A very simple, yet a bit odd question regarding Improved Familiars... Can I choose to pick my Improved Familiar at a later level from when I took the feat, or must I choose my new familiar at that moment?
Like for example:
Let's say I were wanting to pick Devil, imp consular as my improved familiar, it has a effective wizard level requirement of 8. Could I take Improved Familiar at 7th level and then get my free instant familiar change later at level 8 or would I need to wait and get the feat at 9th?
I’m aware I can do it at any time by paying the ritual cost and waiting a week, what I am asking about is specifically the one time free instantaneous swap that comes with the Improved Familiar feat. (per this FAQ)
What I am questioning is if I take improved Familiar at 7th, do I have to select an option immediately available at 7th or can I delay my choice by 1 level to get the imp consular option at 8th without paying for the ritual. If delaying my choice means I have to then pay for the ritual then it’d likely be better to just take it at 9th at that point.
The FAQ suggests you do so 'immediately' so I think that RAW at that moment only. IIRC the imp consular is the only improved familiar option that has an even level requirement, the requirement is more likely there to stop people using a level 3 feat for a level 5 improved familiar or similar.
Yeah it happens when you take the feat, if your gm does retraining you could take a different feat for a level and retrain your 7 into improved familiar at 8 to get the imp consular
You don't *have* to take a feat. You can leave the feat slot empty until level 8 and then take it to get a free imp consular.
Is that something you can actually do? I thought you were forced to make a choice when it came up at the correct level.
Otherwise you have a lot of stuff that is locked behind BAB +6 that you can just wait on with your level 5 feat.
talk to your gm over it. or use retraining (take improved initiative until retraining).
had the same problem with my summoner and the extra evolution feat. the last one can only be taken at level 20 when no feat is available. my gm let me just take it in 19 and not have it effect until 20.
I'm pretty sure that yes, you do *have* to take a feat when you get it. I'll see if I can find the reference.
The whole free familiar swap is an faq rule, so it's pretty bare bones. As a DM I'd recommend just taking an imp, and I'd bump it up at 8th level. I'd also recommend looking at the impundulu fake imp familiar and using that as an excuse for the imp being secretly telepathic, with you only noticing at 8th level.
Ty for the responses, it helped a lot. Honestly not really interested in the imp familiar, my situation is more a result of a level dip causing my odd wizard levels to be on even character levels, but the result is the same in the end. Was really looking to get a Pseudodragon but wasn’t sure if I’d still be able to take the feat at 7th for it or not with my levels delayed. Just figured asking about the imp would be the easiest way to ask the question and not be asked about why not just delay your level dip or skip the level dip entirely...