Familiar
A familiar is an extension of your own soul given a quasi-real substance
in the world. Often, your familiar is not visible to the other
characters—it is little more than a voice in your head, keeping you
company (after a fashion) and helping you remember things you
might otherwise forget. As such, taking an extra round to consult
your familiar grants you a +1 bonus to any Intelligence-based skill
check.
When you take a standard action to focus upon your familiar, you
can make it manifest as any Tiny animal you wish. It is important to
note that the familiar is not an animal, but a spiritual creation—it is
not a true “creature” in the most basic sense, so it is not subject to
spells and attacks that target creatures. The familiar cannot move
from a space that is not adjacent to you (i.e., the space you occupy).
A manifested familiar can speak to you aloud. It can watch your
back, granting you a +2 bonus to Spot and Listen checks. It can
also help remember important parts of spells for you, allowing you
to cast all spells with a +1 bonus to caster level.
If any other creature (ally or otherwise) touches a manifested
familiar, the familiar disappears for 1d10 rounds. During this period
you suffer a –1 penalty to caster level. Familiars use your Armor
Class and cannot be touched by accident—only by intentional
choice. (Doing so is considered the height of rudeness, but it can
be a useful tactic in a fight.) Ranged attacks targeting a familiar
always miss. Area of effect attacks do not harm them—other than
being dispelled by the touch of someone other than you, a familiar
cannot be harmed or affected in any way. Likewise, the manifested
familiar cannot attack, nor can it manipulate objects, other than
very minor changes to your gear: It can crawl into your pocket, hide
up your sleeve, and so forth.
A familiar that you ignore even for a moment stops manifesting.
Mainly, this occurrence is up to the DM’s discretion. A player cannot
say, “I keep my familiar manifested all the time,” because no
one can maintain that kind of concentration and hope to accomplish
anything else. As a rule of thumb, assume that if you manifest
your familiar, it remains for 10 rounds or the duration of an
encounter, whichever is longer. The familiar of a sleeping, stunned,
or unconscious wizard always stops manifesting.
You may enhance Familiar as follows:
Level Enhancement
4th Extended range: Your manifested familiar can move up to
5 feet per level away from you, allowing it to scout or spy for
you. It cannot communicate with you unless it is adjacent
to you, however, or unless you have the extended link
enhancement.
6th Extended link: A familiar that has moved away from you
can still communicate with you mentally.
6th Aligned form: Henceforth, your familiar takes on the
appearance of a Tiny humanoid creature that suits your
alignment: a little angelic being if you are good, and a tiny
devil if you are evil. A manifested familiar in this form
increases by +1 the save DC of spells cast against targets of
the opposing alignment (evil targets if you are good, good
targets if you are evil). If you are neither good nor evil, you
cannot use this enhancement.
8th Otherplanar spirit: The familiar is imbued with an otherdimensional
spirit of the same alignment as your own.
Henceforth, it can offer insights beyond your own knowledge,
adding an additional +2 bonus to Intelligence-based
checks. The DM can choose occasionally to play the familiar
as an NPC offering advice or instruction.
10th Elemental form: Henceforth, your familiar takes on the
appearance of a Tiny humanoid creature composed of one
of the four elements. Once per day, for 1 round per level, it
can take the form of a Medium version of the elemental in
question. The elemental acts as you decide (but cannot
move from you without the extended range enhancement).
In this fully functional material form, the familiar can affect
objects and even fight. Others can touch it without dispelling
it, but spells and ranged attacks can target it just
like any elemental. If it is slain, the familiar becomes dormant
for twenty-four hours, offering you no benefits.
10th Greater aligned form: If you have adopted the (evil) aligned
form enhancement, your familiar can take the form of an
imp (if you are lawful), a quasit (if you are chaotic) or either
(if you are neutral). You can activate this effect once per day;
it lasts 1 round per level. The fiend acts as you decide (but
cannot move from you without the extended range enhancement).
In this fully functional material form, the familiar
can affect objects and even fight. Others can touch it without
dispelling it, but spells and ranged attacks can target it
just like any outsider. If it is slain, the familiar becomes dormant
for twenty-four hours, offering you no benefits.
If you are good, the familiar takes the form of a small
winged angelic being of lawful good or chaotic good alignment.
This being has the same statistics as an imp (if you
are lawful), a quasit, (if you are chaotic), or either one (if
you are neutral). If you are neither good nor evil, you cannot
use this enhancement.
12th Large elemental form: If you have adopted the elemental
form enhancement, your elemental familiar can take the
form of a Large elemental instead of Medium once per day.
14th Greater range: Your manifested familiar can move up to 50
feet per level away from you, allowing it to scout or spy for
you. It cannot communicate with you unless it is adjacent,
however, or unless you have the extended link enhancement.
16th Greater elemental form: If you have adopted the elemental
form enhancement, your elemental familiar can take the
form of a greater elemental.
18th Elder elemental form: If you have adopted the elemental
form enhancement, your elemental familiar can take the
form of an elder elemental.
Home 
