Spellc. Familiar (like Fenrus from Quest for Glory)

[Chrizzt]

Hello dear fellows!

I'm playing the quest for glory pc game series again. In this game, a rather eccentric wizard has a rat familiar with a wizards hat, who is himself a wizard and can cast spells similar to mage hand etc.

Is there a way in 5e to make a wizard with such an enhanced intelligent familiar? For me the fluff is important, so I'm not trying to abuse anything.

[Tawmis]

Hello dear fellows!
I'm playing the quest for glory pc game series again. In this game, a rather eccentric wizard has a rat familiar with a wizards hat, who is himself a wizard and can cast spells similar to mage hand etc.
Is there a way in 5e to make a wizard with such an enhanced intelligent familiar? For me the fluff is important, so I'm not trying to abuse anything.

You could probably reskin the Faerie Dragon. (https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/294034-faerie-dragon)
Side note - have you checked out the Quest for Glory (http://sierrahelp.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=9) forums over there? Yours truly is one of the Admins. (I am a HUGE Sierra junkie) :smalltongue:

[Daithi]

You could take a look at the Sidekicks Unearthed Arcana (https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/UA_Sidekicks.pdf) if UA is an option. For casters there is a requirement that your sidekick (maybe familiar?) must have a language, but the Awaken spell could be used to get past this requirement. Of course, if you're starting at a low level you would need a mentor, or pay someone, or another mechanism to have someone Awaken your sidekick/familiar (you'd have to clear it with your DM if he'd let you have the sidekick or a familiar that is a sidekick). That's some ideas anyway.

[LibraryOgre]

It's also possible that Fenrus is not a simple rat; consider that Zara's familiar is an out-and-out demon looking thing. Fenrus could well be something like an Imp in Rat form, who simply does not give a **** about what people think of him (especially if you make him a bit less demonic, a bit more fey).

I think statting him as a sidekick makes sense... even something a bit weirder than a wizard. An Awakened Rat who is a Fey Pact Tome Warlock (or a Chain Warlock, since Erasmus is his familiar) covers him pretty well.

[Chrizzt]

Thank you for the input, everyone! I will have a closer look at the sidekick rules, but to me it appears similar to a 3.5 cohort, which might be too much for my purposes. But they are interestung nonetheless. :)

A reskinned fairy dragon, perhaps without the breath stuff, might be easiest.

This all gives me much to think.

And thank you about the forum hint for the Quest for Glory forum ^^

[Naanomi]

Specifically to recreate that feel, I had a magic item (a tiny pointed hat) in a campaign I ran that let a familiar speak common and use Mage Hand at will

A familiar with a ring of spell storing or ioun stone may be able to work with more 'official' material