Familier Roleplay

[Thefurmonger]

Hey all,

So recently I situation has come up where I told my Familier (Raven 3.5) to go ask someone a few questions for me (Not that it matters but the "Someone" was a Psicrystal owned by a NPC friend)

How would you handle it?

A. Have me RP as the raven?

B. Simply have the Raven report back with what happened

Really this boils down to how do you handle RP stuff with Familiers/chorots?

I would almost prefer B.

What are your thoughts?

[Comet]

If you think you can roleplay the familiar well enough to keep everyone else at the table entertained while you play out the scene, sure, sounds fun.

[Sarco_Phage]

The Familiar may be loyal to you, but it is a separate entity from your PC - an NPC you keep in your pocket that grants you a bonus. On the other hand you do have a certain mental link with the familiar.

[Cealocanth]

I would leave this one up to the player. If he feels RP comfortable with his familiar, by all means go out and RP it, but if he doesn't, then I would simply have him report back with the results or possibly RP his familiar for him.

[bloodtide]

As a DM, I leave this up to the player.

Some players like to role play familiars and other such companions. Some don't.

If the player wants to role-play, then they get another mini-character. Or they can let the DM control it, and get a NPC buddy.

There are pluses and negatives to both sides. I like the NPC buddy one myself, as it gives the DM a 'voice' in the party.

For example if the character and player are stuck on a clue and the player is the raven, then the raven is stuck on the clue too. But if the raven is the DM, then the Dm can have the raven say-''Red is the color of hot''.

[Fhaolan]

When I DM, either the player will RP the familiar, or... just for giggles... the familiar is actually handed to a *different* player. In one case, I had the familiar rotate through the players, each one with a different 'take' on the same creature. It was facinating to watch.

[LibraryOgre]

I generally have people play their own familiar, but with the DM as a brake... i.e. the DM will occasionally say "No, your familiar will not do that".

[Fiery Diamond]

I would leave this one up to the player. If he feels RP comfortable with his familiar, by all means go out and RP it, but if he doesn't, then I would simply have him report back with the results or possibly RP his familiar for him.

As a DM, I leave this up to the player.

Some players like to role play familiars and other such companions. Some don't.

If the player wants to role-play, then they get another mini-character. Or they can let the DM control it, and get a NPC buddy.

There are pluses and negatives to both sides. I like the NPC buddy one myself, as it gives the DM a 'voice' in the party.

For example if the character and player are stuck on a clue and the player is the raven, then the raven is stuck on the clue too. But if the raven is the DM, then the Dm can have the raven say-''Red is the color of hot''.

I generally have people play their own familiar, but with the DM as a brake... i.e. the DM will occasionally say "No, your familiar will not do that".

These three people have said all I could say. I leave it up to the player whether they want to RP their own familiar/animal companion. If they choose to do so, I will have the DM (me) act as a "brake," as Mark Hall says.

[manyslayer]

Fully agree with what the players want. In my own group, two of the players have cohorts (one regular one from Leadership and one from the Draconic Cohort feat). One RPs his cohort, the other lets the DM do it.

And as others have said, if necessary, the DM says No.