Cool idea!
|
My PCs recently found a few weeks old owlbears. One of the PCs has since taken a level of wizard after the campaign began, and didnt want a familiar to just appear, and rather have it introduced organically into the campaign.
I was considering allowing him to have the cub as his familiar, using stats on par with other familiars (maybe reskin the weasel) and then, if the campaign continues for long enough, allowing him to take improved familiar to retain the young (templated) owlbear, else the bond is lost as the beast enters adolescents and takes off.
Curious if anyone has done something similar, or other suggestions on the idea.
Statwise right not I am not at a place where I can compare stats from the improved familiar options but it sounds like a pretty neat idea actually.
It doesn't really "fit" with how familiar works, as the familiar is more of a summoned/bonded part of the wizards personality. Mechanically speaking that is much more of an animal companion thing.
What Themetricsystem is not quite correct. Any animal can become your familiar and you actually get to pick it and turn it into the familiar.
A familiar is an animal chosen by a spellcaster to aid him in his study of magic. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but is now a magical beast for the purpose of effects that depend on its type. Only a normal, unmodified animal may become a familiar. An animal companion cannot also function as a familiar.
However the ability explicitly states "animal" and owlbears are magical creatures. Thus RAW say you can't do that at least not without Improved Familiar.
Rule of Cool says keep on truckin'
Maybe Complete Arcana or Complete Mage?
I wouldn't allow it.
If it did happen, I'd have the familiar ceremony completely remake the owlbear permanently so that it didn't mature into the brutal, huge, uncontrollable killing machines they are famous for being.
S
More like an owl carebear actually :)
I'd consider this pdf
http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=680&product s_id=24970&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=680
Its good but very much from the wizard's perspective
Yes the template would be a good idea.
I wouldn't allow it.
If it did happen, I'd have the familiar ceremony completely remake the owlbear so that it didn't mature into the brutal, huge, uncontrollable killing machines they are famous for being.
S
More like an owl carebear actually :)
I think that's what he meant by not allowing it to "mature" while it was a familiar and keep the young template.
There are rules in one of the 3.5 dragon books--Dragon Magic or Draconomicon--for taking a dragon wyrmling as your familiar. It's an improved familiar, but the understanding is eventually it will grow up and you'll get another familiar and the dragon goes off to be dragon, but on friendly terms with the wizard.
Do the same with the owlbear cub. Let it stay cute and cuddly as long as the PC wants, then eventually, when it's time for him to retire and be the wizard in the fortress, his pet Bobo or whatever its name is can grow up and become a full-size owlbear which he can take as part of his cohort via other rules.
|
|
I think that is roughly on par with the other standard familiars... Any suggestions on a bonus to give to the wizard? I'm leaning towards the Owl's: Master gains a +3 bonus on sight-based and opposed Perception checks in shadows or darkness
I think improving the PCs sight by one step would be a cool bonus as opposed to the normal skill bonus. Say if they have normal vison, bump it up to low light vision 30, if they have low light 30, bump it to 60, 60 to 120 and from there start over with darkvision 30,60, and 120
Also don't forget this part here, specific rules for rearing a owlbear cub
Professional animal trainers charge up to 2,000 gp to rear or train an owlbear into a serviceable guardian that can obey simple commands (DC 23 for a juvenile creature; DC 30 for a fully grown adult).