Familiar
Familiar
Mr. Wing’ **s grandson: There are three rules that you must follow. First of all, keep him out of the light. He hates bright light, especially sunlight. It’ **ll kill him. Second, don’ **t give him any water, not even to drink. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget—no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs—never feed him after midnight. (Gremlins, Film, 1984)
Familiars are animals chosen by the character, through the Familiar Feat, to help them in adventures and for companionship. A familiar has a special bond with its master.
A familiar is a normal animal but is treated as a magical creature for the purpose of determining any effect that depends on its type.
Only a normal, unmodified animal can become a familiar.
A familiar grants Special Abilities to its master; these Special Abilities apply only when the master and familiar are within 100 m of each other.
A particular ritual of 4 hours in the animal’ **s native environment is required to make it become a familiar.
If a familiar is dismissed, lost, or dies, it can be replaced one week later with a special ritual that costs 2 points of the character’ **s temporary Constitution. Completing the ritual takes 8 hours.
Table: Familiar Types
| Familiar | Ability gained by the master |
|---|---|
| Owl | +2 to Arcana checks |
| Raven | +2 to Intimidate checks |
| Dobi | +2 to Saving Throws vs Charm |
| Hawk | +2 to Awareness checks based on sight |
| Cat | +2 to Stealth checks |
| Great Owl | +2 to Awareness checks based on hearing |
| Otter | +2 to Swimming checks |
| Lizard | +2 to Survival checks |
| Bat | +1 to Fortitude Saving Throw |
| Rat | +2 to Saving Throws against Disease |
| Hedgehog | +1 to Will Saving Throw |
| Toad | +2 to Saving Throws against Poison |
| Monkey | +2 to Sleight of Hand checks |
| Topi | you become Topi’ **s familiar!!! |
| Fox | +1 to Reflex Saving Throw |
Use the base statistics of a creature of the familiar’ **s species, making the following changes.
Attacks: Use the master’ **s Weapon Proficiency if higher. Use the familiar’ **s Dexterity or Strength modifier, whichever is higher, to calculate the familiar’ **s attack bonus with Natural Attacks. Damage is equal to that of a normal creature of the familiar’ **s species. The familiar acts on the master’ **s round.
Defense: the familiar has a Defense equal to that of the standard animal plus a bonus due to the master’ **s Magic Proficiency. See the Familiar Abilities table.
Saving Throw: For each Saving Throw, use either the familiar’ **s Saving Throws or those of the master, whichever is better. The familiar applies its own Ability Score values as bonuses to Saving Throws and does not receive any of the bonuses its master may have.
Familiar Initiative: the familiar acts in your round, does not roll for initiative, and uses yours.
Familiar Actions: commanding a familiar takes 1 Action. The familiar performs 2 Actions per round. Without commands, the Familiar does nothing except defend itself and attack those who attack it.
Description of Familiar Abilities
All familiars have Special Abilities and grant them to their masters according to the Magic Proficiency score of the master. The Special Abilities listed in the table are cumulative.
Table: Familiar Abilities and Bonuses
| Master’ **s MP | Defense | Intelligence | Special |
| 1-2 | +1 | 0 | Alert, Share Spells |
| Empathic Link | |||
| 3-4 | +1 | +1 | Deliver Touch Spells |
| 5-6 | +2 | +1 | Speak with Animals of Its Kind |
| 7-8 | +3 | +1 | Speak with Master |
| 9-10 | +3 | +2 | - |
| 11-12 | +4 | +2 | See through Familiar |
| 13-14 | +5 | +2 | Improved Deliver Touch Spells |
| 15-16 | +5 | +3 | - |
| 17-18 | +6 | +3 | - |
| 19-20 | +7 | +3 | - |
Master’ **s Magic Proficiency: the number indicated here is the Magic Proficiency value of the familiar’ **s master.
Defense: the bonus indicated is to be added to the familiar’ **s Defense.
Intelligence: the bonus indicated is to be added to the familiar’ **s Intelligence score.
Special: special abilities acquired by the familiar (and/or by the master).
Alert: when the familiar is within arm’ **s reach of the master, the master gains +1 to Awareness checks.
Share Spells: at their discretion, the master can cast any Spell that affects themselves on their familiar, even if the creature type is not included.
Empathic Link: the master has an empathic link with their familiar up to a distance of 1 km. The master cannot see through the familiar’ **s eyes, but can communicate empathically with it. Due to the limited nature of the link, only general emotions can be communicated (fear, nervousness, calmness, joy…).
Deliver Touch Spells: the familiar can deliver Touch Spells for the master. If the master and familiar are within 9 meters when the master casts a Spell with Touch Range, they can designate their familiar as the one who delivers the Spell.
The familiar can deliver the Spell just like the master. The familiar uses one of its Actions to make an attack.
Speak with Master: the familiar and the master can communicate verbally, as if using a common language. Other creatures or animals are not able to understand their conversation, unless using magical aids. The ability works within 50m and they must be able to hear each other.
Speak with Animals: the familiar is able to communicate with animals of its specific species: bats with bats, rats with rats… Communication is limited by the Intelligence of the creatures with which the familiar communicates.
See through Familiar: the master can see through the familiar. Activating this Ability costs 1 Action and lasts until the beginning of the next round. The familiar must be within 50 meters.
Improved Deliver Touch Spells: like Deliver Touch Spells but the familiar can be within 18 meters of the master.
NOTE: intelligent and unique, a familiar remains an animal and as such cannot use magic items or scrolls; it may be able to use a potion if it has the ability to drink it. A particularly intelligent familiar might perform simple and immediate tasks.