[4e] Familiar Origins

[-Cor-]

So, next session my players are going to hit 4th level and the Eladrin wizard in the party is taking the Arcane Familiar feat. I'm trying to think of a really good way to describe how the thing pops into existence, but am having some difficulty.

The familiar itself is a homebrew one I created for him that we're calling a griffonling... basically a small golden colored griffon that's borrowing from a couple other familiars for powers.

The character is an Eladrin Wizard who's a bit more striker-ish than most, bit of a thrill-seeker, lithe limber type, but from a noble house.

Anyway, the party is in the middle of a dungeon and about ready to face the BBEG, and I'm having trouble trying to think of a way to describe where the hell the familiar came from.

Did his Eladrin compatriots in the feywild send it to him through a small portal? Did his god decide to bless him and it appears in a column of golden light? Does it spring out of his head like Athena? Does it pop out of a ball of arcane energy "Time-traveling Terminator" style?

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[Tiki Snakes]

Some ideas;

He has a dream, with a huge, regal Golden-coloured Griffon thing being all prophetic, either about the character's far future (destiny or even 'epic destiny'). When he wakes up, the chibi version is all nuzzling at his face, licking his nose.
No further explanation. Tie to campaign related stuff as required, as time goes by.

He could find the directions for a 'ritual' in some loot. To bind a familiar, to summon up a portion of one's own soul and chain it to the mortal coil to aid you in your travails. A blood sacrifice, (If he's hardcore, demand he chop off his little finger) performed on a moon-lit night. The blood pools in the bowl, coagulates, and takes form. A small, bald, mewling Griffonling takes shape, stumbling blindly. It's feathers come in over the next day or two, and it's eyes open for the first time a few hours after the ritual.
For jollies, you could have him need to perform a miniature form of the ritual to bring back his familiar when it is destroyed.

Or, well. He could just find, trap, buy or rescue an actual Griffonling, and magically bind it to his service.

[Eldrys]

You should have some kind of home brewed stunted griffon that the party fights, and before the PCs leave, have the little guy come out from the shadows, chirping, and then have the griffonling do something possessive, like sitting on the Eladrins head, or something similar.

[erikun]

The familiar itself is a homebrew one I created for him that we're calling a griffonling... basically a small golden colored griffon that's borrowing from a couple other familiars for powers.

A griffit? Nice! Ironically enough, it looks like the first Google Image result is basically what you had in mind.

[EDIT] I originally heard the word "Griffit" used in Dragon Storm, if you're curious.

Would it be possible for the Wizard to get his familiar after the BBEG splunking? Given some time, I could see the old 3e method working just fine. (go into woods, bring magical familiar-feed, attract familiar) Is there some reason to bring it in now?

If you still want to introduce it in the middle of the dungeon, perhaps attach it to a plot point. Attach a note telling the PC to come home, or have it show up holding a pendant that was his brother's, or something else significant. It makes the "trained griffonette tracking you down" believable and plot-relevant, and the turning it into a familiar just something the PC does afterwards.

[Ridureyu]

He remembers that he had it the whole time, and it pops into existence. When he's not thinking about it, it disappears.

[-Cor-]

He remembers that he had it the whole time, and it pops into existence. When he's not thinking about it, it disappears.

Har har... yeah... I thought about that too.

Thanks for the suggestions all. I actually didn't think about a mewling little chibi version... I kinda like that and it'd be funny for the character.

I would never use this, but the idea of him hacking up a little golden hairball that turns out to be a familiar cracks me up...

I originally heard the word "Griffit" used in Dragon Storm, if you're curious.

Would it be possible for the Wizard to get his familiar after the BBEG splunking?

We decided to go with the Griffonling because he liked the concept of the Dragonling, but he's really not very draconic... he's more a noble eladrin turned thrill-seeker. Anyway, I'd like for him to have it before the final culminating battle of this section. For the simple fact that it might help him survive what I forsee to be a rather difficult encounter.

[KillianHawkeye]

Well, according to Arcane Power, 4E's familiars aren't some animal you perform a ritual on like they were in older editions.

A familiar is a spirit that accompanies you as your friend and ally. It's not a real creature, and it doesn't need to eat or breathe. The most common type is a creature familiar--a spirit that takes the form of a little animal or monster.

Many consider a familiar and its master to be one and the same, and some familiars do act as mere extensions of their master's wills. However, most familiars grow personalities all their own, and undertake the commands of their masters with individuality and, sometimes, attitude. All familiars have some amount of arcane knowledge.

Under this model, familiars really are free to appear and disappear at will, so it could really just show up one day or spawn itself from the mind and residual magic of the character.

Of course, if you prefer to continue using the pre-4E familiar fluff, that's fine too. Personally, I like that familiars are no longer physical creatures and are now entirely magical. I also like that you don't have to try to catch a cat or an owl in the forest somewhere in order to make it your familiar anymore.

[Burley]

I just love telling this story, because it never came to be: I had a sorcerer, and I had planned out how to get my familiar. Basically, I joined a Tinkerer's Guild and was awarded a pair of gloves for my trials. The gloves used to belong to an old guild member of high standing. The gloves were magical (+1 Thievery), and the old owner wore them so much, that a small portion of his essense bonded to them. I put on the first glove, and when I attempt to put on the second, I find a rat curled up inside. Putting on the gloves bonds the familiar's essense, and they become fast friends. Though only a rat, the little guy possesses sage wisdom of the sneakiest variety.

That's just something to go off of. That campaign lasted one session, so this never happened to me... But, someday...

[FatherMalkav]

The best way I've found to tie in familiars is to consider what has recently happened to the character and see if you can apply that. If push comes to shove take the feat and accept the passive bonus but don't let the familiar manifest until you have a reason IC. In my weekly groups we've had something like this happen twice so far.

In one game our Bard decided he'd take the familiar feet at level 4. As our impromptu tank he decides to go toe to toe with a mounted knight at level 3 and didn't do so well; by the end of the fight stabilization is needed. The player that goes before him makes the DC 15 heal check as the man is on his last saving throw. He's big on the 'man of the north'/ skald thing so he fluffed it that his familiar, in the form of an ancestor spirit, traveled back with him from the brink of death.

In another game we have a Dragonborn Sorc who worships Tiamet. He decided to take Familiar at level 2 but had no reason to just have it appear mid dungeon. We press on and by the time we hit level three we come face to face with a homebrewed young copper dragon. We slay it and the beasts congealed blood forms into the shape of five heads a brief moment before coming together into the shape of a 'chibi tiamet' that then becomes the Sorcs familiar.

[Burley]

In one game our Bard decided he'd take the familiar feet at level 4.

He can send his feet up to ten squares away to scout. They only have one HP, but they get to use his defenses. His feet also get stronger when he takes more feets. Kinda like Highlander, I guess.

I like those fluffs, though. I, personally, hate it when things just ~poof~ in and out during games. That's why I hate it when a player is absent. (I don't like playing other people's characters, because if something happens, it's your fault.)

[-Cor-]

I, personally, hate it when things just ~poof~ in and out during games.

Same here... which is why I'm trying to come up with something.

The most recent thing that's happened to this group of players is they dispatched some creatures that had desecrated a holy place formerly dedicated to Ioun. Upon destroying the statue of the evil god and replacing Ioun's holy symbol on the altar, they were bathed in holy light and granted the benefit of an extended rest. They now are about to decend in the catacombs below the holy place to engage in what I anticapte to be a significantly difficult battle with the BBEG cleric of the evil god. I would honestly be suprised if this encounter lasted under two hours and didn't consume 80-90% of their resources (why I gave them the extended rest benefit).

This particular player's god is Corellon, so I didn't really want to have Ioun give him his familiar (even though the two gods are related in that one is the celebration of and the other the study of magic).

Here's what I've come up with... tell me if this sounds silly:

Earlier in the campaign they rescued another Eladrin female that had been taken captive by hobgoblins when she came from the town to check on the party. She has a definite attraction to this player who sees her as a kindred spirit (another Eladrin who left the Feywild to seek adventure like him who also has some wizard-like abilities) and I tried to make that attraction evident by pointing out that when she was rescued she was particularly openly affectionate toward the Eladrin player. (Eladrin in our campaign setting are typically very stoic and standoffish).

What I was thinking is that perhaps she placed her signet ring on his person without his knowledge in the hopes that it would bring him good luck. Now, when we return to the session, he feels a tingling electric sensation coming from his pocket. When he checks it and finds the signet, I give him a fairly low DC Int check to recognize it's the Eladrin female's ring (he's a Wiz, he should get it). The gold ring starts to burn his hand and he drops it. (If he wants, another Arcana check to try to determine what's happening... some kind of transmutative magic). The gold set with lapis lazuli ring slowly melts, expands, and reforms into the chibi griffonling who is golden in color with lapis lazuli eyes.

Does that sound ultra cheezy or...? Other suggestions...?

[erikun]

...The gold set with lapis lazuli ring slowly melts, expands, and reforms into the chibi griffonling who is golden in color with lapis lazuli eyes...

The first thing I'd think if a ring suddenly turned into a bird is that it's a clockwork mecha-bird transformer, not an actual living thing. It certainly works, until the Barbarian tries to fold it back into its ring form.

[Mando Knight]

The first thing I'd think if a ring suddenly turned into a bird is that it's a clockwork mecha-bird transformer, not an actual living thing. It certainly works, until the Barbarian tries to fold it back into its ring form.

Nope. It totally works all the time. It also changes into a miniature golem, and when it transforms, emits five sound pulses with increasing pitch.

[-Cor-]

Okay... okay... so ultra cheezy then...

I'll keep working on it...

[Burley]

Y'know... Ioun and Corellon are friendly with each other. Though the temple/alter is dedicated to Ioun, could it be possible to have a couple small chambers, unnoticed before due to large drapes, with small... not really alters, but homages to friendly and related dieties?

"As you start to venture further, a glint of movement catches your eye. A heavy tapestry, frayed and muddied, shudders momentarily, then stills. The tapestry depicts a woman, dressed in robes, her face (which sports Ioun's symbol as an eye) is upturned to look at an eight-pointed white star (Corellon's holy symbol).
"Behind the tapestry, there is a small alcove. On the opposite wall hangs Corellon's symbol, stitched on a field of blue cloth (the exact picture from the PHB). You scan the rest of the room, but it is seemingly empty.
"As you turn the leave, the tapestry falls the floor, with a dull thump. There appears to be a displacement under the tapestry, something small and shaking."
The PC throws the tapestry back to find the griffonling. The PC later finds that the little guy loves music and often squak-whistles along with merry tunes. He also has a problem with snapping at toes and fingers, but never hard enough to do harm. He's also afraid of the dark. (Familiars are seperate spirits from their masters. There is nothing wrong with giving it a personality that may...spice up your player's experience.)

[DSCrankshaw]

What you need is an egg. Or some sort of object that could in some way be interpreted as an egg. Perhaps something that your character has been carrying around for a while without realizing what it is.