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kyrin
Commander
3152 Posts
    
 | | 03/31/2006 11:34 PM |
| My, my, full of questions tonight, aren't I? [:D]
Okay, this is driving me nuts. I look at the Complete Warrior, and there is an addendum to the Improved Familiar feat. It says that in addition to their own special qualities, they grant their masters the Alertness feat, etc.
"Special qualities" is a very precise term. Does this mean that if my conjuror gets, say, a Psuedodragon (let's call her Cuddles, or perhaps Trixie), then the conjuror gets the pseudodragon's special qualities: immunities, darkvision, SPELL RESISTANCE, et al?
If so, that Feat is a deal and a half! Somebody please tell me it's true!
BUT... if it's not true, why would you burn the feat, except to get a cool-looking familiar who will likely get gacked by the first CR 9 encounter your wizard has? If an "improved familiar" actually gives you fewer benefits that a regular familiar (i.e. no +2 to something besides Spot and Listen), I fail to see why I should do it.
Oh mighty gurus, please clarify.
JIM
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madda
Sergeant
714 Posts
| | 04/01/2006 12:26 AM |
| | Hi kyrin. I'm no guru but I think you got this wrong. Picking up the Improved Familiar feat simply allows you to gt stronger familiar (one from an expanded list). You do not get the special qualities of the familiar. The sentence in the Complete Warrior is not very clear but it mean that in addition to all the familiar Special Qualities it have another one. This new "Grant Alertness" special quality, means that when the master is close it gets Alertness. Since Improved Familiar is now in the SRD you can check it out here: http://d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#improvedFamiliar | |
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maijstral
Underboss
2105 Posts
| | 04/01/2006 12:58 AM |
| I believe the special qualities referred to are the extra special ability most familiars grant there masters. For example a cat grants +3 to its masters move silently checks so a celestal cat would also grant +3 to move silently.
For familars that aren't on the standard familar list you are either SOL or your DM could house rule in a special ability. In one campaign I took the improved familar feat to gain a fire mephit as a familar (mage with a fire theme) my DM gave me resist fire 5 as a special familar ability. A lot of the improved familars are pretty good on there own with out special abilities though, a fire mephit has DR5,immunity to fire,a breath weapon,a scorching ray and a heat metal spell. This makes him more usefull at higher levels than your typical cat or frog familar that pretty much vanishes at about 4th level.
Cuddles has poison,telepathy,an outragous hide,blindsense(and the ability to comunicate with you what she 'sees'),and a spell resistance of 19. It wouldn't be my first choice as an improved familar (sorry cuddles [:)]) but it is an improvement over a raven and more survivable. As a DM I would house rule in a special ability of low light vision or a +2 to savings throws vs. paralysis.
And on a related subject, a third party book sorcebook(legend&lairs spells and spellcraft), has a great chapter on improving your familar and gaining extra benefits from them for the price of experience points
This is just my 2 cents worth and as always I could be wrong. | | | |
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zenthrus
Commander
4834 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 04/01/2006 1:52 AM |
| It's just bad syntax. You get Alertness when close to your familiar. You don't gain SR/DR/etc.
The only advantage to Improved Familiar is to get a pet that is more useful/survivable at higher levels (even a rat with familiar benefits has an incredibly short life span if exposed to combat taking place between 10th level characters). | |
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kyrin
Commander
3152 Posts
| | 04/01/2006 8:43 AM |
| Yeah, I was afraid it was just bad syntax. But in that case I just don't see why it's worth burning a precious feat. Your average imp or pseudodragon only has a dozen more hp than a rat, and at 10th level, that don't mean squat. Yeah, Cuddles, go sting the frost giant... Skippy the Imp, go deliver this shocking grasp to the nice umber hulk... You'd have some major familiar rebellion then fer sure.
Geez, at least give me a +3 to Hide checks for the P-dragon. Something for my trouble.
Ah, Cuddles, we hardly knew ye...
JIM
aka kyrin | |
My Have/Want List <-|-|->My Trades and References 1 <-|-|->My Trades and References 2
Pronounce "Drow" like "crow"! Viva la Revolution! We Shall Overcome!
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Mrfurious
Warrior
344 Posts
| | 04/03/2006 3:10 PM |
| | The pseudodragon does have one small benefit. It has telepathy at will. That allows the party to use the familiar to communicate with other party members without having to vocalize. Which is kinda useful in combat ( you dont have to shout "Flank with me steve", giving away your tactic), and really useful in social settings when discreet communication can become necessary. | |
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delguidance
Sergeant
394 Posts
| | 04/04/2006 1:45 AM |
| Whenever I see improved familiar discussions I have to add my story of Brickett my sorcerer's small Earth Elemental. His increased strength complimented my weak caster and his burrowing made him excellent for recon in any subteranean environs.
The DM plays Brickett like he's an awkward fat kid with a monotone voice.
The cool house rule was that if I fed him 10,000 GP worth of gems he would grow into a medium Earth elemental. I accomplished this around 11th level and I'm trying to get 100,000 GP worth into him to grow him into a Large Earth Elemental Familiar. The rest of the party occasionally contributes to this.
In the same adventuring party the Paladin had a hippogriff mount, the Ranger had a black bear animal companion, and the Cleric had one of those staffs that turns into a constrictor snake. They were our side kicks and pokemon. We've seriously spoken of sending them on a side adventure without our main party.
In summation I see the improved familiar feat as sort of in the same category as a fighter getting an intelligent weapon, the bard taking a cohort or using the the mentor/apprentice feats from DMG II (or unearthed arcana I forget). They help populate and give life to the world you play in. If played right with the DM they can lead to lots of bonuses beyond the books and they are usually fun. | |
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