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Baskineli
2008-07-10, 04:40 AM
Hello,

I have an owl familiar, playing level 6th wizard. What are the recommended feats for such familiar?

_Zoot_
2008-07-10, 04:46 AM
It's not really what your after, but theres a feat in the DMG 'Improved Familiar", that i really like...

Gorbash
2008-07-10, 04:49 AM
You have no idea how familiars work, do you?

^Too late, he already has a familiar, so he has to lose him first (losing exp also) and then wait for a year and a day to take a new one.

Ecalsneerg
2008-07-10, 06:42 AM
^Too late, he already has a familiar, so he has to lose him first (losing exp also) and then wait for a year and a day to take a new one.

It's a common houserule not to screw people over for taking that feat, though.

Gorbash
2008-07-10, 06:56 AM
^Why not? It's a feat that has its benefits and drawbacks. Unfortunately, benefits pale in comparison with drawbacks, and it's not that hard for familiar to get killed even unintentionally with any area spell.
Points is, familiars are too much of a liability, he shouldn't be taking one until he can Imbue them with Spell-like ability.

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2008-07-10, 07:38 AM
Hello,

I have an owl familiar, playing level 6th wizard. What are the recommended feats for such familiar?

Unfortunately, as it was hinted at, Familiars do not gain feats as you advance in level, since they do not gain any additional Hit Dice and feats are not effects related to HD.

Khatoblepas
2008-07-10, 07:47 AM
^Why not? It's a feat that has its benefits and drawbacks. Unfortunately, benefits pale in comparison with drawbacks, and it's not that hard for familiar to get killed even unintentionally with any area spell.
Points is, familiars are too much of a liability, he shouldn't be taking one until he can Imbue them with Spell-like ability.

It's a feat, though. Feats are usually completely beneficial. Taking Power Attack doesn't CONSTANTLY lower your attack bonus, or even Toughness comes with no drawback. While it may be RAW, it's just so unfair.

<Level 9 Wizard> Yes, finally! Level 9! Now I can get that Imp I wanted!
<DM> Too bad, loser! You dismiss your own familiar and lose 1800xp, sending you back to Level 8, and you're without a familiar for a year and a day!
<Level 8 Wizard> Wait, what?
<DM> Gah-hahahahahaha!

Seriously. Screwed. City. I'd never punish my players like that.

On topic, though, your Owl familiar is unable to take any more feats. The only way I can think of to change his feats around is with the Shun/Embrace the Dark Chaos loop, but that's a little cheesy, and you only get two feats of your choice out of it.

Gorbash
2008-07-10, 08:34 AM
It's a feat, though. Feats are usually completely beneficial. Taking Power Attack doesn't CONSTANTLY lower your attack bonus, or even Toughness comes with no drawback. While it may be RAW, it's just so unfair.

Well, nobody's forcing you to take a familiar, but yeah, you get Alertness, a small, basically useless critter until lvl 12 and a chance to lose a couple of thousand xp points, isn't much of a trade-off. Even when you can Imbue him, I wouldn't take it, since he can die really easy, and pissing the DM off by throwing 2+ spells a round is a good path to losing 2200+ xp, which isn't good at any lvl.

If you really want a familiar, just buy a wand of Familiar Pocket and keep him indefinitely there, since it's really not worth the trouble. Yeah you can polymorph you and him into something huge and get a powerhouse at your side (although you can't move more than 5 ft a round lol), but then be ready for him to die eventually, since such cheese is usually frowned upon by DMs.

Chronicled
2008-07-10, 09:40 AM
If you really want a familiar, just buy a wand of Familiar Pocket and keep him indefinitely there, since it's really not worth the trouble. Yeah you can polymorph you and him into something huge and get a powerhouse at your side (although you can't move more than 5 ft a round lol), but then be ready for him to die eventually, since such cheese is usually frowned upon by DMs.

You can also just polymorph the familiar, or Alter Self it into a Magical Beast (assuming you don't have an Aberration, Undead, etc as your familiar).

Signmaker
2008-07-10, 10:44 AM
Ice Mephit with wands.

...what?


Aanyway, you have quite a few options, I'll list them out for you. Most may not be good for what you plan, but it's better than nothing.

For improvements on your old familiar...

Bonded Familiar (PH2) allows you to save your familiar's butt (or vice versa) from going in to the negatives 1/day by taking the hp damage your partner would have taken. Something like that.

Combat Familiar (PH2) is only if your have a familiar that delivers touch spells. Basically, they don't get smacked for going in to an opponent's square with a touch spell.

Familiar Spell (Und), requires that you have Spell Mastery, and basically grants you one extra spell per day, that you have 'mastered', which is stored in your familiar.

Lurking Familiar (PH2) is a supplement to Combat familiar. Basically, it can make a hide check in your square to be unseen, and has cover. Quess who the cover is, by the way. :smallwink:

Spell-Linked Familiar (PH2) lets your familiar cast some of your really, really lesser spells. Yeah. Meh. However, your familiar need not worry about the verbal, somatic, or material component (provided it's minimal), which makes it real stealth-like.


For getting a swanky new familiar...

Improved Familiar, as has been stated before.

Celestial Familiar (BoED), which gets you specific Good Outsiders

Dragon Familiar (Dcn), which...well, gives you a dragon. Wyrmling, to be precise.

Chronicled
2008-07-10, 11:23 AM
While Dictum Mortuum from the WotC forums tends to overrate familiars, he did make an excellent guide to them (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=875062).

Waspinator
2008-07-10, 03:43 PM
Personally, I like Item Familiars:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm
Particularly, Invest Spell Slots is neat. Plus, unlike an animal familiar, people are unlikely to try to kill a ring or something that you're wearing.

Chronicled
2008-07-10, 04:14 PM
Personally, I like Item Familiars:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm
Particularly, Invest Spell Slots is neat. Plus, unlike an animal familiar, people are unlikely to try to kill a ring or something that you're wearing.

Particularly, they're one of the cheesiest things around.

Waspinator
2008-07-10, 07:00 PM
That may be true, but it's still a cool concept.

Gorbash
2008-07-10, 07:09 PM
Yeah, Pun-Pun is a cool concept, too. :smallamused:

MeklorIlavator
2008-07-10, 07:29 PM
So are strawmen....

Waspinator
2008-07-10, 08:01 PM
Yeah, it's a little harsh to compare one extra spell slot to a character build that can literally do anything.

Benejeseret
2008-07-10, 10:44 PM
Instead of the (cheesy) Item Familiar is there not a variant to get a special staff instead of a familiar...that channels touch attacks and increases as a magic weapon etc?

Chronicled
2008-07-10, 11:00 PM
Yeah, it's a little harsh to compare one extra spell slot to a character build that can literally do anything.

It's not the extra spell slot that's the issue, it's the free XP.

Waspinator
2008-07-19, 09:03 PM
Ok, so ban the XP option and leave the rest of it.

Starsinger
2008-07-19, 11:18 PM
I'd say the invest skills thing, but as an arcane caster you don't need skill points anyways. Whatever it is you wanted to do, there's a spell that will do it for you somewhere.