Would you want a real-life familiar?

[Saph]

Just imagine for a second that you had the D&D "Summon Familiar" class feature in real life. Would you want one?

A D&D familiar costs 100 gp, which probably works out to a few thousand dollars or so, so they're not all that cheap. And then you'd have to feed them, but that wouldn't cost any more than a regular pet.

On the plus side, a familiar would be like a permanent companion. You could chat to it (assuming it was a raven, or you were high enough level) and ask it to do odd jobs. If it could fly or climb, it could carry messages, or be a scout, or go through windows to let you into the house when you'd forgotten your keys. And you'd never have to worry about losing it, because you could always sense where it was.

On the other hand, having a talking animal around all the time might get annoying. Most of the familiar animals have low Charisma scores (a cat is the highest, and it's only Cha 7) so they're probably not very diplomatic. And the familiar's Int score won't be all that high, either. If you didn't get on with your familiar, you might get sick of listening to it really fast - you'd probably spend most of your time telling it to shut up. And of course, if the familiar dies, you're in trouble.

You'd have to pick what kind of animal you wanted, too. I think I'd probably go for a cat or a weasel, since they make better pets. But a flier would be cool as well.

So, if you had the choice, would you get one?

- Saph

[seedjar]

It would be cool, but the Con damage from losing it could easily kill a low-level commoner like me.
~Joe

PS - Er, maybe that's a homunculus I'm thinking of...? Psicrystals...? My druid's bogun? In any case, I'm not keen on XP loss - I don't want to have to repeat high school just because Bowser decided to chase a cat into traffic.

[FatherMalkav]

I'd love one, and I agree with the weasel, or possible a raven.

The idea of a world this was is kind of like the Golden Compass series, isn't it? Or was it a diffirent book where they all had a connected animal?

[Craig1f]

It would be cool, but the Con damage from losing it could easily kill a low-level commoner like me.
~Joe

I lol'd

Familiar's personalities are basically imprints of their masters, since their intelligence is magic-based. They're not likely to have an overly annoying personality, and they're likely to remain quiet when their master doesn't want them talking.

I'd love to have a familiar, unless, perhaps, I lived in a city (which I do). Any non-flying familiars would have to stay inside in a city, and any flying familiars would probably get bored.

If I lived in the burbs though, a cat would probably be the easiest. It would be degrading to put a dog or wolf on a leash, but a cat can just go outside, do his thing, and come back whenever. A bird would be nice and perhaps useful, but petting a cat is way more fun than petting a bird.

If I lived in an area where I could allow a dog or wolf to roam freely, I'd take that instead. I doubt that would be allowed anywhere with a wolf though.

[Reinboom]

The greatest benefit of a familiar:
They magically disappear when you don't need them or forget about them. And reappear otherwise.


I don't think I would want one. The negatives of losing it is too great, and it costs $30224.10 (USD)

[Squash Monster]

Can I trade my familiar in for an alternate class feature? Like, say... Abrupt Jaunt?

[Saph]

Can I trade my familiar in for an alternate class feature? Like, say... Abrupt Jaunt?

Now you've hurt its feelings.

- Saph

[Prometheus]

I think I would want it, but only so it would do menial tasks for me. That doesn't sound like a very kind way to treat a pet, so I'd probably better off not having one.

[Fhaolan]

Yes. The only difficulty is that the standard companion list is lacking some of the animals I would consider. Dogs, for instance. Especially in the size range that I prefer dogs, like malamutes, german shepards, etc. [As examples of breeds only. I actually prefer mutts, as they tend to be physically more robust.]

[Keld Denar]

The book Night of the Eye, set in the Dragonlance universe had character with a Seagull familiar in a culture where magic wasn't widely known or understood. Good read of anyone who is interested in seeing how something like this would probably feel.

I personally always thought it would be great to have something like a pseudodragon or something similar as a familiar when I was much younger. Something that could become invisible to be out of sight as needed, and could communicate telepathically. There was another book I read a long time ago that had a boy in a RL setting who aquired a dragon as something similar to a familar in a strange magic shop. Was a great book, one of my favorites when I was younger, but I can't remember what it was called anymore.

[Weirdlet]

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville- although I thought it was more of a foster-parent arrangement than a familiar...

I might take a familiar if I could choose one of my established cats.

[Bosaxon]

I might go for a spellstitched familiar if I ever had the chance. Why settle for one breed of cat or dog when you can have several at once?

[Lizardfolk Lich]

I wouldn't want it to watch me all the time...

[NEO|Phyte]

Familiars are meh, I'll take a psicrystal. It can do everything a familiar can (and more), its harder to kill, and a rock is less conspicuous than an animal. Plus, nothing bad happens to me if it dies.

[Eldmor]

Familiars are meh, I'll take a psicrystal. It can do everything a familiar can (and more), its harder to kill, and a rock is less conspicuous than an animal. Plus, nothing bad happens to me if it dies.

Psicrystal for the win. It's basically a remote webcam for your brain in modern terms. Plus it being some gem could validate it as a good luck charm or something you sifted up at one of those "sift for gems in a bag of $10 dirt" places in Kentucky. Plus psicrystals don't need to be fed, given water, or even need air.

[Wraithy]

Familiars are meh, I'll take a psicrystal. It can do everything a familiar can (and more), its harder to kill, and a rock is less conspicuous than an animal. Plus, nothing bad happens to me if it dies.

Quoted For Truth

[LibraryOgre]

Familiars are meh, I'll take a psicrystal. It can do everything a familiar can (and more), its harder to kill, and a rock is less conspicuous than an animal. Plus, nothing bad happens to me if it dies.

So... you want a Pet Rock.

[Collin152]

I'd totally get a Raven familiar and name it Pythagoras.

[Keld Denar]

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, by Bruce Coville- although I thought it was more of a foster-parent arrangement than a familiar...

OMG, that was it. That was totally my favorite book for a couple years. I can't believe anyone else has actually heard of or read it. I totally wanted a minidragon familiar like that...well, until it got older. Man....such a good book.

[Helios Sunshard]

It would be nice. I would like to have a flying familiar, yet, it is kinda weird to see a falcon or owl around you at all times (and if you get a raven you may be seen as a source of evil ), so i would have a cat... if i see a first level commonerperson, he will run in fear as soon as my powerful companion comes to my aid.

[Collin152]

Course, if I had pale green skin, horns, and dressed in black, my Raven's name would be Diablo.

[Newtkeeper]

A pet rock would be cool, especially one with powers, but familiars are *old school*. I could go with a raven, myself. Classic. Suits my idiom, and all that.

On the other hand, as a low level expert (assuming D&D terminology; I actually believe that the best societies are classless ), I don't see myself getting one any time soon.



And Malkav, it was the Golden Compass.

[Demented]

Mm, too pricey for me.

I've got a much cheaper familiar already. Admittedly, it can't move on its own, and it's very finicky about what I feed it, but it does many things that a familiar could never hope to do, and does them very well. Not to mention, it has Intel Inside. :D
(No offense to the AMDers, but your slogans aren't nearly as interesting.)

[UglyPanda]

I wouldn't want one. People look at you weird if you carry around an animal all the time, especially if you're talking to it. I'd rather use the money to buy a nice car.

[SurlySeraph]

Nah, I wouldn't want a familiar. If I want something to talk to, I've got the entire population of the Internet.

[Collin152]

Nah, I wouldn't want a familiar. If I want something to talk to, I've got the entire population of the Internet.

Internet Familiar! Ah!

[Townopolis]

Yes. I would get a ferret.

Since its personality is attuned to and reflective of my own (assuming the familiar's personality isn't just your own wholesale) I would be able to rely on it working with me to keep itself safe, and when i'm not crossing streets, I get a small furry animal that's also a boon companion! All win for me.

[Collin152]

Hm, I noticed something. Ravens don't speak common, but any one language I can speak. Even if not, assuming my version of common is English...
If it spoke English, it'd be easier to torment people in the night when voices start coming out of nowhere, following them around. But, if my dear Pythagoras spoke, say Japanese, I could converse with it more privately (as in, only three out of five of my friends would understand it).

[FireFox]

id have a highly trained red fox as a familiar. well, it wouldnt get along with all the dogs in my house, but after i moved out, its good to have some1 to talk to...

[Collin152]

Heh. That reminds me of the Simpsons episode "El Viaje Misterioso de nuestro Jomer". You know, with the talking coyote?
If your familiar tells you to find your soul-mate, take him with you for further counsel.