Charming a familiar (or not)...maybe...

[Imbalance]

Mild LMoP spoilers ahead

I mistakenly allowed the ranger to use Animal Friendship to charm a certain rat. This was erroneous because the rat in question is the familiar of a certain wizard, which means it is not a beast and therefore ineligible to be chosen as the target of the spell, per RAW. Having overlooked this, I ruled in the moment that (along with the sorcerer's helpful use of prestidigitation to enhance the aroma of the food morsel offered) the rat was convinced that it was under no threat of harm and drew close enough to be snatched up by the ranger with a quick and low difficulty animal handling check. I did say that the rat had the charmed condition, and, while I will point out my mistake next session, I intend to let the ruling stand.

Thus, the ranger now has the rat in her pocket.

The party are unaware that it is a familiar. The wizard, having been tipped off to their approach, has fled his chambers but remains close enough to maintain his link with the rat. He has witnessed them having raided his lab, and is aware that they discovered incriminating evidence and have torched his chamber in search of his secret escape route, only to fail to discover it in the blinding smoke.

Presently, they are in a cavern, engaged in combat with a quartet of drunken bandits and a nothic.

I have half a dozen options in mind about what could happen next depending on their next actions, but I'm confident that none of those will survive contact with the party. Doesn't matter. What I'm curious about is how events could play out if a familiar is charmed under legitimate circumstances. Am I correct that a caster would not be able to use on-touch spells via familiar against the charmer?

[Bobthewizard]

Maybe the rat wasn't charmed but acted like it in order to trick the party. No need to tell the party of your mistake.

Otherwise, if it is really charmed, the wizard would likely just dismiss it so it disappears.

[PhantomSoul]

Seems like a perfect outcome for the wizard and something they might even (retrospectively on your part) have planned! (The familiar wouldn't be charmed, but playing along would seem to be entirely in the Wizard's best interest -- maybe drop little hints, though, if the opportunity presents itself, that way it doesn't seem like a gotcha even if it isn't obvious.)

And yes, Touch spells would be an option within range... :)

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

This happened to me in my LMoP game. I played a street urchin with an affinity for rats, so naturally I convinced that one to come along with me and kept it in a pocket.

Essentially, our DM just made it so that the wizard was aware of our movements, plans, and actions for as long as we had the familiar. Eventually, something clued us in to its true nature and we killed it, but it gave the wizard quite the leg up the next time we met him. Seems it's in the Wizard's best interest to keep the familiar alive as long as possible with the party, as he's a conniving sort of person

[Imbalance]

Maybe the rat wasn't charmed but acted like it in order to trick the party. No need to tell the party of your mistake.

Otherwise, if it is really charmed, the wizard would likely just dismiss it so it disappears.


Seems like a perfect outcome for the wizard and something they might even (retrospectively on your part) have planned! (The familiar wouldn't be charmed, but playing along would seem to be entirely in the Wizard's best interest -- maybe drop little hints, though, if the opportunity presents itself, that way it doesn't seem like a gotcha even if it isn't obvious.)

And yes, Touch spells would be an option within range... :)


This happened to me in my LMoP game. I played a street urchin with an affinity for rats, so naturally I convinced that one to come along with me and kept it in a pocket.

Essentially, our DM just made it so that the wizard was aware of our movements, plans, and actions for as long as we had the familiar. Eventually, something clued us in to its true nature and we killed it, but it gave the wizard quite the leg up the next time we met him. Seems it's in the Wizard's best interest to keep the familiar alive as long as possible with the party, as he's a conniving sort of person

Yes, yes, and yes. When they were discussing this plan, I immediately thought about how it would go along in secret. My blunder is in the mechanics, so to be consistent I must also be forthcoming, but with the reveal happening in-game. This gives the ranger the satisfaction that her skills were on point while adding a clue to look out for. I just didn't want to cheapen and retcon their actions away. It'll still work as they intended, with a devious little twist.
They negotiated with the nothic on their way in, agreeing to recover the Wizard's staff. Right now they think it is attacking them, but it's really after the rat.

[MikeRoxTheBoat]

The easy answer for mechanics is that the familiar wasn't charmed, as it's not a beast, but a fey, fiend, or celestial in animal form. I remember that the rat was specifically supposed to feign friendship with the party while warning the wizard, so pretending to be affected would be in it's benefit. Since the charm technically wouldn't have worked, the wizard can cast as needed.

If you want to have the charm stick, then I'd say that the familiar wouldn't be able to channel harmful spells, as it's using its reaction and casting the spells "as if itself had cast it."

[Imbalance]

The easy answer for mechanics is that the familiar wasn't charmed, as it's not a beast, but a fey, fiend, or celestial in animal form. I remember that the rat was specifically supposed to feign friendship with the party while warning the wizard, so pretending to be affected would be in it's benefit. Since the charm technically wouldn't have worked, the wizard can cast as needed.

If you want to have the charm stick, then I'd say that the familiar wouldn't be able to channel harmful spells, as it's using its reaction and casting the spells "as if itself had cast it."

Right. I need to look, but I don't think it says what type of spirit it is. I think I could lean on the ranger's favored enemy (fey, in this case) as another option to fudgingly justify that what happened in game works from a number of possible angles, even if not from RAW. As far as the characters know, they caught a rat. Once these events conclude, I'll need the player to understand that she may not have the same success should she encounter another familiar, and let them hash out whether they actually had charmed it or if it was something else going on.

I'm also obligated to let her take the spell slot back.