Book that has familiars for all classes?

[Argon1]

Hi, I am a new DM and one of my players is playing a fighter but wants to have a familiar. As I am still figuring out all of the RAW rules I am not fully comfortable with home brewing my own stuff just yet. As such i asked a friend of mine if there were any rules on familiars for all classes in any of the books or UA that he has read. He informed me that he does remember seeing such rules and thinks it was part of an elemental evil book but is not sure which one :smallfurious:. If any of you know could you please post a reply with the name of the book pls. Thank you.:smallbiggrin:

Thanks to all who contributed on this post. You have expanded my knowledge of DM'ing and and a few of you have even boosted my confidence. once again thank you for answering this ones humble question.

[Unoriginal]

Hi, I am a new DM and one of my players is playing a fighter but wants to have a familiar. As I am still figuring out all of the RAW rules I am not fully comfortable with home brewing my own stuff just yet. As such i asked a friend of mine if there were any rules on familiars for all classes in any of the books or UA that he has read. He informed me that he does remember seeing such rules and thinks it was part of an elemental evil book but is not sure which one :smallfurious:. If any of you know could you please post a reply with the name of the book pls. Thank you.:smallbiggrin:

The book in question is the PHB. The Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate feats allow you to use the Find Familiar spell.

Alternatively, you could get creatures from the MM to become one's familiar, but the process is different.

You could also use the Boons rules from the DMG to give someone a familiar.

[Man_Over_Game]

The book in question is the PHB. The Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate feats allow you to use the Find Familiar spell.

Alternatively, you could get creatures from the MM to become one's familiar, but the process is different.

You could also use the Boons rules from the DMG to give someone a familiar.

Unoriginal covered most of it. As a Fighter, you could also be an Eldritch Knight with the Find Familiar spell.


To go into more depth, there are only 3 real sources for a Familiar:


The spell, Find Familiar, in the Wizard's spell list.
The Pact of the Chain, for level 2 Warlocks. Familiar gained in this method are more powerful than the Wizard equivalents.
Gaining a familiar using optional monster manual rules that are located in the Pseudodragon and Imp stat blocks.


The feats, Ritual Caster and Magic Initiate, have the means of stealing spells from the Wizard's spell list, including Find Familiar. You can start with a feat (including one of these) by starting as a Variant Human.
Similarly, the Warlock can choose a specific Invocation and the Pact of the Tome to be able to learn any ritual spell, including Find Familiar.
The Eldritch Knight Fighter and Arcane Trickster Rogue can also choose a few Wizard Spells, including Find Familiar.

You can also choose to have a pet/tamed animal, either by training them, by having them as a class feature (Beastmaster Ranger), or by having one as part of your background (like with the Urchin background, who starts with a mouse).

[Unoriginal]

There is also the Sidekick UA, for an alternative take on "adventuring companion".

[Quoz]

A few "hacks" to get a familiar without knowing the spell:

Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters both use the wizard spell list and so may cast the spell from a scroll. (Just have a few extra for when it dies)

Tome pact warlocks can learn the ritual with an invocation. Not as good as a chain pact, but still gives good options.

With a ring of spell storing every member of the party can get a familiar if you have a wizard. This is also one of the only ways to get a paladin's find steed or find greater steed.

[KorvinStarmast]

With a ring of spell storing every member of the party can get a familiar if you have a wizard. This is also one of the only ways to get a paladin's find steed or find greater steed. Yeah, nice use of that magic item. :smallcool:

[Kadesh]

A DM can just give an animal companion to a player. Dress it up and present it however you want, but there is nothing to stop you from saying 'Yes, you now have a cat as a pet, it cost another 5sp in day to day adventuring costs)

[Vogie]

Non-beastmaster rangers (edit: and druids, and bards) can use the Animal Friendship spell daily to gain an animal companion, augmented by the Beast Bond spell

[OverLordOcelot]

Like people have said, the player can:

Take the ritual caster or magic initiate feat. RC gives access to bunches of ritual magic, while magic initiate gives two cantrips.
Take the eldritch knight subclass for the fighter
Take a level of wizard.
Take 3 levels of rogue and select arcane trickster
Take 3 levels of warlock and either get pact of the chain or pact of the tome+book of secrets
Get an epic boon from the DM
Have a wizard or magic initiate caster with ring of spell storing to share the spell with the party.

Since familiars are cool but also quite useful, I'd be inclined to have the player use a feat or multiclass to get one. I've used a feat for 'find familiar plus two cantrips' before, so I think it's a reasonable cost to pay.


A DM can just give an animal companion to a player. Dress it up and present it however you want, but there is nothing to stop you from saying 'Yes, you now have a cat as a pet, it cost another 5sp in day to day adventuring costs)

A pet cat isn't the same thing as a familiar unless you put a bunch of special rules on it. A familiar telepathically communicates with the owner and can share senses with him, can provide help with ability checks and attacks, and doesn't actually die when it gets 'killed' (you just resummon it). Also 5sp per day for cat food seems a bit steep.

[Kadesh]

A pet cat isn't the same thing as a familiar unless you put a bunch of special rules on it. A familiar telepathically communicates with the owner and can share senses with him, can provide help with ability checks and attacks, and doesn't actually die when it gets 'killed' (you just resummon it). Also 5sp per day for cat food seems a bit steep.
I couldn't be bothered thinking of economic model for a cat. And I do understand the difference between a Familiar - but many times, I've had people request a "Familiar" (rather than an Animal Companion) when they really just wanted a pet cat.

[LordEntrails]

Unless they are willing to take one of the RAW methods mentioned above (i.e. feat, class, etc) I would only allow them a pet, not a familiar.

[Sigreid]

DM always has the option of rewarding the player with a boon.

[Burley]

I've run into this wall before and I've found that just letting them have one is the funnest way to handle it.
Now, that doesn't mean that your players should have all of everything they want. But, it does mean that you don't need to find a rule in a book to justify choices that you and your players make.

Maybe the party encounters a powerful and benevolent being and, as reward for performing a task, the Fighter gains a familiar (in lieu of a traditional magic item or gold reward).

If you're worried the Fighter is going to use the familiar to break the game (constantly be flanking every enemy), maybe the familiar is a coward and hides in the Fighter's pocket during a fight. If the Fighter uses their bonus action to make a persuasion check, the Familiar will aid the Fighter for 1d4 rounds (a +1 to hit enemies or +1d4 damage, something small-ish).

Most likely, though, the Fighter just feels a little left out of the COOLness of D&D. Magic users always get to add their own flair and have interesting ways out of situations. Fighter players, especially those new to RPing, get bored.
If this is the case, just let the Fighter find their own little friend to ride on their shoulder. It'll probably just be something for the Fighter to share food with around the campfire.


tl;dr version - Embrace your player's request for something that will be fun for them, and don't worry so much about the rules.