Playing AS a Familiar

[Forevernade]

Do you think it is reasonable to let someone play a familiar (type) creature as a PC. A guy wants to be a wizard's (in the party) familiar Imp. With the +7LA and 3HD, taking levels in rogue after the ECL 10.

Would I let him have the familiar of a wizard bonuses such as Alertness, Improved Evasion, Spell Resistance etc?

Also, if the wizard dies, what happens to the familiar PC? Do both of them reroll toons? Or would I allow the Imp to remain bound to the plane, and just loose the familiar bonuses?

[Katana_Geldar]

I fully believe in letting people play what they want, but let them understand that as a Wizard's familiar he's not going to have any autonomy.

[Thurbane]

Maybe let the player be an Imp cohort to the Wizard, rather than a familiar. With some of the familiar rules, it would be tough to run one as a PC.

[BobVosh]

I would just say use an awakened animal, give class levels, let them use the familiar bonuses.

Awakened is a 2? LA. While not exactly great, with familiar bonuses it is nice.

[Forevernade]

I would just say use an awakened animal, give class levels, let them use the familiar bonuses.

Awakened is a 2? LA. While not exactly great, with familiar bonuses it is nice.

What book is the awakened rules in?

[BobVosh]

What book is the awakened rules in?

MM? Under awaken? Its somewhere very close to core, if it isn't core.

[Satyr]

While in General, this is a fun roleplaying idea, and can be very intense for both the layer of the familiar and the accompanying wizard, in D&D there are specific when playing a small, and mostly unequipped creature, which will often make you to be little more than the group mascot.

We had a player with a terminal conditioned draagon obsession, and he just loved to play a microdragon in one campaign, but it was pretty much a long line of " you can't do that"s and "you can't compete with the typical foes the group faces", which is both quite annoying (for the player, but also any GM who is interested in something like fairness in the group).

We later tried something similar again while using the All Flesh Must Be Eaten / Unisystem rules, and it pretty much rocked. The character this time was a small crossbreed creature mixed out of a small cangoroo and a flying squirell.

[taltamir]

by raw ANYTHING and EVERYTHING can be a familiar... with the right feat...

If a wizard dies, the familiar retains all their powers. If a familiar is dismissed, it also retains all its powers (the wizard loses XP).

playing one is a problem because you are very limited in powers and abilities... you are playing basically what is a "part" of another character, a small part...

basically a familiar and a wizard are a package, a player controls both at once. Having one player control each half of the package gimps them both.

He could play as a familiar to some dead wizard, who is now gaining levels. Or you could just wing it...

For the winging it part, I recommend simply allowing an unusually powerful familiar... example, a wizard with a wizard familiar... each played by a different character. or a dragon familiar (of an age greater than 5 years old, despite what RAW says about that).

You could let them sacrifice power for flavor and just have one player control the normal familiar of another... but I recommend giving them extra powers to compensate.

Or maybe you could do a "lesser familiar bond"... you form a loose familiar bond with creature X who is a normal PC. creature X gains less of the familiar abilities, but actually has its own class levels, HD, etc.

[dsmiles]

What book is the awakened rules in?

The actual awaken spell is core, and there is more information on playing awakened animals in Savage Species, i believe.

[Forevernade]

The actual awaken spell is core, and there is more information on playing awakened animals in Savage Species, i believe.

Ah, right, silly me! It is SRD.

[ghashxx]

The reason for playing a familiar is for the roleplaying experience. Familiars aren't meant to be great at...much of anything. They are an aide to their wizard, not a full fledged character in their own right. They give counsel once they get smart enough, act as a companion to relieve the hours of boredom when traveling "alone", and are an extra pair of eyes when sleeping etc. So the idea of playing as a familiar should come with the inherent knowledge that you're not going to be a vital part of combat. This doesn't mean you'll be useless, but you should talk a lot with the player whose familiar you're playing to work out a system of spells and companionship that will allow you to get buffed etc and be a key tactical component of combat. I would really suggest against using intricate system rules through countless books just to make a PC "worthy" familiar. If you're really wanting to be an awesome and vital part of the team like a normal PC, then just play a normal PC and be the wizard's lackey.

[Fhaolan]

I seem to be posting this link a lot recently. Not sure why.

This third-party book has a lot of stuff in it for playing animals in D&D. It includes stuff for playing a familiar, as well as how to turn the tables and have the animal as a wizard with a humanoid familiar.

http://skirmisher.cerizmo.com/items/...-pdf-download#

I am currently in a game where my wizard character has a familiar (a mongoose) that is being played as a PC by another person. It's working fairly well, but we haven't really gotten far into the game yet.