Can a familiar betray its master?
I was flipping through the familiars that can be acquired through the Improved Familiar feat, and thought hmmm would an Imp or Quasit screw me over?
Side Notes: I know the familiar can do what ever the DM wants, but assuming you don’t have a vindictive DM that would turn a soul bound creature against you could your familiar betray its master?
Second Aside: When I say betrayal I mean betrayal Brutus/Cassius style, not running away or disobeying a command.
And oddly enough when I was wondering this, a scenario came to mind of a wizard casting magic jar and giving his Imp familiar the command to guard his body while he possesses another, then the Imp knifing the wizard.
I don’t have a clue whether this could or could not happen, but I find this an interesting idea, plot twist, plot device, or demise of an annoying munchkin.
Also correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to have some inkling of an Imp familiar doing something to his master in Salvatore’s Cleric Quintet. I can’t remember…I never could get through it. I don’t know if he was giving him bad information, had his own plot, or was poisoning him. I seem to remember poison.
Just an odd idea
Fizz
I think it's possible. Certainly an imp or quasit might be in some kind of position to NEED to betray a master--after all they must have had some kind of allegiance before they became a familiar.
I'd pretty much say no essentially becuase you paid a feat for this. However I'd give two major exceptions. Your DM is a rat bastard who enjoys screwing you over. In this case you probably already know as a fact that if you where ever dumb enough to get a familier your DM would use it against you.
The other exception is with a story heavy DM. Generally its really only with this style of play that the betrayal can have the kind of powerful emotional impact thats desired. A real et tu Brute? moment essentially. The story heavy DM has license to do this sort of thing to the PCs familiar so long as its powerful and moves the story forward.
As a DM I might consider it if the story works that way...I wouldn't consider past life of familiar as a motive, the rituals involved to bind it to its master make it tabula rasa (it might remember past life events but would view them impassionately, as if they had happened to someone else).
However if, say, alignment of the master changes dramatically or in some other way the master becomes a person quite unlike before, the familiar might turn against its master...
The only place where I know this might happen would be Ravenloft, regardless of edition. The demiplane itself sends you your familiar, so anything could happen. This was clarified in 3.x when they specifically dictated that a wizard/sorcerer's familiar is a character's id given physical form. They may not betray them directly, but they WILL act upon the instincts that the PC may deny.
I believe it all depends on how you recieve the familiar. The way I run my game is for rangers and druids their companion must except them before they will join them, were a wizard can often buy a familiar from a market of some sorts, or in some cases can come across something while its a baby or even still in its egg and raise it himself. There are only a few reasons I can think of that would cause a familiar to betray someone. One is how the person treats it, if its treated badly it might turn on them then run back into the wild. If its bought from a questionable shop the shop owner might have trained the animals to steal vaulables from the person that purchased them and then return to the store. Then there is always spell's that can force the familiar to turn on you. You also have to take in concideration the natural habits of a particular familiar. Ive known people to want things like pixie dragons as a familiar, while harmless enough, but by habit they do steal and play pranks on people. While that isnt realy betraying the person it can make for some hassle.
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I would say that the familiar would have to have a good reason to betray it's master, but I would say that if the wizard/sorcerer/hexblade/whateverspellcastercangetafamiliar did something bad enough to warrant vengeance it would automatically sever the bond. Otherwise, the master would know if the familiar would betray him via the empathic link. Maybe the connection was severed, but the familiar still has a grudge against him/her and makes it his mission to make his life living hell.
Quasit: It's a demon. It'd betray you for fun (even if it kept coming back afterward due to the familiar bond.) Don't trust the answers it gives you from it's weekly Commune either.
Imp: It's a devil There's probably a contract written in blood somewhere describing exactly what it is required to do. I suggest reading it carefully.
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Hassles are fine, but I consider betrayal something lethal or anything that would cause them to break the bond. Anything other than that is fine, but there is a magical link between them regardless. Just like a weasel will steal his round, shiny objects, imps will do what imps do, but nothing that warrants betrayal (in my definition of the word).
Doesn't the mental bond make it difficult if not impossible to betray the wizard? Sure you can't read its mind, but you can tell its emotional state which would give you a good indicator that its going to betray you. I guess that doesn't keep in from betraying you just make it second guess doing it.