Familiar for a 1 level sorc dip?


Advice


I have spliced together a character with so many options, it is almost laughable. However, I am curious if anyone can figure out to add the last piece I would like to have - a familiar.

I am playing a zen archer / Qinggong Monk. At level 4 I will take a single level dip into sorcerer to qualify for Arcane Archer. I am taking the Seeker archetype to get trap finding, and am taking the Mutated Bloodline / Empyreal to get wisdom as a casting stat (of course.) Neither the Mutated Bloodline nor Seeker archetypes are compatible with tattooed sorc., which is sort of a shame because I really like familiars.

Does anyone know of any trick I can use to get this last little piece hobbled into my quilt of a character? I've quite nearly resigned to this 5 cha dwarf being his only friend.

Dark Archive

The easiest way to get a familiar as a sorcerer is to get the Arcane Bloodline. Since you're going for the Mutated bloodline, this might not be a possibility, not even with crossblooded.

The second possibility is having the Eldritch Bloodline feat, and picking Arcane as it. This would grant the 1st level power of that bloodline (familiar). This has the extra toll of two feats, though. One for Eldritch and the other for the prereq for the arcane bloodline, Spell focus: Knowledge (Arcane).


Two feats can give you a familiar, though three if you want the full ability set unless you can qualify for Eldritch Heritage.

Variant Multiclass into Wizard or Magus.

See if your GM will let you combine Cross- and Wild-blooded to add the Arcane bloodline.

The Bloodline Familiar option lets you trade your first-level bloodline power and some delayed progression for a familiar.

Couple levels into Eldritch Guardian Fighter, or of course Wizard.

Note that a familiar will be a giant nigh-useless target if you actually dip for it since it won't scale. The feat chain is probably your best choice, or the VMC.

Shadow Lodge

Familiar BAB, HP, skills, and saves are based on character level, not class level, so they actually scale OK. Not great, but OK.

Familiar bond works, though the familiar lacks quite a few abilities.


You could take a single level of wizard instead. No feats needed.


Eldritch heritage requires cha 13, I don't meet that by a long shot.
I don't plan to dip another class: monk 8/sorc 1/ arcane archer 5ish/eldritch knight x is spread pretty thin. It's technically feasible, but I don't want to gimp my character enough to do that - and as mentioned the familiar will be pretty crappy if I did.
Any blood line tricks must be compatible with Mutated Bloodline / Empyreal. And I can't find one that is. I might be misunderstanding something mentioned above though.


Weirdo wrote:
Familiar bond works, though the familiar lacks quite a few abilities.

Hmmm, that's interesting. I wonder if I can squeeze two feats into my build early enough to make it work.

I had planned to take- [monk feat] general feat:
1) [precise shot] toughness
3) [pt blank shot] deadly aim
5) combat reflexes
7) [improved precise shot] rapid shot
9) snap shot
11) clustered shot
13) improved snap shot
15) improved critical (and this is expected campaign end)

Toughness I can give up. Clustered shot I really need to think about. Decisions, decisions....


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Bloodline Familiar option from Familiar Folio is your best bet. Trade that bad level 1 ability for a Familiar.

It's not an archetype either so you don't have to worry.

Shadow Lodge

That would work, though as a sorcerer class feature it would only partially scale.


It wouldn't scale but you do get...

- 2 or 3 effective feats (not spent on Will, Bond and potentially Improved Bond)
- HP on the familiar (based on your own)
- BAB on the familiar (based on your own)
- Shared skills (based on your own)
- Familiar bonus (HP, Initiative, Fort, Will, etc)

You lose out on the Natural Armor adjustment, the spell resistance, all that other stuff... but without the transmutation abilities to back it up, letting it see combat will be a little lackluster (Mauler notwithstanding) anyway.

If its for flavour though (as he wants it as a buddy), then its perfectly feasible I'd think.


If you take Familiar Bond, Improved Familiar Bond is a feat to get the rest of its abilities. Or, again, you can throw in the Variant Multiclass for Magus or Wizard-- that's five feats, but you get your familiar at level 7 (Magus) or 3 (Wizard) and it's fully scaling, and you get some other abilities out of it to boot.

A Bloodline Familiar is your straightforward option if you don't care about the bloodline's first-level power and don't mind scaling issues.


It's a bit out there, but the Companion Figurine feat from Classic Treasures Revisited will let you use a Figurine of Wondrous Power as a familiar. It is somewhat limited as far as time goes (16 continuous hours per day for a Serpentine Owl or 48 non-continuous hours per week for a Silver Raven), but it only costs one feat and if it gets "killed" it just reverts to figurine form.


Weirdo wrote:

Familiar BAB, HP, skills, and saves are based on character level, not class level, so they actually scale OK. Not great, but OK.

Familiar bond works, though the familiar lacks quite a few abilities.

What do you even get with this feat? I mean, I guess you can get a small companion, but I don't understand what this is other than a feat tax for the Improved version of this feat.


Alertness, Improved Evasion, Empathic Link, and Speak with Master.

Also, it is still a familiar, so you could take Improved Familiar.


Gisher wrote:
It's a bit out there, but the Companion Figurine feat from Classic Treasures Revisited will let you use a Figurine of Wondrous Power as a familiar. It is somewhat limited as far as time goes (16 continuous hours per day for a Serpentine Owl or 48 non-continuous hours per week for a Silver Raven), but it only costs one feat and if it gets "killed" it just reverts to figurine form.

You still need to actually have the familiar class feature from somewhere in order to select a figurine as a familiar: all that feat does is give you the option of selecting one as a familiar.


aceDiamond wrote:
Weirdo wrote:

Familiar BAB, HP, skills, and saves are based on character level, not class level, so they actually scale OK. Not great, but OK.

Familiar bond works, though the familiar lacks quite a few abilities.

What do you even get with this feat? I mean, I guess you can get a small companion, but I don't understand what this is other than a feat tax for the Improved version of this feat.

Improved familiar UMD fodder, I'm guessing.

Oh, Ninja'd from 9 minutes ago...


Hubaris wrote:

Bloodline Familiar option from Familiar Folio is your best bet. Trade that bad level 1 ability for a Familiar.

It's not an archetype either so you don't have to worry.

Sweet! I knew somebody would have the right trick. This is perfect.


Blakmane wrote:
Gisher wrote:
It's a bit out there, but the Companion Figurine feat from Classic Treasures Revisited will let you use a Figurine of Wondrous Power as a familiar. It is somewhat limited as far as time goes (16 continuous hours per day for a Serpentine Owl or 48 non-continuous hours per week for a Silver Raven), but it only costs one feat and if it gets "killed" it just reverts to figurine form.
You still need to actually have the familiar class feature from somewhere in order to select a figurine as a familiar: all that feat does is give you the option of selecting one as a familiar.

The familiar class feature isn't listed as a prerequisite, and I just reread that entire section of CTR and couldn't find it stated anywhere else. Could you cite the text you are referring to?


Melvin the Mediocre wrote:
Hubaris wrote:

Bloodline Familiar option from Familiar Folio is your best bet. Trade that bad level 1 ability for a Familiar.

It's not an archetype either so you don't have to worry.

Sweet! I knew somebody would have the right trick. This is perfect.

Unfortunately the Wildblooded bloodlines aren't listed.


Gisher wrote:

Unfortunately the Wildblooded bloodlines aren't listed.

the list is only a guide for GMs, not an exhaustive list of all bloodlines which can take the feat. the list does include the celestial bloodline, which is the base bloodline of empyreal sorcerers, empyreal sorcerers have the level 1 power of the celestial bloodline.


cnetarian wrote:
Unfortunately the Wildblooded bloodlines aren't listed.

Aargh.... I assumed that since I was using a mutation of Celestial, I would use that. Am I incorrect?


Melvin the Mediocre wrote:
cnetarian wrote:
Unfortunately the Wildblooded bloodlines aren't listed.
Aargh.... I assumed that since I was using a mutation of Celestial, I would use that. Am I incorrect?

That's what I would go with. It's not an archetype so the standard non-stacking rules don't apply, and you clearly have everything it modifies.


Pathfinder Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Looking at it, I agree that you should be able to get a Celestial Bloodline Familiar off your Empyreal Sorcerer level. Empyreal is a mutation of Celestial and I don't see anything obvious that would prevent this from working.

You would not get the Bloodline Power at first level, instead getting a Familiar that can grant Fast Healing 1 to an ally it touches.


You still ARE a Celestial bloodline Sorcerer.

You must have the Celestial bloodline, in order to select the mutated version Empyreal.


Gisher wrote:
Blakmane wrote:
Gisher wrote:
It's a bit out there, but the Companion Figurine feat from Classic Treasures Revisited will let you use a Figurine of Wondrous Power as a familiar. It is somewhat limited as far as time goes (16 continuous hours per day for a Serpentine Owl or 48 non-continuous hours per week for a Silver Raven), but it only costs one feat and if it gets "killed" it just reverts to figurine form.
You still need to actually have the familiar class feature from somewhere in order to select a figurine as a familiar: all that feat does is give you the option of selecting one as a familiar.
The familiar class feature isn't listed as a prerequisite, and I just reread that entire section of CTR and couldn't find it stated anywhere else. Could you cite the text you are referring to?

"Benefit: You may select the creature summoned by your figurine of wondrous power as an animal companion or familiar, or as appropriate."

This feat opens up the choices for the class feature. If you don't have the class feature, having more choices does nothing for you.

/cevah


cnetarian wrote:
Gisher wrote:

Unfortunately the Wildblooded bloodlines aren't listed.

the list is only a guide for GMs, not an exhaustive list of all bloodlines which can take the feat. the list does include the celestial bloodline, which is the base bloodline of empyreal sorcerers, empyreal sorcerers have the level 1 power of the celestial bloodline.

I didn't say it couldn't be used with Wildblooded bloodlines. I just said that those options aren't listed. Using the base bloodline seems reasonable to me, but I would expect some GM variation on that.


Cevah wrote:
Gisher wrote:
Blakmane wrote:
Gisher wrote:
It's a bit out there, but the Companion Figurine feat from Classic Treasures Revisited will let you use a Figurine of Wondrous Power as a familiar. It is somewhat limited as far as time goes (16 continuous hours per day for a Serpentine Owl or 48 non-continuous hours per week for a Silver Raven), but it only costs one feat and if it gets "killed" it just reverts to figurine form.
You still need to actually have the familiar class feature from somewhere in order to select a figurine as a familiar: all that feat does is give you the option of selecting one as a familiar.
The familiar class feature isn't listed as a prerequisite, and I just reread that entire section of CTR and couldn't find it stated anywhere else. Could you cite the text you are referring to?

"Benefit: You may select the creature summoned by your figurine of wondrous power as an animal companion or familiar, or as appropriate."

This feat opens up the choices for the class feature. If you don't have the class feature, having more choices does nothing for you.

/cevah

I see what you mean. Adding the class features to the prerequisites would have made it much clearer.

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