I'm thinking of one day playing a character who can pass as a familiar.

[Malphegor]

So I've been thinking of playing a character who can pass as a familiar for a while now. Creates an interesting roleplay element- a character whose gimmick is decieving NPCs and yet yearns to interact with people comfortably as themselves as they grow in power.

Thinking Tier 3 or so where possible- our group's got okay optimisation and I've found it's often nicer to play a simpler character with less fiddly bits.

I've had a few ideas spitballed:

a tibbit (dragon compendium, can be a cat) warlock with surrogate casting can likely convince people it's the wizard's cat familiar if I'm careful on invocation choices. (probably not kosher to have the ancestral wizard master of the progenitor of the tibbit race be the source of the tibbits' warlock powers right?)

A pseudodragon already is a familiar, and has enough features to deserve their LA imo. I'm thinking a dragonfire adept maybe- they gradually become a better dragon, and I think there's enough levels to still be a decent character.

Is there a way to play other familiars? Got a few ideas for snakes and birds, but can't see an easy way to be a small snake or bird.

[thethird]

You could be a muckdweller, and have a muckdweller familiar. Beguiler's have LA +0 (Cohort) but probably can be okayed by the gm.

[Mr Adventurer]

Pseudodragon puts you 5 levels behind in your class progression, which for a Dragonfire Adept is pretty harsh. Even using LA buyoff. Now, I personally love the idea of a Dragonfire Adept Pseudodragon. Absolutely love it. You're a miniature dragon! But I don't think the Adept is going to help convince people you are a Familiar!

It would let you take Humanoid Shape though.

Psion is probably your best bet for whatever race you go with...

[DrMotives]

OA has Hengeyokai, which have several types, including sparrow for your bird idea. With the update to 3.5, they actually are a LA +0 race.

[Trandir]

Well at lv 11 a druid could pass as a familiar while he wild shapes into a tiny form. The animal companion would be difficult to explain but Elemental Companion from Complete Mage or the Urban Companion offers a more familiar-like companion. So you could and the elemental/familiar could pretend to be the familiar of the party mage, sorcerer or wathever spellcasters happen to be in your party. Druids are really good but you can turn it down by not using the full value of wild shape, and the urban familiar that doesn't provide help for fighting.

[ShurikVch]

Well - Blink Dog, Coure Eladrin, Dark Creeper, Hell Hound, Homunculi, Howler, Imps, Mephits, Musteval, Quasit, Shadow, Shadow Mastiff, Shocker Lizard, Winter Wolf, Worg, and Wyrmlings are all possible as a Familiars

Also, Dragon #293 gave playable ECLs for Baboon, Bat, Cat, Dog, Hawk, Leopard, Lizard, Monkey, Octopus, Owl, Rat, Raven, Snake (Tiny/Medium Viper), Toad, Weasel, and Wolverine - which are all on the Familiar list

[Malphegor]

You could be a muckdweller, and have a muckdweller familiar. Beguiler's have LA +0 (Cohort) but probably can be okayed by the gm.

hm. being a creature with a familiar of the same type of creature sounds pretty fun tbh. That's given me ideas.

"It's my real life body double. Helps against assassinations."

[Vizzerdrix]

hm. being a creature with a familiar of the same type of creature sounds pretty fun tbh. That's given me ideas.

"It's my real life body double. Helps against assassinations."

I've always wanted to play a mephling with mephit familiars. Play them as his half siblings or cousins or something. Maybe wife and kids.

[Zaq]

By mid-levels, a druid can spend all day in the form of an appropriate critter. And still cast with Natural Spell, for that matter. (The halfling racial sub level in RotW can let you get access to really little forms faster, if that’s critical.)

[Braininthejar2]

Reminds me of the Golden Compass movie :smallcool:

[Anthrowhale]

The Hengeyokai sparrow bears reiteration. It makes you Fine (the only LA+0 access to Fine I'm aware of) and gives you flight with an AC of 24 (+6(dex)+8(size)). You don't have any arms so equipment-dependent classes are iffy, but that still leaves many possibilities with Surrogate Spellcasting.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Tiny wyrmling dragons are really great for this. They're the size of large cats (not counting the wings, I guess), but they can have all sorts of nasty abilities.

[Crake]

You could be a muckdweller, and have a muckdweller familiar. Beguiler's have LA +0 (Cohort) but probably can be okayed by the gm.

The best part is you could play a beguiler beguiler with a beguiler familiar.

[Thurbane]

Tibbit Necromancer with the Skeletal Minion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#skeletalMinion) ACF.

Hat of Disguise (or other methods) and the minion can pass for the "wizard", or maybe a lich, with you as the familiar.

[Tvtyrant]

Tiny wyrmling dragons are really great for this. They're the size of large cats (not counting the wings, I guess), but they can have all sorts of nasty abilities.

I like this one. You can play a dragon with their twin as their familiar pretty easily, the two of you are on a whirlwind adventure before you settle down to be dragons. Makes the death of one of you even more tragic.

[ShurikVch]

Tressym (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Tressym) - in the Lost Empires of Faerûn - have LA +0 (cohort), and available as a Familiar

[Jack_Simth]

Tier 3 where "no hands or speech" is not a problem: Wilder. Take the feat to get a psicrystal, hook it up with a Skin of Proteus, and you are set.

[Malphegor]

The Hengeyokai sparrow bears reiteration. It makes you Fine (the only LA+0 access to Fine I'm aware of) and gives you flight with an AC of 24 (+6(dex)+8(size)). You don't have any arms so equipment-dependent classes are iffy, but that still leaves many possibilities with Surrogate Spellcasting.

That's a decent shout tbh. Fine and flight at LA +0 is amazing considering my first character burnt 2 feats to get flight. I'll look into that one for sure.

Plus Hengeyokai seem to look relatively human in their human form, so for equipment-requiring classes it's not too bad. If anything it lends to maybe some sort of smuggler character- carry stuff on your person in animal form, drop it past the border... Yeah, I can see the beginnings of a Han Solo type character in a Hengeyokai.


Tressym (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Tressym) - in the Lost Empires of Faerûn - have LA +0 (cohort), and available as a Familiar

Ok those look wonderful. I especially like the description of one 'insisting to taste test food for its master'.

It's a cat with wings- poisontesting or not, it probably landed on its master's table and began eating wtihout asking.


Tier 3 where "no hands or speech" is not a problem: Wilder. Take the feat to get a psicrystal, hook it up with a Skin of Proteus, and you are set.


Huh. That's probably the most intuitive psionic class I've ever seen. On surface, it looks almost similar to a warlock weirdly but psionic and you have a point pool that determines how many powers you can cast a day.

I'm absolutely going to try that out, most psionic stuff I've seen looked sufficiently weird that I avoid it but on reading I think I 'get' it for once.

[ShurikVch]

(the only LA+0 access to Fine I'm aware of)The other one is Hairy Spider from the Monsters of Faerûn (which may be a Familiar too! )

[manyslayer]

If third party is an option, check Noble Wild (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/54699/The-Noble-Wild) for a whole sourcebook about playing an animal.

[liquidformat]

Complete scoundrel gives you the Vargouille, and I mean common who hasn't wanted to be a flying head?!? Though confused why a head is small instead of tiny...

Also eyeball Beholderkin from Forgotten Realms campaign setting, what is better than a flying head? A flying Eye that's what!

[Malphegor]

Complete scoundrel gives you the Vargouille, and I mean common who hasn't wanted to be a flying head?!? Though confused why a head is small instead of tiny...

Also eyeball Beholderkin from Forgotten Realms campaign setting, what is better than a flying head? A flying Eye that's what!

Gah, if only Beholderkin weren't specifically prohibited from entering the Beholder Mage class.... Bah, I'll replicate it myself.

Wizard/ur-priest/contemplative/dweomerkeeper Beholderkin, ocular spell (pew pew pew eye lazors), alacritous cogitation, spell mastery, and a hand of the mage necklace for at-will mage hand.

[DrMotives]

Gah, if only Beholderkin weren't specifically prohibited from entering the Beholder Mage class.... Bah, I'll replicate it myself.


They would be limited to only 3rd level spells anyway, as a beholder mage has to sacrifice a smaller eye's normal ray power to let it zap out a given level of spell. Standard beholders have 10 eyes for levels 0 through 9, eyeball beholderkin has 4 eye stalks, so 0 through 3 if that restriction wasn't in place.