Question about familiars/psicrystals

[Squirrel_Dude]

Familliars:
- What exactly happens with a familiar when a master dies, if it's a rat or a crow? What happens to a familiar that dies when it's an imp or pseudodragon? (Answered: DM discretion)

Psicrystals:
- What happens if someone destroys a psicrystal?

- Why exactly do people argue that a psicrystal can get feats? I know the argument, but I've never wrapped my head around the idea that because it's gaining health it gain feats. (Answered: HD, not health)

[HunterOfJello]

Familliars:
- What exactly happens with a familiar when a master dies, if it's a rat or a crow? What happens to a familiar that dies when it's an imp or pseudodragon?

Familiars do survive when their masters die. There are no specific rules I am aware of in the books that support anything else happening.

- Why exactly do people argue that a psicrystal can get feats? I know the argument, but I've never wrapped my head around the idea that because it's gaining health it gain feats.

I don't remember the exact argument for both sides. I think it has to do with the psion-part listing and the monster entry for the Psicrystal listing (and maybe errata?). I can explain why there is an argument at all.

Creatures don't get feats because they gain health, they gain feats because they gain Hit Die. Hit Die (or HD) is an extremely important and key concept of growth in d&d. Every monster and creature in the entire gain that gains new hit die gains new benefits per hit die (with a few exceptions). The exceptions part is what is debated, iirc. All monsters that gain more hit die gain new feats at the appropriate levels, gain improvements to their saves, bonuses to stats, improvements to BAB, and all sorts of other things based on their types, subtypes, and specific characteristics. The point is, gaining feats do to having a higher HD is one of the basic rules in d&d. To not gain a feat is a rare exception to that rule. Without an exception in place, any creature is assumed to gain new feats with a higher HD.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Familiars:
-It isn't described in any book, so it is up to the DM, personally I would rule that depending on the level of the Caster the Familiar either returns to it's normal state (a normal animal) if it is a low level caster or if the Wizard is particularly powerful the Familiar keeps it's ability and intellect.

For Improved familiars I guess in the case of outsiders like an imp or a quasit they return to their own plane, a Pseudodragon on the other hand I have no idea...what do cats do in a similar situation? (Pseudodragons behave in a cat-like manner as per the MM)

As for psy-crystals getting feats their XPH entry states that they gain HD=to their owners HD and as per the general rules any creature with int>3 gets a feat every thid level or HD.

[Coidzor]

Not addressed in the rules. DM has to figure that out.

Popular online thing is that the familiar either retains its intelligence outright or it starts to lose its familiar-hood over time and will desperately search for someone else who they can be familiar to or a way to bring back their dead master.

As for psi crystals, there does need to be some way of getting them back short of wish or feat retraining.

- Why exactly do people argue that a psicrystal can get feats? I know the argument, but I've never wrapped my head around the idea that because it's gaining health it gain feats.

It gains hit dice, not just health. Hit dice and being non-mindless are what feat access is linked to, one gets 1 feat every 3 HD just as one gets 1 point to put into one's ability scores every 4 HD. It's just a general rule that gets applied to Psicrystals because they are not excluded specifically by anything.

[klemdakherzbag]

The Psicrystal Affinity feat from Psionics Unleashed (Dreamscared Press) specifically states that a destroyed psicrystal reforms with the same personality within 24 hours

[KillianHawkeye]

as per the general rules any creature with int>3 gets a feat every thid level or HD.

Correction: Any creature with an Int score gains a feat every third level or Hit Die. Non-intelligent creatures (skeletons, zombies, golems, vermin, etc.) are the only ones who don't gain skills and feats.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Psicrystals:
- What happens if someone destroys a psicrystal?

There is no official ruling in any published 3.5 sourcebook. The most concise answer from WotC customer support was "you can get a new one". Pathfinder, which is a slightly different system but mechanically the same, says you automatically get a new one after 24 hours and most 3.5 GMs will go with that.

[Anxe]

In Tome and Blood for 3.0 there are rules for Familiars after master death. The familiar retains the powers of a familiar for a master of two levels lower than its master at time of death. So if its master was 11th level, the familiar would lose its SR, 1 INT, and 1 Natural Armor. It'd also now be counted as having only 9 HD.

Psicrystals do get feats. For familiar it just says that they are treated as having the HD of their master for the purposes of spells and abilities that affect HD (Sleep, cloudkill, etc.). For Psicrystals, the wording says that they actually get the HD of their master. It never states that they do not get feats from those HD, therefore they do.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Psicrystals do get feats. For familiar it just says that they are treated as having the HD of their master for the purposes of spells and abilities that affect HD (Sleep, cloudkill, etc.). For Psicrystals, the wording says that they actually get the HD of their master. It never states that they do not get feats from those HD, therefore they do.

And if your GM is lenient enough to allow that, you should head over to the Character Optimzation boards and start building a character that can slay balors at 9th level.

Just so the OP knows, giving familiars and psicrystals Hit Dice is not rules as intended. However, they do get to use the feats you take. If you take Weapon Focus (Touch Attack), your familiar gets the bonus when delivering a touch attack.

[Knight13]

Familiars:
-It isn't described in any book, so it is up to the DM, personally I would rule that depending on the level of the Caster the Familiar either returns to it's normal state (a normal animal) if it is a low level caster or if the Wizard is particularly powerful the Familiar keeps it's ability and intellect.

In Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, you meet a giant, talking rat who's a former familiar of a dead wizard and is even a 17th level wizard in his own right.

[Coidzor]

And if your GM is lenient enough to allow that, you should head over to the Character Optimzation boards and start building a character that can slay balors at 9th level.

Eh, the E6 thing was technically 6th level.

The only way the DM would be "lenient" to not houserule it so that psicrystals don't get either HD or feats would be if one were going under the fundamentally erroneous assumption that all players exist to try to break the game.

[Anxe]

My player just threw Improved Toughness, Lightning Reflexes, and Improved Fly onto his psicrystal. Helps it stay alive and happy. It could easily be broken by giving it better feats. You can either houserule no feats (which certainly seems like RAI to me as well), or you can houserule only bad feats (like I did). Doesn't really matter.