Familiars barding and neck-slot?


Pathfinder Society

Grand Lodge

In the PFS FAQ it says:

FAQ wrote:

Can my animal companion or familiar wear or use magic items?

It is intended that animal companions or familiars can not activate magic items. An animal companion could benefit from an item with a continuous magical effect like an amulet of natural armor if its master equipped the item for the animal companion. Animal companions of any type may not use manufactured weapons.

Animal companions are also limited by their individual anatomies. In Pathfinder Society Organized Play, animal companions always have access to barding and neck-slot items so long as they have the anatomy. For example, a horse and pig can always have access to barding and neck-slot items. A snake does not have access to either. However, an item called out to be used by a specific animal is usable by that animal regardless of slot.

Additionally, animal companions have access to magical item slots, in addition to barding and neck, as listed on the inside front cover of the Animal Archive so long as they select the Extra Item Slot feat. The Animal Magic Item Slots table found in Animal Archive is not a legal except under the following conditions. First, an animal companion, familiar, or bonded mount, may choose one slot listed under its body type when taking the Extra Item Slot feat (this feat may be taken multiple times, each time selecting a different available magic item slot based on the creature’s anatomy). Second, access to specific magic item slots may be granted at a later date by another legal source. If you do not own a copy of the Animal Archive, your animal companion may only use barding and neck-slot items.

An animal or familiar has to have an intelligence of 3+ to activate an ioun stone. If the animal or familiar has less than a 3 intelligence, they may not activate an ioun stone.

The brownie, faerie dragon, imp, lyrakien azata, mephit, quasit, sprite familiars, granted by the Improved Familiar feat, use the Biped (hands) section of the chart. The carbuncle and voidworm protean, familiars granted by the Improved Familiar feat, uses the Serpentine section of the chart. If you do not own a copy of the Animal Archive, your animal companion may only use barding and neck-slot items.

As-written it only notes that animal companions always have access to the barding and neck slots. It doesn't mention familiars always having access to these slots.

Has there been any clarification on this? Is this intentional or an accidental omission? Do familiars need to take the Extra Item Slot feat to gain access to these slots?

Silver Crusade 3/5

Yes, Familiars need to take the Extra Item Slot feat to gain access to those items.

Note also that barding/armor is not available for Tiny familiars (because there is no way to determine the price of such armor).

5/5 5/55/55/5

Eh?

Armor for Unusual Creatures
Table: Armor for Unusual Creatures Size Humanoid Nonhumanoid
Cost Weight Cost Weight
Tiny or smaller* ×1/2 ×1/10 ×1 ×1/10
Small ×1 ×1/2 ×2 ×1/2
Medium ×1 ×1 ×2 ×1
Large ×2 ×2 ×4 ×2
Huge ×4 ×5 ×8 ×5
Gargantuan ×8 ×8 ×16 ×8
Colossal ×16 ×12 ×32 ×12
*Divide armor bonus by 2.

Grand Lodge 4/5 Venture-Agent, Texas—Houston

The Fox wrote:

Yes, Familiars need to take the Extra Item Slot feat to gain access to those items.

Note also that barding/armor is not available for Tiny familiars (because there is no way to determine the price of such armor).

Tiny armor prices are spelled out on page 153 of the core rulebook.

Tiny and huge weapons are what is not priced.

5/5 5/55/55/5

I don't see where you're getting familiars need to take extra slot. Either they use the animal companion rules (and thus have neck and barding automatically) or they're using the full chart. (or even can use anything)

Silver Crusade 3/5

Man! I fouled that one up. Sorry about that.

Grand Lodge

BigNorseWolf wrote:
I don't see where you're getting familiars need to take extra slot. Either they use the animal companion rules (and thus have neck and barding automatically) or they're using the full chart. (or even can use anything)

Familiars definitely don't get the full chart - it says on the Additional Resources page that the chart isn't legal except when taking Extra Item Slot to choose a slot from it.

Additional Resources wrote:

Pathfinder Player Companion: Animal Archive

*Note: The Animal Magic Item Slots table found on the inside front cover of the book is not legal except under the following conditions. First, an animal companion, familiar, or bonded mount, may choose one slot listed under its body type when taking the Extra Item Slot feat (this feat may be taken multiple times, each time selecting a different available magic item slot based on the creature's anatomy). Second, access to specific magic item slots may be granted at a later date by another legal source.

I guess you could interpret this as familiars having every item slot, since the chart (which would otherwise limit their slots) isn't legal, and the FAQ only mentions limits on animal companion slots, so AFAIK there aren't any PFS-legal limits on familiars' item slots.

However, that doesn't seem like the intention, since it would make the familiar's ability to take the Extra Item Slot feat useless.

That's why I'm wondering if familiars use the animal companion ruling here and thus get neck/barding granted to them without the feat.

5/5 5/55/55/5

Johnny Coleman wrote:
]That's why I'm wondering if familiars use the animal companion ruling here and thus get neck/barding granted to them without the feat.

I'm 99% sure thats the intent. (or well, the more restrictive of the neck+armor or the chart, same way companions work Your snake familiar is outa luck)

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