Companion Figurine feat and getting a familiar


Rules Questions


Companion Figurine wrote:

Prerequisites: Handle Animal 1 rank, own a figurine of wondrous power.

Benefit: You may select the creature summoned by your figurine of wondrous power as an animal companion or familiar, or as appropriate. The figurine has the standard abilities of a familiar or animal companion of its type, plus additional abilities related to its figurine type (see below). The main advantage of this is that if your familiar or companion is killed in creature form, it merely reverts to statue form and can be used again later.

Playing a Battle Host Occultist blacksmith in my next game and thought it'd be awesome if he could get a familiar to help him craft. Flavor-wise it woulda been really cool to have a little statue that comes to life and helps him craft. I was thinking it coulda been inherited from his late master, but doesn't work until I spend the time(and money, the figurine cost) to fix it up. Oh, anyway....

Does the Companion Figurine give me a familiar if my class does not give me access to one?

The wording says "You may select" which sounds like it's only giving additional familiar choices(if you can alrdy access the feature), but then the feat itself doesn't require the character to alrdy be able to access the animal companion or familiar feature. I looked around on here and reddit and ppl seem to be on both sides of the matter.

If that's a no... is there any other way to get a valet familiar without dipping, Eldritch Heritage, or Iron Will/Familiar Bond/Improved Familiar Bond?

Dipping is always blegh unless theres a very good reason for it, and my character is alrdy very MAD without pumping CHA(which it's currently minorly dumping). Iron Will/Familiar Bond/Improved Familiar Bond tightens my feat selection, but it is doable... except I get the familiar before it can access the Valet archetype, so does that mean I have to get the familiar replaced to get one with the Valet archetype, or can I just say it's a normal familiar(without some features) and then just suddenly gets them later?

I could talk to my GM about it, yes, but he's been really cool so far and I don't want him to have to bend the rules(if there are any on this) for me.

TLDR; Questions highlighted in BOLD, also this is not for PFS.


As a first glance... Yes, it seems to actually grant you a familiar using the item. I strongly doubt it was meant to work that way with a single feat, but the wording seems to support it; Own item, have feat, get familiar.

It seems the only major downside is that you can literally have your familiar stolen from you or dispelled.

Edit: You know what... No, I'm going to say you're right about the "You may select" bit and assume that this feat only gives you additional options. Even the feat itself says what its 'Main Advantage" is, and that certainly seems only accurate if it's letting you use the item alongside an existing class feature.

EDIT2&3: I'm sorry. I really didn't go through the full post before responding. As a second method of getting a familiar, I've got nada; Unless a trained animal and a high handle-animal skill would suit your needs, the feats seem the best way. You seem to have the right ideas regarding the rest of the rules, but I don't have access to the familiar folio to review the exact rules for archetypes... If they're anything like class archetypes, there's no case I know of where you essentially get a 'portion' of a class, and it's hard to say what happens when you don't get a class feature due to something other than another archetype.

For that reason, I'd say it's reasonably within the GM's territory to say "Yes, it's a Valet from the get-go, it just doesn't get Able Assist, Deliver touch Spells, Deliver Aid, or Aide to All"

Liberty's Edge

It seems clear to me that the figurine only works with a familiar or animal companion ability you already have from some other source.

In addition to the options you listed, you could get a familiar via VMC Witch or VMC Wizard. Of course, that would give up even more feats than the Improved Familiar Bond route (though also with greater benefits). The least feat intensive way to keep a familiar at 'full level' would be Eldritch Heritage and a Robe of Arcane Heritage.

Grand Lodge

I've tried getting an answer on this in the past. I've come up empty handed.

It seems too good for one feat but only by a little bit. You still put out money, it is limited amounts of time and the selections are weak or at least weaker than the animal you could summon with the figurine by default.

So you have a feat that make items different. A little worse and a little better. Or, you have a feat that makes items and a class feature worse.

I would love an answer but I don't think you or I will get one.

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