Can you teach a familiar?

[Greywander]

I'm revamping my witchmaker patron AKA the witch subclass for warlocks. One of the features is getting an Awakened Familiar. I'm rewording it from treated it as if affected by the Awaken spell to just straight up giving them an INT of 10 and learning two languages you know, with the ability to learn more languages and retain knowledge of these languages if you resummon them (e.g. if they die or you need a different form).

Now, that's all fine and dandy for non-chainlocks, but I wanted to add something for chainlocks, too. So instead your improved familiars get a tool proficiency and can learn more, similar to the awakened familiar being able to learn more languages. I was assuming that since chainlock familiars can already speak that they'd already be able to learn new languages, but... wouldn't that mean they could also be taught how to use tools? Or can they? What about regular familiars, is there any reason they can't already be taught things like languages or tool proficiencies (aside from not necessarily having the ability to speak)? What about letting familiars gain XP and take class levels?

I could always just give the improved familiar a skill proficiency instead, letting you change it by resummoning it. Or maybe just learning two languages you know is sufficient and the chainlock doesn't need anything else.

[RSP]

…wouldn't that mean they could also be taught how to use tools? Or can they? What about regular familiars, is there any reason they can't already be taught things like languages or tool proficiencies (aside from not necessarily having the ability to speak)? What about letting familiars gain XP and take class levels?
.

XP and class levels, to me, is a PC thing. Even when a DM makes an NPC with PC rules, they aren’t constrained by the character creation rules; so I’d say no to familiars getting XP/levels. I think this is RAW as well.

Now if it’s something you want to allow as a DM, certainly nothing will break: you’ll just have one Player running two (possibly different level) PCs.

Edit: forgot to add, I believe the Downtime rules can be used for a familiar (assuming an appropriate new proficiency is being learned). Dogs and other animals being taught to hunt is already a thing, even without magic spirits.

[Greywander]

XP and class levels, to me, is a PC thing.
Sidekick classes tho


Edit: forgot to add, I believe the Downtime rules can be used for a familiar (assuming an appropriate new proficiency is being learned). Dogs and other animals being taught to hunt is already a thing, even without magic spirits.
Would this work the same for familiars, though? I'm not aware of any rule that says otherwise, but a familiar is a lot different from a trained animal. I've seen people argue before that the familiar is a spirit and thus doesn't need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe*. I could see a DM reasoning that the spirit takes on the form of the beast, and thus has to adhere strictly to that beast's stat block, and therefore can't be trained or in any way gain new abilities or features**. I don't agree with these, by the way; I do think the familiar is more or less a regular animal with the added benefits granted by the Find Familiar spell, so you could train it in the same way you could an animal. But as far as I know this isn't clarified either way anywhere in the rules.

*This is incorrect, by the way; if the familiar didn't require these things, it would say so. Compare the shadow demon to other fiends and you'll see the shadow demon is the only one that specifically doesn't have these biological needs. Being a "spirit" isn't enough to eschew such needs.

**Though now I wonder what would happen if you used one the stat-increasing tomes on your familiar? Would it retain the stat buff if it died and was resummoned? What if you summoned it in a different form? Likewise for sidekick levels, but even more complicated: most beasts would only be able to take levels in the Warrior sidekick class, while chainlock familiars could take levels in Expert or Spellcaster. So what happens when a chainlock gives their familiar expert or spellcaster levels, and then resummons them as a beast?

[Keravath]

This is entirely a DM call. Find familiar whether cast by a wizard or a chainlock summons a fey, fiend or celestial spirit that takes the form of the desired creature. The spell doesn't actually summon a beast or anything similar - it summons a spirit in the specified form with the creature type modified to include the type of spirit.

There are no further rules beyond what the spell states. The spell doesn't necessarily summon the same spirit. The spell doesn't state whether the spirit is killed if the form is destroyed. The spell doesn't give any special rules for teaching these creatures. There may be rules for teaching pets in the rules but a familiar isn't the same as a pet unless the DM decides it is. A familiar doesn't have memory of previous incarnations unless the DM says it does. A familiar may or may not be the same spirit each time - depends on what the DM decides.

RAW, since find familiar says that the spell summons a spirit in a particular form and that spirit uses a specific stat block and those stat blocks do NOT include additional language or tool proficiencies then, RAW, you can't teach them something new. However, this is entirely up to the DM and how they want to run familiars so there isn't really much point in asking since it isn't covered by the rules - other than No :)

[bid]

The wizard feature "empowered invocation" or the warlock invocation "agonizing blast" both modify the result of casting a spell. Voice of the chain master also affects the casting of find familiar.

Your "Awakened Familiar" feature should work the same way, by locking in a choice from a list. Maybe you can add a second/third pick from the same list when you reach certain levels.

[Unoriginal]

My ruling as a DM is that a Familiar could learn and grow in power, but that if they grow to the point they are too much for the spell then they stop being your familiar.

So if your Owl becomes a Warrior 1 Owl they won't be your familiar anymore, just an allied spirit in the Shape of an Owl.

[CapnWildefyr]

This is entirely a DM call. Find familiar whether cast by a wizard or a chainlock summons a fey, fiend or celestial spirit that takes the form of the desired creature. The spell doesn't actually summon a beast or anything similar - it summons a spirit in the specified form with the creature type modified to include the type of spirit.

There are no further rules beyond what the spell states. The spell doesn't necessarily summon the same spirit. The spell doesn't state whether the spirit is killed if the form is destroyed. The spell doesn't give any special rules for teaching these creatures. There may be rules for teaching pets in the rules but a familiar isn't the same as a pet unless the DM decides it is. A familiar doesn't have memory of previous incarnations unless the DM says it does. A familiar may or may not be the same spirit each time - depends on what the DM decides.

RAW, since find familiar says that the spell summons a spirit in a particular form and that spirit uses a specific stat block and those stat blocks do NOT include additional language or tool proficiencies then, RAW, you can't teach them something new. However, this is entirely up to the DM and how they want to run familiars so there isn't really much point in asking since it isn't covered by the rules - other than No :)

Yup.

Also, not sure a familiar needs to know a trick, if you're controlling it?

Greywander, consider that levels on a familiar would be unfair to everyone else in the party unless you make the warlock/whoever pay for those levels out of their own xp awards. That is, why should a character essentially get what amounts to a level boost/multiclass free of charge? Now, if they give up their own XP to the familiar, then the familiar isn't sucking away XP from the party (giving one player an unfair share of XP), and the player will be really invested in that familiar. If the player doesn't spend their personal XP, then you're basically giving them a free multiclass, and possibly even slurping away other player's XP to do it (assuming you count the familiar so it gets a cut of the party XP award).