Okay, I have a monkey familiar...no spanking jokes please I get enough of that already but could said monkey be kitted out with, say Boots of Speed or Ring of Protection. Could he use a wand?
Maybe a Waistcoat of Armor +1, Bowler Hat of Clear Thought and a Cigar of Smoking would be better...
Worn items, as long as he has the appropriate body part, should be fine.
As for the wand, those are activated by command word. Unless he can speak that word I would say no to the wand.
5th level mage, sorry wizard, so he can speak.
Looks like Mr Bubbles could need a new wardrobe and stick.
Worn items, as long as he has the appropriate body part, should be fine.
As for the wand, those are activated by command word. Unless he can speak that word I would say no to the wand.
5th level mage, sorry wizard, so he can speak.
Looks like Mr Bubbles could need a new wardrobe and stick.
Wands and Staves are not command word activated, they're spell trigger, so unless the familiar can cast, you'll be out of luck on that one.
Quite a few wondrous items are command word activated though, so the little guy would be quite capable of using a Crown of Blasting for instance.
Take Use Magic Device and the monkey can use your skill bonus to activate the items. Great for arcane bloodline sorcerers.
Take Use Magic Device and the monkey can use your skill bonus to activate the items. Great for arcane bloodline sorcerers.
Oohh nice, I never thought about that option.
Quite a few wondrous items are command word activated though, so the little guy would be quite capable of using a Crown of Blasting for instance.
I wouldn't be so sure. The ability is due to the bond between the master and familiar. The familiar isn't able to speak by itself.
Speak with Master (Ex): If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.
I wouldn't let this work at my table, as the magic item wouldn't have any special ability to understand the monkey.
Quite a few wondrous items are command word activated though, so the little guy would be quite capable of using a Crown of Blasting for instance.I wouldn't be so sure. The ability is due to the bond between the master and familiar. The familiar isn't able to speak by itself.
Speak with Master (Ex): If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.
I wouldn't let this work at my table, as the magic item wouldn't have any special ability to understand the monkey.
I agree here. You can understand him but he can't talk, nor can he speak words. So no he can't really use command words unless the items can understand "monkey" and even then it's iffy.
Quite a few wondrous items are command word activated though, so the little guy would be quite capable of using a Crown of Blasting for instance.I wouldn't be so sure. The ability is due to the bond between the master and familiar. The familiar isn't able to speak by itself.
Speak with Master (Ex): If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.
I wouldn't let this work at my table, as the magic item wouldn't have any special ability to understand the monkey.
So are you saying magic items speak common, etc?
I can't see your logic, sorry.
So are you saying magic items speak common, etc?
I can't see your logic, sorry.
No, magic items need a word spoken. say the command word if "Dyump" your monkey can not say that. He does not speak common, he makes monkey sounds yet your wizard understands them. Everyone else hears monkey sounds save the wizard. He is just incapable of saying "dyump" at all. the wizard might here it but he can not form that sound and the sound and pronunciation of "dyump" is what makes the item work. A sound your monkey can not make. He may say 'dyump" in monkey speech but he is really not pronouncing the sound that triggers the item
Magic items speak the language of their creator. If I create a magic item that requires the user to speak "Bang" in elvish (what ever that may be) then the person who wishes to activate the item has to say it in elvish.
Monkeys speak "monkey" and not comon or elvish so, yes the person is correct that a monkey familiar would not be able to activate the item.
Magic items speak the language of their creator. If I create a magic item that requires the user to speak "Bang" in elvish (what ever that may be) then the person who wishes to activate the item has to say it in elvish.
Monkeys speak "monkey" and not comon or elvish so, yes the person is correct that a monkey familiar would not be able to activate the item.
Ah but what if I crafted a magic item with a command word in Monkey?
Bleh. I'm of the mindset that the game is designed around the average player, not the guys who scour the internet looking for workarounds and hacks. If familiars were supposed to get the ability to use wands/ magic items it would have been spelled out in the rules.
Chalk this up as one of the many places where I'm a bastard GM and not willing to cheese things up as a player.
FWIW I'm not convinced there is a language "monkey" so I don't think you could craft a wand with a command word in "monkey" any more than you could craft a command word in "flattulence"
So are you saying magic items speak common, etc?
I can't see your logic, sorry.
Re-read the reply as I was midway cooking singapore chow mein when I first read it.
Misread the post, dumba@@!Mr Bubbles and Mr Wizard communicate in a language that *they* understand. To the rest of the world Mr Bubbles is speaking monkey and Mr Wizard is speaking common.
So what if Mr Bubbles sat down with a typewriter, how long would it take for him to make a scroll? :)
However I am intrigued now about magic items understanding a language...
Also: You can cast tongues on your familiar. Ravens can speak, finally once the familiar has enough INT just have it take a rank in linguistics.
Bleh. I'm of the mindset that the game is designed around the average player, not the guys who scour the internet looking for workarounds and hacks. If familiars were supposed to get the ability to use wands/ magic items it would have been spelled out in the rules.
You do me an injustice Sir!
I'm not looking for a workaround at all, I was being my personal alignment of Idle Curious.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
No work around. Magic items work for what is wearing them. If it will work for a monster for the DM it will work for a familiar. IF it requires spell trigger/completion then the familiar can do what anyone else in the campaign world with an INT higher than 2 does and make a UMD check. Now the familiar can use your skill bonus if it is high. That's not a hack or work around it's a spelled out rule in the book. It states that the familiar can do it.
No work around. Magic items work for what is wearing them. If it will work for a monster for the DM it will work for a familiar. IF it requires spell trigger/completion then the familiar can do what anyone else in the campaign world with an INT higher than 2 does and make a UMD check. Now the familiar can use your skill bonus if it is high. That's not a hack or work around it's a spelled out rule in the book. It states that the familiar can do it.
This really intrigues me no end!
The Wiz in question does have levels of rogue so UMD wouldn't be a problem. Now to have a good read of UMD and plot. The monkey was going to wear magic items crafted for it and the comment about wands was a throw away. UMD didn't even enter my mind.
Even if your familiar can speak they cannot use the wand unless they or you have ranks in UMD, as the spell needs to be on your caster type list.
Also note that the wand will be a "staff" for your familiar.
Bleh. I'm of the mindset that the game is designed around the average player, not the guys who scour the internet looking for workarounds and hacks. If familiars were supposed to get the ability to use wands/ magic items it would have been spelled out in the rules.
You do me an injustice Sir!
I'm not looking for a workaround at all, I was being my personal alignment of Idle Curious.
Oh, I find this stuff curious also. I didn't mean to say it that way.
Personally if Abu could do it in Aladdin then I presume a familiar can do it (it being a general anything) no questions asked, beyond that if you have ranks in it, your familiar can do it just about as well as you (especially a monkey familiar). People tend to forget that familiars are intelligent, which makes a huge difference on what you can expect from them.
Oh, I find this stuff curious also. I didn't mean to say it that way.
Bleh. I'm of the mindset that the game is designed around the average player, not the guys who scour the internet looking for workarounds and hacks. If familiars were supposed to get the ability to use wands/ magic items it would have been spelled out in the rules.
You do me an injustice Sir!
I'm not looking for a workaround at all, I was being my personal alignment of Idle Curious.
I know, people trying to get around issues are a pain in the ar@e. What I am doing in my Idle Curious way is putting my self in the place of a 17 INT Wizard who for a career has people trying to kill him in nasty ways. If it was me I would be looking for anything which would make me more effective, except for taking the easy "I'm a rogue/fighter/druid/sorcerer route".
A monkey is my familiar choice for many reasons. The prime one is the campaign is set in Sasserine and monkeys and pirates go together. Opposable thumbs are huge bonus as it means the familiar can deliver potions and wear rings. The possibility of a familiar using a wand is one which I need to explore. Whats good for the players is good for the DM. Real world monkey helpers help out by doing tasks including microwaving food, washing the quadriplegic's face, and opening drink bottles. What more could they do with "awakened" intelligence?
Probably more use to the party than an elf....
I'm lead to believe they also eat less than a halfling, and are more useful to boot.
Personally if Abu could do it in Aladdin then I presume a familiar can do it (it being a general anything) no questions asked, beyond that if you have ranks in it, your familiar can do it just about as well as you (especially a monkey familiar). People tend to forget that familiars are intelligent, which makes a huge difference on what you can expect from them.
Ah. The good old argumentum ad disneum.
Zo
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This really intrigues me no end!
The Wiz in question does have levels of rogue so UMD wouldn't be a problem. Now to have a good read of UMD and plot. The monkey was going to wear magic items crafted for it and the comment about wands was a throw away. UMD didn't even enter my mind.
*grumble grumble, lost post, grumble grumble*
Ok, let's try to type this out again... :(
I had a similar idea for a wizard/rogue (arcane trickster). Transmuter with a monkey familiar. I saw it as very useful to have a tiny "skill monkey" (sorry, couldn't resist) hang around with me. Since it can use my skill ranks, suddenly he's super good at the same things I am. Now, first off, check out Share Spells for familiars, go on, I'll wait....
Good, now remember the part where it says, "A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar’s type (magical beast)." Need your familiar to blend in with the crowd, cast alter self on it. *Poof* Abu is now a small or medium humanoid, heck, you can even turn him into an elephant with the right Beast Shape spell (or a dragon for that matter with Form of Dragon). Afraid of low hp, keep bear's endurance or false life (or both) handy. Another fun spell at higher levels is Transformation, make him a fighter of your level, go ahead, we won't stop you.
As for the whole no speaking thing... Check out the Tongues spell... sorry, not waiting this time. Did you notice (or not notice) that the creature in question doesn't already have to be able to speak? :) It just gains the ability to. "This spell grants the creature touched the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature, whether it is a racial tongue or a regional dialect." So, your "mute" "halfling" **wink wink** companion can suddenly start talking to your allies and enemies, and now he can start using those command word magic items, no problem.
Well, I think I got most of what I had typed up before the boards ate my post...
Also: You can cast tongues on your familiar. Ravens can speak, finally once the familiar has enough INT just have it take a rank in linguistics.
Families don't get their own skill points. They have skill points in which ever skills the master has skill points in.
Also: You can cast tongues on your familiar. Ravens can speak, finally once the familiar has enough INT just have it take a rank in linguistics.Families don't get their own skill points. They have skill points in which ever skills the master has skill points in.
I thought they did get their own skill ranks? they have an int score, doesnt that mean that once it gets high enough they generate their own?
also the page says that if the base animal has ranks that are higher than the masters they get to use those:
Skills: For each skill in which either the master or the familiar has ranks, use either the normal skill ranks for an animal of that type or the master's skill ranks, whichever is better. In either case, the familiar uses its own ability modifiers. Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use. Familiars treat Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim as class skills.
so they might get one or two that arent on the master's list in any case
Casting ***Raise Thread***...
Dang. ninja'd.
Wait, can you be ninja'd on a necroed post?
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No one thought to mention the idea of the "Wand Monkey" familiar?
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RE: Activating a wand.
The familiar needs to be able to wield the wand and *speak* the command word.
Monkeys have hands, so wielding is easy.
At 5th level, it gains speech if it does not already have it.
[Parrots, Ravens, and Thrushes start out with speech.]
The gained speech may not be understood by any but the wizard and familiar, but it is still a language.
UMD has two relevant uses:
1) Use a Wand, Staff, or Other Spell Trigger Item
2) Activate Blindly
The latter requires that you speak, but not necessarily the command word. It works at a DC of 25.
Spell trigger items need you to speak, but do not have a specific language tied to it. The wand's command word could be anything. Is there something that states you need to speak that word in the proper language? Not that I can think of. So any language could be used, theoretically. Including familiar-speech.
Quite a number of familiars can manipulate wands, and all get speech at 5th if not before, so quite a few can use wands via UMD. However, most familiars have Cha Mods in the negative, and do not have UMD as a class skill. A fair number of Improved Familiars (like the Lyrakin Azata) have good charisma. And the psuedodragon even counts as a sorcerer, eliminating much of the need for UMD.
PFS wants things simple, so they ruled all normal familiars cannot use UMD, and only specific Improved ones can use it.
/cevah
Casting ***Raise Thread***...
[Omitted]
Quite a number of familiars can manipulate wands, and all get speech at 5th if not before, so quite a few can use wands via UMD. However, most familiars have Cha Mods in the negative, and do not have UMD as a class skill. A fair number of Improved Familiars (like the Lyrakin Azata) have good charisma. And the psuedodragon even counts as a sorcerer, eliminating much of the need for UMD.PFS wants things simple, so they ruled all normal familiars cannot use UMD, and only specific Improved ones can use it.
/cevah
Emphasis mine.
I believe you are mistaking the faerie dragon with the pseudodragon. Faerie dragons are the ones with "sorcerer levels"Other than that, I agree. I feel like a fair amount of them can use wands and the like if you're logical about it.
That opens up the whole thing with the GM where he's like, "remember how we've never targeted your familiar? Well he just put a bullseye on his back." So it could be a double edged sword.
My GM and I pretty much do it on a per encounter basis of if we want the familiar involved in the actual combat. We basically act like he has an invisiblity spell cast on him. He's not there til he starts acting aggressively. Then he's a target.
But that's not the point here. The point is if you're logical then a fair number of familiars can use them fine.
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oops, didn't realize it was necro'd