|
I have never played a wizard before, and I been reading Treantmonk guide to wizards,
I am looking for more strats for the Improved Familiars,
What u can do, how they should look,
Cool tricks you can do.
Whats the coolest thing within the rules u can do with them..
I am a ways away from 7th lvl to pick one,
Right now I am 4rth lvl, But i want to come up with some ideas...
Dust Mephit (Air),
And Faerie Dragon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/dragons/dragon-faerie)
Are ones That I see that would be cool.
I am Currently playing a tiefling wizard who is a con spechilist with the teloport sub demain, CG.
Another thing to note that unique to my plain is that Teloporting=bad unless u have fire resistence.
The plain of fire is in the austro plain, and we take 1d6 points of fire dmg, per 100 feet traveled, upto a max of 40d6 damage.
So that can play into effect.
Oops, thought this was a tread on ""How to improve Farming"", oh well my mistake.
Oops, thought this was a tread on ""How to improve Farming"", oh well my mistake.
I thought the same thing, I was confused and yet amused
Share Spells is a useful class feature that allows you to cast spells on your familiar that you are usually only allowed to cast on yourself, and lets you disregard the creature type of your familiar when casting spells on it. Here's a list of most of the spells you'd consider using that with. Don't forget that you can also cast the typical buff spells on your familiar just like you would a party member, like Mage Armor, Bull's Strength, or Haste.
1 - Enlarge Person - Can make your familiar quit a bit better in combat.
1 - Reduce Person - Can make your familiar extremely stealthy.
1 - Disguise Self
1 - Expeditious Retreat - before level 7, but your improved familiar will probably fly.
1 - Shield
1 - True Strike
1 - Comprehend Languages
2 - False Life - extra hit points for 1/hour per level
2 - Alter Self
2 - Mirror Image
3 - Blink
6 - Contingency
4 - Beast Shape II
4 - Elemental Body I
5 - Beast Shape III
5 - Elemental Body II
5 - Plant Shape I
6 - Beast Shape IV
6 - Elemental Body III
6 - Plant Shape II
6 - Form of the Dragon I
6 - Transformation - Turn into a fighter
7 - Elemental Body IV
7 - Plant Shape III
7 - Form of the Dragon II
7 - Giant Form I
8 - Form of the Dragon III
8 - Giant Form II
9 - Shapechange
So, while a Wizard's familiar isn't really meant to be used as a serious fighting companion, that doesn't mean you can play that game once in a while!
So some strats for this instead of just spamming the message board with im confused. :)
That be awsome!
They're mostly making fun of your writing. It's probably best for you to avoid using abbreviations.
I wasn't making fun I was serious, I probably should not have posted it, but it was hard not to when someone else thought the same thing.
I don't actually have any advice, can't really tell what your asking for and I rarely play anything with a familiar
Another strategy is to give your familiar magic items. Many improved familiars can speak, which means they can activate command word items.
If you learn the skill Use Magic Device your familiar can use even more items. (The familiar uses your skill rank and it's own Charisma bonus, which is +2 or +3 for many improved familiars.)Around mid levels you can have a familiar with a very good chance to activate wands with Use Magic Device.
You can give the familiar wands (probably 1st level, or it gets expensive) or other activated items that cast buffs or healing spells, and have it do some of the drudgework casting.
When you're 9th level, you can give your familiar a Ring of the Ram. It costs 4,300 gold to make and has 50 charges. It can be used to deal damage or knock down doors, but that's a waste of money. It's best ability is that with a single charge it does 1d6 damage and a Bull Rush maneuver with a SMB of +17, at a range of up to 30'. That's enough to knock most small or medium creature's away from melee. So, when your familiar has nothing better to do, "Ready an action to repel enemies that come within 30' of my master!"
The faerie dragon is very powerful for a familiar, though quite effective.
As for interesting tricks, keep an eye on the different racial tricks that each familiar can do. Ones that have DCs that scale with hit dice are excellent, because the familiar is treated as having your HD. Some ideas:
- Pseudodragons, Homunculi, Imps, Quasit, and vipers all have fun poisons to play with.
- Earth Elementals have earth glide, which allows them to quickly get out of harm's way & deliver touch spells from below the enemy (yay, concealment!).
- Ravens can activate command word magic items.
- Mephits/Imps have simple/martial weapon proficiency. As a wizard your BAB sucks, so it won't be awesome, but hand that guy a bow and have him take pot shots at your enemies when he's not doing something useful. You also have access to spells that boost this ability significantly (gravity bow, flaming arrow, greater magic weapon).
- Stirges drain constitution with no save.
- Fire elementals can set your enemies on fire, causing a loss of actions or making casters deal with concentration checks.
- Bats & pseudodragons have blindsense. See invisibility much?
- Celestial/Fiendish templates grant smite good/evil 1/day. Coupled with an enlarge person, this can turn your familiar into a decent boon once a day against a single enemy- say, a good/evil spellcaster?
- Near half the improved familiars have spell like abilities which will equate to roughly a quickened spell for you. Pick the ones that don't worry about saves: Augury (imp), Grease (faerie dragon), Silent Image (faerie dragon), etc.
- Mephits come bundled with some very interesting abilities. While most of the breath weapons are crap for damage, some apply debuffs. Ice, ooze, salt, steam, and dust mephits all cause the Sickened condition, which effectively grants a +2 to your DCs for 3 rounds.
- Mephits also come bundled with excellent spells useable a couple times per day: soften earth/stone (earth), scorching ray (fire), magic missile (ice), pyrotechnics (magma), acid arrow (ooze, water), glitterdust (salt), blur (steam, air, dust), gust of wind (air), wind wall (dust).
- The polymorph subschool is excellent for familiars. It's basically druid wild shape light, but the familiar has a crappier BAB.
Don't discount an idea because it seems weak. You're basically using an ally with an entirely separate set of actions. If your familiar is acting every round then it's performing above and beyond any other class's class feature.
|
|
The faerie dragon is very powerful for a familiar, though quite effective.
As for interesting tricks, keep an eye on the different racial tricks that each familiar can do. Ones that have DCs that scale with hit dice are excellent, because the familiar is treated as having your HD. Some ideas:
...
- Pseudodragons, Homunculi, Imps, Quasit, and vipers all have fun poisons to play with.
- Earth Elementals have earth glide, which allows them to quickly get out of harm's way & deliver touch spells from below the enemy (yay, concealment!).
- Ravens can activate command word magic items.
- Mephits/Imps have simple/martial weapon proficiency. As a wizard your BAB sucks, so it won't be awesome, but hand that guy a bow and have him take pot shots at your enemies when he's not doing something useful. You also have access to spells that boost this ability significantly (gravity bow, flaming arrow, greater magic weapon).
- Stirges drain constitution with no save.
- Fire elementals can set your enemies on fire, causing a loss of actions or making casters deal with concentration checks.
- Bats & pseudodragons have blindsense. See invisibility much?
- Celestial/Fiendish templates grant smite good/evil 1/day. Coupled with an enlarge person, this can turn your familiar into a decent boon once a day against a single enemy- say, a good/evil spellcaster?
- Near half the improved familiars have spell like abilities which will equate to roughly a quickened spell for you. Pick the ones that don't worry about saves: Augury (imp), Grease (faerie dragon), Silent Image (faerie dragon), etc.
- Mephits come bundled with some very interesting abilities. While most of the breath weapons are crap for damage, some apply debuffs. Ice, ooze, salt, steam, and dust mephits all cause the Sickened condition, which effectively grants a +2 to your DCs for 3 rounds.
- Mephits also come bundled with excellent spells useable a couple times per day: soften earth/stone (earth), scorching ray (fire), magic missile (ice),
Thanks Man, thats also vary helpful.
Seems Like the best ones are MephitL Dust,And The Faerie Dragon.
Mephit: Turn one: Use Breath attack. Turn Two: Cast Blure on rouge, Turn Three: Flank if needed, Use wand (9, less then 50% chance of working) to Silent Imiege somthing useful, or CLW, OR protection from evil/good/caous/law/ other good first lvl spells.
Turn 3: Delever touch spells, Or shot them with a Bow.
Dragon: Turn one: use breath Attack. Turn Two Cast Silent Imege/grease.
Turn 3: UMD a want. (13 for dragon on lvl 6)
Questions: What are some good wands to give my 'friend'.
What are some good Magic equpment in general thats cheep for a lvl 7?
IT seems to me like Mephit can do more things,
But the dragon has higher UMD so is more effective at casting those first lvl spells each round....
|
They are:
Agathion, Silvanshee
Angel, Cassisian
Azata, Lyrakien
Daemon, Cocadaemon
Inevitable, Arbiter
Protean, Voidworm
Qlippoth, CythnigotAll of them are unique in some way. Grab the Bestiary 2 (PDF convinently at 10 USD), or wait some time until the rules are posted on PRD and d20pfsrd.
Also Dinosaur, Compsognathus
|
|
A bit off-topic, but what do folks think of this?
A Witch in my Kingmaker campaign has a Fox familiar.
He is now 7th, and wants IF. He, as well as myself (And the other Players, since I give Familiars personality, etc...) like the Fox, and we would hate to just see if *poof* disappear, to be replaced by a Quasit (The Player likes the idea of a Quasit.So, I was thinking...What if his Fox was a Quasit all the time, Polymorphed into a Fox form? It could have even been as punishment for whatever 'Outside Being' the Witch gets his powers from. Thoughts? The Witch being willing to invest his energies,etc (Take the Feat) is what frees the Quasit from it's lesser Imprisoned form.
Hopefully, it doesn't sound too silly/hokey as a RPing element.
Thoughts?
-Uriel
|
One thing that was very useful in our campaign: Our wizard's familiar (once the dm started attacking it when it tried to get shocking grasps off which was our wizard's favorite attack for a while) would grab potions from the wizard's Handy Haversack and deliver them to those that needed them. Saved a few lives by dropping off needed healing potions just in time.
Uriel: I like that idea. I think it would fit well and would allow you to keep the same personality.
|
A bit off-topic, but what do folks think of this?
A Witch in my Kingmaker campaign has a Fox familiar.
He is now 7th, and wants IF. He, as well as myself (And the other Players, since I give Familiars personality, etc...) like the Fox, and we would hate to just see if *poof* disappear, to be replaced by a Quasit (The Player likes the idea of a Quasit.So, I was thinking...What if his Fox was a Quasit all the time, Polymorphed into a Fox form? It could have even been as punishment for whatever 'Outside Being' the Witch gets his powers from. Thoughts? The Witch being willing to invest his energies,etc (Take the Feat) is what frees the Quasit from it's lesser Imprisoned form.
Hopefully, it doesn't sound too silly/hokey as a RPing element.
Thoughts?-Uriel
You've made the fluff fit the mechanics nicely- go with it!
|
|
Dont forget about the Imp Consular.
They get Augury & Suggestion once a day, Change Shape (Any animal tiny or small), detect good, detect magic, and invisibility at will. The big one is Commune (6 questions) a week.
Give them Quicken SLA and you can speed up suggestion, change shape, or invisibility to an immediate action 3 times a day, and that is one AWESOME familiar.
I currently am running a Witch who has this feat who has had the same raven familiar since level 1 named Ted. The little bugger has as big a personality (Some may say bigger) than the witch itself. I've had him since level 3 when I gave Ted with the Fiendish template. Luckily the party hasn't bothered trying to do anything silly like detect alignment, or even look at my character sheet so they are none the wiser.
The character started off as one of their own as I was playing in the game for the first two books but after that I started playing as DM and he has been something of a background character they go to when they need his talents. The party has NO CLUE that he is now actually an Imp. I know Imp Familiar doesn't specifically imply anything but I have been running it that when you attract a new familiar/companion you are actually simply transferring a bit of your own personality into the thing, and from that implication any new familiar will share memories and the like with any old ones.
|
|
Thats pretty awsome,
As a PC that is CG,
I am kinda scared of the whole trading your soul thing and bringing it to hell...
Yeah... that is definitley not a decision that kind of character would make. My witch is NE, and I play him up as the cowardly, scheming, "what about ME?" type of character. Funny enough the Familiar I play much more loose and off the cuff. He could be described as abusive, greedy, and selfish, but the MAIN target of these things is his master himself so it really doesn't get in the way of things too often. My players and I have a good time watching Ted constantly undermine, and generally be abusive to Dan (My witches name). Not so much of a co-incidence I am playing the character as an Anti-Hero as well so that might clue you in the motivations.
The party keeps returning to him as a loyal and trusted ally so far, in fact the party Caviler has it in his will that if he dies, his loyal mount (Jimmy, a monitor lizard) and all of his belongings go to Ted.
|
|
That seems pretty Cool
My party also Does not use detect evil exc on NPC, we kinda just assume they are who they say they are.
I would if i was a cleric/inquestor.
But im the wizard.
Gods dont care about such things.
I am trying to decied a good famiular for me,
And some straitiges to use it with, and decent wands to buy for him,
Exc.
|
|
Another strategy is to give your familiar magic items. Many improved familiars can speak, which means they can activate command word items.
If you learn the skill Use Magic Device your familiar can use even more items. (The familiar uses your skill rank and it's own Charisma bonus, which is +2 or +3 for many improved familiars.)Around mid levels you can have a familiar with a very good chance to activate wands with Use Magic Device.
You can give the familiar wands (probably 1st level, or it gets expensive) or other activated items that cast buffs or healing spells, and have it do some of the drudgework casting.
When you're 9th level, you can give your familiar a Ring of the Ram. It costs 4,300 gold to make and has 50 charges. It can be used to deal damage or knock down doors, but that's a waste of money. It's best ability is that with a single charge it does 1d6 damage and a Bull Rush maneuver with a SMB of +17, at a range of up to 30'. That's enough to knock most small or medium creature's away from melee. So, when your familiar has nothing better to do, "Ready an action to repel enemies that come within 30' of my master!"
That seems like a really cool idea.
I love the create trap chain so far. (no flying critters yet.)But i don't know about higher levels.
Is there somewhere that says what the level req's are for the Improved Familiars in the Bestiary 2?
|
|
Another thing is the fairy dragon is a sor, So can cast wands without useing its UMD, even tho it has a high UMD to begin with.
Some Wizard/Sor Wands I thought Would be good
Silent Image: No Save unless interacted with. :)
Obscuring Mist: Concealment can be vary nice even at higher levels.
Enlarge Person: 10 rounds and a combat is usely over with anyway. My fighter of the group always enjoys this.
Protection from Evil/chaos/good/law 4 different wands there, which can be vary useful clear there the campaign.
If those 7 wands are not enough (am i miss any that are useful?)
Cleric:
Bless: Every little bit helps.
Cure Light Wounds: Who needs expensive potions when you have a wand :)
Druid:
Faerie Fire: Faerie Fire: Outlined creatures do not benefit from the concealment normally provided by darkness (though a 2nd-level or higher magical darkness effect functions normally), blur, displacement, invisibility, or similar effects.
That can be vary useful.
Any other ideas please post them here.
Also other ideas for familuars please share :)
I have wanted to do a fairy dragon as a familiar as well it is powerful. THe greater invisibility on itself it can become a good scout with a decent stealth check. Flying around invisible to scout into a room and tell you stuff. Also remember it has telepathy.
|
|
Another strategy is to give your familiar magic items. Many improved familiars can speak, which means they can activate command word items.
If you learn the skill Use Magic Device your familiar can use even more items. (The familiar uses your skill rank and it's own Charisma bonus, which is +2 or +3 for many improved familiars.)Around mid levels you can have a familiar with a very good chance to activate wands with Use Magic Device.
You can give the familiar wands (probably 1st level, or it gets expensive) or other activated items that cast buffs or healing spells, and have it do some of the drudgework casting.
When you're 9th level, you can give your familiar a Ring of the Ram. It costs 4,300 gold to make and has 50 charges. It can be used to deal damage or knock down doors, but that's a waste of money. It's best ability is that with a single charge it does 1d6 damage and a Bull Rush maneuver with a SMB of +17, at a range of up to 30'. That's enough to knock most small or medium creature's away from melee. So, when your familiar has nothing better to do, "Ready an action to repel enemies that come within 30' of my master!"
The APG magic items chapter says (on page 282), "The creator's caster level must be as high as the item's caster level." This contradicts the Core Rulebook. Which is correct?
That line in the APG is an error. An item's caster level is not a prerequisite for item creation unless it is specifically mentioned in an item's Requirements line (for example, an amulet of natural armor).(SKR 8/30/10)
–Sean K Reynolds (08/31/10)
Caster level has nothing to do with min level to make an item unless it specifically says.
Caster level is just for determining the spell craft (or related skill) check. (which is cl +5, +5 for any recerments you do not meet.)
|
|
Earth Elementals have earth glide, which allows them to quickly get out of harm's way & deliver touch spells from below the enemy (yay, concealment!).
|
|
Also Dinosaur, CompsognathusThey are:
Agathion, Silvanshee
Angel, Cassisian
Azata, Lyrakien
Daemon, Cocadaemon
Inevitable, Arbiter
Protean, Voidworm
Qlippoth, CythnigotAll of them are unique in some way. Grab the Bestiary 2 (PDF convinently at 10 USD), or wait some time until the rules are posted on PRD and d20pfsrd.
I think The Compsognathus can be selected as a normal famuliar without the improved familar feat.
All the other familars have the requerment that its needs to be selected by a 7th level with a familiar,Or improved familar feat, and are cr 2s, this is a cr 1/2,
And, It provided an increase in stats, mind you the best one imo, +4 initive is amazing.