You have no idea how much I like to hear the trusty "Welcome to Bandits Keep... I'm Daniel" intro. And tonight talking about familiars no less, love to hear thoughts about them! Keep up the good work! Cheers from Brazil!🎉
I remember from a comment somewhere that in Pathfinder there's a witch class where the familiar is basically the witch's spellbook. That requires a familiar to be something the character starts with, rather than something acquired later, but it's a nice bit of flavor.
Wow that was quick. Thanks so much! A lot of wisdom in here I’ll think on. As well some tidbits I didn’t think of. Specifically at the end, “it doesn’t need to be a rule.” I do have a tendency to want to codify the way I run games into my homerules document, even though I run a more free-flowing game with BX/BFRPG.
I was just thinking, "I haven't seen a Bandit's Keep video in a while". I think, you appear. I played a witch in Shadowdark and my raven familiar was my magical talisman that allowed me to cast close spells further away. Great video as always.
@@BanditsKeep This is a Shadowdark rule. "Your familiar can be the source of spells you cast. Treat it as though it were you for determining spell ranges."
Familiers and pets are great. The war dog in our group was so beloved that the cleric, that he multi-classed into a beastmaster and spent all his gold on a rise dead for the dog when it died. Gods bless Bones, the monster chewing, raiton munching, companian shielding, moral compas of our group. (And no, our group don't have the best of morals, when a war dog is the compas)
I have had familiars in my campaign (1e AD&D) in the past with varying degrees of success. Currently, the Magic User has a chicken as a “familiar” but it’s not a standard version. It’s an animal he manage to pull from a magical sack that’s something like if you took a Wand of Wonder, Bag of Holding and a Bag of Beans and combined them. Anyway, the chicken has psychically bonded with the MU. The result is the MU enjoys a +1/ +5% bonus to all checks and saves pertaining to perception as long as the animal is within 30’ and the MU may enter a trance-like state (read as must deeply concentrate) and see / hear / feel through the chicken with a range of 30’ / Lvl. The animal is uplifted slightly to an INT 3 and has an empathic link with the MU. If it dies, the MU is aware but only suffers a short term psychic “injury”
Thx for the video. Those are great advices. I usualy use the familiar as a magic focus and it levels up with their master, and becomes somthing like a scout. I cab recomend to use "mini" or a token and put it in the table to remember allways the familiar,and almost everytime the familiar is left out of combat
I've never liked most of the familiar mechanics as presented in 5E for a variety of reasons so my campaign has a very homebrewed version. Broadly, when you summon a familiar it is your life force that sustains it, subsisting on a portion of your hit points while it moves about in the world (you choose how much to give it, letting it feed on your blood, up to half your total). Otherwise it lays dormant in a prepared receptacle like a ring, bottle, poppet, etc. (a component part of the summoning) and you get whatever hit points it had back. If the familiar dies, the lost hit points are essentially damage that you must heal back. Same deal applies if the receptacle is destroyed. I find this makes familiars more compelling in terms of risk vs. reward when sending them into the field. Like traditional mythical familiars they are primarily a divination tool, so they allow you to cast identify, detect magic, and augury as if they were prepared spells as long as the familiar is within 60 feet. Familiars no longer have telepathic connection with the caster (largely because it's ripe for abuse and I want cross communication using words, which can create potential problems while amongst folk suspicious or intolerant of magic). They can still deliver touch spells on your behalf but they still can't attack (per normal rules). Seeing through a familiar's eyes is also no longer a thing. (It can still act as a spy, but I want familiars to have to find their way back and report to their master.) Finally, the find familiar spell is a 3rd level spell and has more expensive material components due to their greater power and utility. Summoning a new familiar can only be performed on nights of the new moon.
As always thanks Daniel. How ( as you do it ) does a Magic User find/capture/charm a familiar in the first place ? Is a familiar limited in the power of spells it might acquire by the Level of the MU , or is it like a scroll , where the MU can get access to spells beyond their level through it ? Do you have any suggestions on how to manage the limits on the powers of the familiar ? What forms do you think the familiar should and should not be allowed to take ?
While I think you could easily have the familiar be more scroll like, I think of them as almost an extra “mind” which allows for more memorization- but this mind is a part of the MU so would not exceed them. I my campaigns I have them grant the ability to memorize more spells, they can communicate telepathically when near the MU and the MU can experience the world through the familiar’s senses. For instance I once had a MU with a bat familiar. They would enter pitch black spaces with the bat on their shoulder acting as their “eyes”. As far as form, mostly any small animal works. Crows, cats, rats, and frogs seem to be the most popular.
Spirits and their forms or "incarnations" are something I like to use in a campaign world. Familiar spirits are a fun part of that whole thing. I like it from a number of standpoints but mainly that of "always keep 'em guessing". Is the orc chief just an orc chief, or is he a corrupted nature spirit that revels in the form of an orc? Is it just a sorcerers pet, or is it a familiar spirit?
Never had too many mages with familiars in our games. Players always worried about them getting killed. I personally wouldn't want one at higher level since the danger would be so great to such a helpless little creature.
I tend to treat the familiar like a magic item when with the MU when it comes to area effects etc - that is, is the MU survives the familiar is unharmed.
I think a better argument for what would make having a familiar broken is if it's so good you'd be a fool not to get one. Something a lot of long time 5e players and players from that sort of gaming background call some spells broken if they're non-choices, in that not choosing it would be intentionally undermining.
I see, well, I would say character “build” should be based on your imagination, not must have spells. But that is because I tend to run a world that even “useless” spells are very valuable in certain circumstances.
D&D 3.5 Way of the Witch. My girlfriend (i am the DM) love so much that book and classe, she play to d&d FOR that classe. She want to "catch themes all", all the familiard of the games XD. She make a big list of every monster she want, she read many book of monster to found who she want. But she cannot summon the monster, she have to found the monster, talk with him, and make him agree to be his familiar. Familiar hunt is a are really greath idea for having storytelling in a long campagne adventure ^^. And no, it's not chessey or broken if you know how handel a player with many lv-1 & 2 & 3 monster ^^. My table of player fight a elder evil. He want to destroy the world, so no. My mafia table of players cannot use diplomacy with him or anything. Way of the Witch + Dweomercraft Familiars = Dream of my girlfriend ^^ Ho... As specie she play a medusa. ^^
Familiars don't have to be animals or homunculi. Talking skulls, books, crystal balls and brass statues (etc) should be considered much the same way. But then - so too intelligent magic items, mounts and companion animals. By level 10 most parties are like a shoal of sharks, each with one or more remora attached B)
@@BanditsKeep It might be my players, but they seem to attract at least one "companion entity" per PC. I don't remember the last time someone settled for a regular warhorse, for instance. As for intelligent items, I tend to customise each of them to suit the situation, which is analogous to shaping each familiar to their wiz.
I use the Familars as described on the Goblin Punch blog. They are super weird and fun, feel like patrons and companions instead of Scout drones. They get a little annoying at times depending on their personality but that's part of the fun.
You have no idea how much I like to hear the trusty "Welcome to Bandits Keep... I'm Daniel" intro. And tonight talking about familiars no less, love to hear thoughts about them!
Keep up the good work! Cheers from Brazil!🎉
Yeah I like the intro, it’s gotten better since he slowed down too. I hope he starts games like that 👌
Thank You!
If I don’t know the group I definitely introduce myself 😊
Yes! New Bandit’s Keep!
😊
I remember from a comment somewhere that in Pathfinder there's a witch class where the familiar is basically the witch's spellbook. That requires a familiar to be something the character starts with, rather than something acquired later, but it's a nice bit of flavor.
I like that
I've have had loads of fun with familiars', they offer a GM so many opportunities.
For sure
Wow that was quick. Thanks so much!
A lot of wisdom in here I’ll think on. As well some tidbits I didn’t think of. Specifically at the end, “it doesn’t need to be a rule.” I do have a tendency to want to codify the way I run games into my homerules document, even though I run a more free-flowing game with BX/BFRPG.
If that works for you, stick to it, but I would write the rule in pencil so to speak so it can be adjusted to suit the table
I was just thinking, "I haven't seen a Bandit's Keep video in a while". I think, you appear. I played a witch in Shadowdark and my raven familiar was my magical talisman that allowed me to cast close spells further away. Great video as always.
That’s cool, is that in the Shadowdark rules or something your table added?
@@BanditsKeep This is a Shadowdark rule. "Your familiar can be the source of spells you cast. Treat it as though it were you for determining spell ranges."
Always great to see you, Daniel! Thanks for some good new ideas. 👍🏼
Thank You!
My cleric has a war dog!!! He had two, but one got beheaded by a giant insect. Great fun.
Familiers and pets are great. The war dog in our group was so beloved that the cleric, that he multi-classed into a beastmaster and spent all his gold on a rise dead for the dog when it died.
Gods bless Bones, the monster chewing, raiton munching, companian shielding, moral compas of our group. (And no, our group don't have the best of morals, when a war dog is the compas)
Never clicked on a video that came out 30 seconds ago 👀
Nice timing!
I have had familiars in my campaign (1e AD&D) in the past with varying degrees of success. Currently, the Magic User has a chicken as a “familiar” but it’s not a standard version. It’s an animal he manage to pull from a magical sack that’s something like if you took a Wand of Wonder, Bag of Holding and a Bag of Beans and combined them. Anyway, the chicken has psychically bonded with the MU. The result is the MU enjoys a +1/ +5% bonus to all checks and saves pertaining to perception as long as the animal is within 30’ and the MU may enter a trance-like state (read as must deeply concentrate) and see / hear / feel through the chicken with a range of 30’ / Lvl. The animal is uplifted slightly to an INT 3 and has an empathic link with the MU. If it dies, the MU is aware but only suffers a short term psychic “injury”
Free eggs, man. I just heard blah blah magic protein source ❤
Cool
Good advice! You always deal with /actual/ relevant topics and I appreciate it.
Thx for the video.
Those are great advices.
I usualy use the familiar as a magic focus and it levels up with their master, and becomes somthing like a scout. I cab recomend to use "mini" or a token and put it in the table to remember allways the familiar,and almost everytime the familiar is left out of combat
That makes sense - when I play a MU I tend to like having a mini for my familiar, as you say though, they stay out of combat.
I really liked the other video’s take on familiars and this builds on it in a really cool way. That’s!
Thanks!
Thanks!
I played a Col. Sanders themed wizard once. My familiar was of course a rooster. And it was amazing.
Nice
This was a great video even useful for hirings/pets too
True!
thank you!
Thanks for watching
i really need help with this too ty friend
Glad I could help
I've never liked most of the familiar mechanics as presented in 5E for a variety of reasons so my campaign has a very homebrewed version. Broadly, when you summon a familiar it is your life force that sustains it, subsisting on a portion of your hit points while it moves about in the world (you choose how much to give it, letting it feed on your blood, up to half your total). Otherwise it lays dormant in a prepared receptacle like a ring, bottle, poppet, etc. (a component part of the summoning) and you get whatever hit points it had back. If the familiar dies, the lost hit points are essentially damage that you must heal back. Same deal applies if the receptacle is destroyed. I find this makes familiars more compelling in terms of risk vs. reward when sending them into the field.
Like traditional mythical familiars they are primarily a divination tool, so they allow you to cast identify, detect magic, and augury as if they were prepared spells as long as the familiar is within 60 feet.
Familiars no longer have telepathic connection with the caster (largely because it's ripe for abuse and I want cross communication using words, which can create potential problems while amongst folk suspicious or intolerant of magic). They can still deliver touch spells on your behalf but they still can't attack (per normal rules). Seeing through a familiar's eyes is also no longer a thing. (It can still act as a spy, but I want familiars to have to find their way back and report to their master.)
Finally, the find familiar spell is a 3rd level spell and has more expensive material components due to their greater power and utility. Summoning a new familiar can only be performed on nights of the new moon.
Cool
As always thanks Daniel.
How ( as you do it ) does a Magic User find/capture/charm a familiar in the first place ?
Is a familiar limited in the power of spells it might acquire by the Level of the MU , or is it like a scroll , where the MU can get access to spells beyond their level through it ?
Do you have any suggestions on how to manage the limits on the powers of the familiar ?
What forms do you think the familiar should and should not be allowed to take ?
While I think you could easily have the familiar be more scroll like, I think of them as almost an extra “mind” which allows for more memorization- but this mind is a part of the MU so would not exceed them. I my campaigns I have them grant the ability to memorize more spells, they can communicate telepathically when near the MU and the MU can experience the world through the familiar’s senses. For instance I once had a MU with a bat familiar. They would enter pitch black spaces with the bat on their shoulder acting as their “eyes”. As far as form, mostly any small animal works. Crows, cats, rats, and frogs seem to be the most popular.
Spirits and their forms or "incarnations" are something I like to use in a campaign world. Familiar spirits are a fun part of that whole thing. I like it from a number of standpoints but mainly that of "always keep 'em guessing". Is the orc chief just an orc chief, or is he a corrupted nature spirit that revels in the form of an orc? Is it just a sorcerers pet, or is it a familiar spirit?
Nice
Never had too many mages with familiars in our games. Players always worried about them getting killed. I personally wouldn't want one at higher level since the danger would be so great to such a helpless little creature.
I tend to treat the familiar like a magic item when with the MU when it comes to area effects etc - that is, is the MU survives the familiar is unharmed.
I think a better argument for what would make having a familiar broken is if it's so good you'd be a fool not to get one. Something a lot of long time 5e players and players from that sort of gaming background call some spells broken if they're non-choices, in that not choosing it would be intentionally undermining.
I see, well, I would say character “build” should be based on your imagination, not must have spells. But that is because I tend to run a world that even “useless” spells are very valuable in certain circumstances.
D&D 3.5 Way of the Witch. My girlfriend (i am the DM) love so much that book and classe, she play to d&d FOR that classe.
She want to "catch themes all", all the familiard of the games XD.
She make a big list of every monster she want, she read many book of monster to found who she want.
But she cannot summon the monster, she have to found the monster, talk with him, and make him agree to be his familiar.
Familiar hunt is a are really greath idea for having storytelling in a long campagne adventure ^^.
And no, it's not chessey or broken if you know how handel a player with many lv-1 & 2 & 3 monster ^^.
My table of player fight a elder evil. He want to destroy the world, so no. My mafia table of players cannot use diplomacy with him or anything.
Way of the Witch + Dweomercraft Familiars = Dream of my girlfriend ^^
Ho... As specie she play a medusa. ^^
A Medusa with a bunch of familiars sounds cool!
Familiars don't have to be animals or homunculi. Talking skulls, books, crystal balls and brass statues (etc) should be considered much the same way.
But then - so too intelligent magic items, mounts and companion animals. By level 10 most parties are like a shoal of sharks, each with one or more remora attached B)
That’s an interesting take.
@@BanditsKeep It might be my players, but they seem to attract at least one "companion entity" per PC. I don't remember the last time someone settled for a regular warhorse, for instance. As for intelligent items, I tend to customise each of them to suit the situation, which is analogous to shaping each familiar to their wiz.
I use the Familars as described on the Goblin Punch blog. They are super weird and fun, feel like patrons and companions instead of Scout drones. They get a little annoying at times depending on their personality but that's part of the fun.
Nice
Wow. Just checked it out. Totally one of those be careful what you wish for things.