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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next The Staff of the Familiar - An Owl House Item



Johndoe_142857
2021-08-11, 12:27 PM
Greetings everyone,

one of the player in my new campaign is a real fan of the Owl House cartoon and would like something like a palisman, one of those familiars/staves that follow the witch/spellcaster for their entire career. Consequently, here is the result of the brainstorming:

Staff of the familiar:
staff, legacy (requires attunement by a spellcaster)
This staff is made of precious wood with a small animal sculpted on top of it (the animal sculpted has to be one of those permitted by the Find Familar spell). This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff and a spellcasting focus. While holding it, you gain a +1/+2/+3 bonus to Spell Save DC and Spell Attack rolls if your spellcaster level is equal or over 5/10/15th level. While attuned to this staff you can cast Find Familiar as a ritual (even if you cannot otherwise), with this staff as a supplemental material component. If you do so, the staff becomes your familiar, as with the Find Familiar spell, except for the following differences:
- Your familiar type is construct and you cannot change the animal form of your familiar.
- When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it becomes unconscious and reverts back to staff form. It can change to familiar form after you cast the Find Familiar spell with it again.
- Instead of dismissing it temporarily, you can use your action to revert you familiar to staff form.
- Alternatively, in order to dismiss it forever, you have to end your attunement to the staff.
- When in staff form, you can use your action to change it to familiar form.
- You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast the Find Familiar spell while you are already attuned to this staff, your attunement ends immediately.

The "Legacy" part is supposed to mean that the item can be used in starting equipment and grew in power with the character, like those Weapons of Legacy in 3.5. It really simplifies for the magic item tracking. Also, the fact that you can us the staff either as a focus or a familiar but not both as the same time is supposed to help balance it.

So, what says you? Is it overpowered, underpowered or balanced?

nickl_2000
2021-08-11, 12:31 PM
So you don't get the +1/+2/+3 when it's in familiar form?

It seems fine personally if that is the type of game you are going for. A +3 to spell attack and DC is powerful at level 15, but it sounds like there will be plenty of magic around for that to make sense.

You may want to add a caveat that it doesn't stack with other boosts (like wand of the war mage) to keep it from getting out of control completely. Otherwise, the familiar piece of it is cool but not really a game changer. There are lots of ways to get Find Familiar already, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Anymage
2021-08-11, 05:01 PM
Letting the staff be either a focus or familiar is not balancing, because the character can just have another focus or a component pouch. Letting the staff give +1/2/3 to spell DCs does "balance" it, but only insofar as that effect is too good for the character to be comfortable using familiar form if they expect a fight to be happening soon. Flat numerical bonuses are known to be problematic because they're both strong and boring. They make you better at what you expect to be doing, but don't really expand your options or enable new cool tricks.

You have a few options. You could let the familiar-staff be an unattuned item of its own or an alternate way to fluff the find familiar spell. The familiar based alterations are minor enough that I wouldn't mind calling them refluffing and calling it a day. That does mean that the staff it an item of its own and doesn't conflict with other items the character might want, including possibly another staff.

You could let the familiar headpiece move across staves of its own accord if you want the item to be upgradeable with future found treasure. Alternately, you could say that the staff is just a minor unattuned magic item of its own, but that the owner can perform rituals to grant it new powers. Letting a character upgrade their items through their own deeds instead of just finding new stuff in a treasure pile is cool. These do have the problems that a powerful enough staff discourages letting it turn into its familiar form.

"What if my familiar were also a staff?" is cool and not a problem. Getting the right staff powers so that you don't feel too far behind if the staff is in familiar form is. And your specific plan for legacy item growth is going about things the wrong way. The question is what way you want to salvage the core idea.

BerzerkerUnit
2021-08-11, 05:58 PM
Palisman Staff
Uncommon, Requires Attunement by a Wizard, Sorcerer, or Warlock

These staves are popular among spellcasters that enjoy their familiar’s company. The staff provides a +1 bonus to spell attack and save DCs when used as an Arcane Focus. Additionally, a familiar can be instructed to climb up or alight on the staff as a bonus action where it becomes a wooden ornament. In this form the familiar is considered part of the caster’s equipment and cannot be targeted by attacks or spells. The wielder can use another bonus action to animate their familiar again.

It is rumored more powerful versions of these staves exist to which mightier familiar spirits have been bound and many variants have made their way through the multiverse, such as the Staff of the Adder, Staff of the Python, and Tentacle Rod.