Improved Familiars

[Morgrym]

I could be mistaken but I seem to remember an issue of Dragon having an article that listed an option for Improved Familiars that were more powerful creatures with greater hit dice and abilities. Does anyone remember what issue that was or where I may have seen this if it wasn't in Dragon?

[Lilith]

The Improved Familiar feat is in the Dungeon Master's Guide, I believe it does include some sample creatures to use.

[Moff Rimmer]

Lilith wrote:

The Improved Familiar feat is in the Dungeon Master's Guide, I believe it does include some sample creatures to use.

I believe that there are also examples of improved familiars in Complete Scoundrel, Complete Warrior, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and Forgotten Realms: Player's Guide to Faerun. If you go way back to Dragon 299, I believe that it gives some alternative familiars -- not necessarily more powerful, but different (keep in mind the article is 3.0). There is also an article somewhere that has an option for some kind of mechanical familar, but I don't remember what issue it was found in. If it is important, I will look through my stuff.

[Rezdave]

Morgrym wrote:

I could be mistaken but I seem to remember an issue of Dragon having an article that listed an option for Improved Familiars that were more powerful creatures with greater hit dice and abilities. Does anyone remember what issue that was or where I may have seen this if it wasn't in Dragon?

What Edition of the game are we talking about? There was some cool ideas for improving familiars in an old article titled That's Certainly Un-familiar by Len Carpenter way back in May '92 that used a famliar enhancer I-VIII series of spells to give familiars special and/or spell-like abilities. I once had a monkey that could spider climb 3/day.

Otherwise I treat Familiar as a pseudo-class in 3rd edition, and let them progress with skills and feats as if they were cohorts.

HTH,

Rez

[Curaigh]

Staffing Issues by B Vandgrift in Dragon 331 is an article I love about having a staff as a familiar.
Forging Friends is the article by K Turley, in Dragon 341 about the clockwork familiars.

There are a few 'alternate familiars' articles in Class Acts but I do not know which ones. Two in the last two years iirc. The last issue of Dragon does have the article summary though which should make them easier to find.

[Morgrym]

The staff familiar is one of my favorites also. I was refering to 3.X D&D. I can only remember one of the familiars from that article was a Rhinosaurus, I don't know why that one stuck in my head.

[Freehold DM]

Took me a while to find 'em, but they are issues 341 (Familiar Flavoring), 329 (Swarm Familiars), and 323 (Specialist Familiars). And that should be issue 338 for the Staffing Issues article. :-)

[Curaigh]

Freehold DM wrote:

Took me a while to find 'em, but they are issues 341 (Familiar Flavoring), 329 (Swarm Familiars), and 323 (Specialist Familiars). And that should be issue 338 for the Staffing Issues article. :-)

so it should--he link goes to the right magazine though...