Ball Bearings and Lantern Carrier, your DM may rule that the familiar needs to have hands to perform these tasks, or at least to use more than one bag of ball bearings. Dragon's Breath is a good idea, though (also, it won't break imp invisibility).

[Ranikirn.]

I've used the owl with my druid healer (provided with ritual caster feat) to send him on allies, cast cure wounds then go away without triggering eventually opportunity attack.

[Teaguethebean]

My kobold wizard newton has his spider familiar lower itself from a ceiling with a web and shocking grasp someone in broad daylight to instantly kill a VIP commoner or corrupt official

[Joe dirt]

Go with owl... it has 60 ft of movement and flyby attack meaning it can get out of harms way, use dragons breath and dont worry to much about the smoke because dragons breath is an area effect spell it would combo well. Giving advantage to your familiar.

If u are out of spell slots make sure to take the help action... to give your party advantage.

And I like the lanterns idea but those might be considered to heavy

[Silkensword]

Definitely make it something with enough strength to haul magic items. Why yes, I would like to have multiple concentration buffs by making my familiar cast them with a ring of spell storing! Or slap a wand of magic missile into their hand; gives you an extra little zap without wasting your own actions on it!

[jiriku]

The pyrotechnics idea seems good on paper, but might not work out well in a game. It extinguishes the light, so if you cast that on the party's only light source, you're now fighting in the dark and party members who don't have darkvision are now just as blind as the enemy. And if it's not the only light source or everyone can see in the dark, then the familiar wasn't providing any value by carrying a light in the first place. Also, being at ground zero for the flash, the familiar is probably blinded. A blind familiar with 1 hp right in the midst of a group of foes is going to have a very short life expectancy, and your DM might reasonably rule that it can't use flyby attack to avoid opportunity attacks since it can't see its foes.

To do more than just rain on the parade, here are some things I've used an owl familiar for:


provide advantage to the party rogue or paladin to ensure that a sneak attack or smite lands.
land on an ally and deliver cure wounds to get better in-combat healing than a healing word would have provided.
look through its eyes while standing watch during a long rest to get advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks.
Send it one hundred feet up in the air and look through its eyes to get a literal bird's-eye view of surrounding terrain.