It’s time to make your familiar more fearsome! Whether you’re looking to give your magical ally an archetype to transform it into a brutish battle companion or you’re just scouting the menagerie of available familiars, Pathfinder Player Companion: Familiar Folio has you covered. This volume provides a bevy of new options, including new rules that allow characters of any class to gain familiars. Featuring all-new feats, items, spells, archetypes, and—of course—familiars, this Pathfinder Player Companion is the perfect accessory for spellcasters, as well as any player who fancies teaming up with a fantastic, travel-sized friend.
Inside this book, you’ll find:
A comprehensive list of familiars in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, guaranteed to make choosing yours both quick and convenient.
New archetypes like the duettist bard and eldritch guardian fighter, allowing classes traditionally without familiars to gain animal allies tied to their class abilities.
Familiar archetypes that allow players to customize their familiars to excel in combat, dispense untold wisdom, or even gain powers from a school of magic.
Bloodline and patron familiars that manifest abilities from the same powers inherent to bloodragers, sorcerers, and witches.
Information on the familiars most popular within specific groups on Golarion, like Hellknights and the Pathfinder Society.
This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.
Written by Will McCardell, Philip Minchin, Mark Seifter, and Jerome Virnich.
Cover Art by Emily Fiegenschuh.
Each monthly 32-page Pathfinder Player Companion contains several player-focused articles exploring the volume’s theme as well as short articles with innovative new rules for all types of characters, as well as traits to better anchor the player to the campaign.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-731-4
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
This book offers all sorts of Familiar related options, as would be expected from something titled "Familiar Folio", giving Familiar Options to the Paladin, Bard, Fighter, and Druid, as well as a host of flavorful familiar-centric archetypes to the Magus, Alchemist, Wizard, and Witch.
Even the Familiars themselves get archetypes! When the tagline up there says "Excel in combat", they weren't joking!
what keeps this book from 5 stars is the complete lack of acknowledgement that the Shaman class even exists, even going so far as to say the witch is "the only character class that has familiars as an integral part of its abilities". while I'm not the biggest fan of the class, it still seems pretty negligent.
all in all, it's definately a worthwhile buy, nice and fluffy while also providing satisfying crunch
This book is great for inspiring flavorful characters with plenty of solid mechanics behind them. I'm making an Ulfen Fey Sorcerer who has a three-eyed dream-rabbit with hypnotic powers. It feels genuinely magical and otherworldly, which is awesome for any caster. Not that a Gnome Bloodrager who rides a giant war-raccoon into battle wasn't tempting, of course.
The book provides great incentives for playing a wizard specializing in some of the oft-overlooked categories, as well as some very cool archetypes, and I found myself looking at the class again for the first time in quite a while. It's also great to be able to grab a familiar as a Sorcerer without being restricted to a bloodline or taking an archetype that messes with a bunch of other class features. All of the familiar archetypes provide great options for different types of characters, and provide a lot of extra utility.
So, what do we see inside the Familiar Folio? It’s weirdly organized (pro tip: the familiars are not in the beginning of the book), but has some real gems in it. Almost the first third of the book is devoted to intro content and to archetypes. In fact, there are a whopping nine archetypes in this book and that doesn’t include the options to just give familiars to sorcerers (who do not get a new bloodline related to familiars, in case you are wondering). The book does go a long way to help customize familiars and includes archetypes that familiars can take and feats for familiars. Characters also have options to beef up their familiars, including specializing familiars in a wizard school for a feat, in a sorcerous bloodline in exchange for the 1st level bloodline power, or a witch’s patron in exchange for waiting on patron spells by one level.
There are also new familiars. Some are so banal you’ll be shocked they weren’t already included, like chickens. There are some fun tropical and Australian-inspired familiars. Finally, there are three new monster bestiary entries that can function as either monsters or as improved familiars. The front and back covers give comprehensive lists of all the possible familiars in the game, both standard and improved. Further, inside the book is advice for reskinning a familiar from one type to another or even how to retain game balance while modifying a familiar to better reflect the animal’s real abilities.
The normal expected items and spells are in this book. The spells are pretty much what you’d expect, though there are some surprisingly inventive drugs and other pieces of equipment.
A Mauler familiar can not speak, even if its kind normally could. Does this mean a spellcasting familiar (Farie or Tidepool Dragon) can't use spells with verbal components?
Pretty much. Pick a different familiar choice for a mauler.
a tidepooldragon does not have the ability 'speak with animal of its kind' so cannot be a mauler anyway.
A Mauler familiar can not speak, even if its kind normally could. Does this mean a spellcasting familiar (Farie or Tidepool Dragon) can't use spells with verbal components?
Pretty much. Pick a different familiar choice for a mauler.
a tidepooldragon does not have the ability 'speak with animal of its kind' so cannot be a mauler anyway.
A Mauler familiar can not speak, even if its kind normally could. Does this mean a spellcasting familiar (Farie or Tidepool Dragon) can't use spells with verbal components?
Pretty much. Pick a different familiar choice for a mauler.
a tidepooldragon does not have the ability 'speak with animal of its kind' so cannot be a mauler anyway.
yes it does it gains the ability at level 7.
Well...
from the SRD wrote:
Improved familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature's type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).
I just got my copy of the PDF. Turns out that only Wizards can get the school familliars. Saddening, but it makes sense thematically.
HOWEVER. Sorcerers can get bloodline familliars. The abilities aren't as powerful, but you get them only for the cost of losing your first bloodline power and geting your bonus spells one level later.
That's really good if you don't care about the spells, since first level powers generally aren't that great anyway.
Is that meant to be a feat or archetype option?
It's more similar to an archetype, though it isn't explicitly listed as an archetype, simply that any bloodrager or sorcerer can trade out their 1st level bloodline power and delay access to their bloodline spells for one level in exchange for a familiar with a particular benefit related to their bloodline. It doesn't cost a feat.
So there still isn't a way for me to just take a feat as say a rakshasa sorcerer and get the rakshasa familiar?
The bloodline familiar text calls out "other creatures with bloodlines" (that's not exactly it) but also calls out 1st level. Can Eldritch Heritage users take bloodline familiars?
Also, I'm thinking that even with the loss of some spells, a Silvanshee Mauler could have potential. Or maybe I'll stick with an elemental.
I just got my copy of the PDF. Turns out that only Wizards can get the school familliars. Saddening, but it makes sense thematically.
HOWEVER. Sorcerers can get bloodline familliars. The abilities aren't as powerful, but you get them only for the cost of losing your first bloodline power and geting your bonus spells one level later.
That's really good if you don't care about the spells, since first level powers generally aren't that great anyway.
Is that meant to be a feat or archetype option?
It's more similar to an archetype, though it isn't explicitly listed as an archetype, simply that any bloodrager or sorcerer can trade out their 1st level bloodline power and delay access to their bloodline spells for one level in exchange for a familiar with a particular benefit related to their bloodline. It doesn't cost a feat.
So there still isn't a way for me to just take a feat as say a rakshasa sorcerer and get the rakshasa familiar?
As a rakshasa sorcerer, you can:
a) trade out your first bloodline power and get your bloodline spells a little later in exchange for getting a bloodline familiar, then take Improved Familiar
b) take Iron Will, then Familiar Bond, and then Improved Familiar, with Improved Familiar Bond as an option if you want the extra abilities
c) take Skill Focus (knowledge [any]), Eldritch Heritage (arcane), and then Improved Familiar
Personally, I think a decoy familiar would be quite apt for a rakshasa sorcerer.
The bloodline familiar text calls out "other creatures with bloodlines" (that's not exactly it) but also calls out 1st level. Can Eldritch Heritage users take bloodline familiars?
Also, I'm thinking that even with the loss of some spells, a Silvanshee Mauler could have potential. Or maybe I'll stick with an elemental.
Personally, I'd argue that someone with eldritch heritage doesn't technically have a bloodline, but rather has one (with just eldritch heritage) of the bloodline powers, rather than the bloodline itself. No bloodline arcana, no bloodline feats, and perhaps most relevantly, they don't get any bonus spells from it to take a level later, either, which is the other thing you're supposed to trade. But, of course, your DM might rule otherwise, so worth a shot, maybe?
I am curious, though, if improved familiars are intended to not be able to take many familiar archetypes due to technically not having the 'speak with animals of its kind' ability, or if that was an oversight. Improved familiars are already a lot better than regular familiars, but they do require investing a feat into...and possibly more than one if your class doesn't automatically get a familiar. Though a couple archetypes (such as Chosen One and Pact Wizard) get around this now, which is cool. Hmm...now I want to homebrew a sorcerer archetype whose familiar is a bloodline familiar, gets some of its master's bloodline powers, and automatically becomes improved, depending on the bloodline...
Personally, I think a decoy familiar would be quite apt for a rakshasa sorcerer.
Improved Familiars don't get the speak with animals ability, so therefore they don't qualify for most of the familiar archetypes.
I can't recall if the decoy familiar replaces speak with animals or not off of the top of my head. If it does, a rakshasa familiar couldn't take it.
A rakshasasorcerer could certainly have a familiar with the decoy familiar archetype, though. An improved familiar, such as a raktavarna familiar, could not have that archetype, but nothing prevents them from having a regular familiar with it.
I'm actually really liking the idea of that fighter archetype with the sage familiar. I'm sure mauler was created was with the fighter in mind, but sage seems like a fun way to make a "smart fighter," plus perception as a class skill! :D
I'm just wondering why parrots, based on ravens and can actually talk in real life, are specifically singled out as not being able to talk?
As someone who has a good friend who keeps macaws, its actually a myth that they can "talk." Parrots can only repeat the sounds they hear back at people and with training, they can effectively learn which "words" they're expected to repeat in order to get a desired outcome. Its sort of like having a dog raise its paw for you to shake its hand. It doesn't really know what a handshake is, but it knows that if it does X, it'll get Y, where Y is praise and/or a reward.
As someone who has a good friend who keeps macaws, its actually a myth that they can "talk." Parrots can only repeat the sounds they hear back at people and with training, they can effectively learn which "words" they're expected to repeat in order to get a desired outcome. Its sort of like having a dog raise its paw for you to shake its hand. It doesn't really know what a handshake is, but it knows that if it does X, it'll get Y, where Y is praise and/or a reward.
In short, conditioning at its finest.
Sometimes I wonder if we are really any different....
A petrifern can petrify itself as a standard action in order to defend itself from predators. When it does so, the petrifern's natural armor bonus to AC increases by 5, it gains resistance 10 to cold and fire, and it can take 20 on Stealth checks to appear as a sprout or fallen tree branch.
While petrified, the petrifern can't move or take any actions. A petrifern can remain petrified indefinitely, and can cease its petrification as a standard action.
The two bolded sections contradict each other and do not seem to be written in a way that a plain-English reading of the text could infer that one is an exception to the other. This text needs something else to make it more clear that the only action a Petrifen can take while petrified is a standard action to end the petrification.
