I don't believe there is any specific RAW that lets you.
But I believe that many GM's will allow it. If you are combining any of the classes that give an animal companion with the ones that give a familiar, that is not usually an over powered build anyway.
If it was in my campaign and say a druid/witch wanted to combine them I would probably allow them to use the type from which ever class is the higher level with the abilities of their combined level. Some might say you could only do it with something that is acceptable to both classes like a dire rat or dire bat. I might not enforce that.
It gets trickier if they want to do improved familiar. not sure how I would rule on that. It would probably depend on the player. The only player in my current group who would consider it is very far from an optimiser, so I would prob say it is ok.
RAW I really don't think so.
But I would allow it in my game.
|
Well, I am not looking for anything other than an animal. I may be wrong, but is it not possible to choose the same animal for both, and simply let them actually be one and the same?
Actually you can't. Once a normal animal becomes a familiar it's type is changed to Magical Beast. Animal companions are required to be of type=Animal.
I don't think this was possible in 3.5.
You could have a Familiar's mind take over the Animal Companion's body. That should give you the best of both worlds. It hardly seems worth the bother though.
I have come by this subject before. Depending on the combination, it should be up to the gm. When I tried this very same thing with a ranger/wizard/arcane archer, our gm said he wouldn't allow it.
Well it leaves problems, for example what kind of abilities would the AC/Familiar have?
Say a Druid 1/Wizard 10? What level would it be, how much HP, BAB, AC etc?
No I don't think it's possible. I would ask your DM if it would work in your game. A way you can have both is if your an arcane spell caster with levels in druid.
Not that I'm aware of in pathfinder. However 3.5 had a druid/wizard PRC that did exactly what you're talking about. I think it was in the Races of the WIld book, though the PRC name escapes me at the moment.
Not that I'm aware of in pathfinder. However 3.5 had a druid/wizard PRC that did exactly what you're talking about. I think it was in the Races of the WIld book, though the PRC name escapes me at the moment.
Edit: What shadowcatX said. Arcane Hierophant.
I would say that the Arcane Hierophant has a unique ability. So if you want an animal companion/familiar update the class and take levels in it. Because outside of that class in both 3.5 and pathfinder it is imossable to have an animal companion/familiar.
And when I say imposable I mean without DM hand waving which is always an option.
An animal companion cannot also function as a familiar.
How wonderfully clear cut :)
What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Maybe I can help, I have some ideas. But are you trying to advance both class abilities at the same time? Like are you trying to have your familiar advance along both the familiar chart and the animal companion chart?
I'm assuming your thinking of a sorcerer with both arcane bloodline and sylvan bloodline via eldritch heritage feat? (based on that you said you don't have to multiclass to do it)
Arcane Heirophant (as others have mentioned) does what you need it to do as far as advancing along both charts. However, for the sorcerer with both bloodlines it wouldn't really help.
I do get curious though when people are presented with a valid 3.x option for a Pathfinder game. Pathfinder is marketed as being fully compatible with 3.5. The only circumstances that would make something officially not compatible is if the 3.x material has been updated to be different in Pathfinder than it previously was in 3.x, or if the mechanics of the game has changed to no longer make it a viable option. I know that not all games are played this way but it is largely due to DM bias from my experience. I just wonder why GMs would be bias about it.
Ah. Then how about this?:
Magic Jar
School necromancy; Level sorcerer/wizard 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a gem or crystal worth at least 100 gp)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target one creature
Duration 1 hour/level or until you return to your body
Saving Throw Will negates; see text; Spell Resistance yes
By casting magic jar, you place your soul in a gem or large crystal (known as the magic jar), leaving your body lifeless. Then you can attempt to take control of a nearby body, forcing its soul into the magic jar. You may move back to the jar (thereby returning the trapped soul to its body) and attempt to possess another body. The spell ends when you send your soul back to your own body, leaving the receptacle empty. To cast the spell, the magic jar must be within spell range and you must know where it is, though you do not need line of sight or line of effect to it. When you transfer your soul upon casting, your body is, as near as anyone can tell, dead.
While in the magic jar, you can sense and attack any life force within 10 feet per caster level (and on the same plane of existence). You do need line of effect from the jar to the creatures. You cannot determine the exact creature types or positions of these creatures. In a group of life forces, you can sense a difference of 4 or more HD between one creature and another and can determine whether a life force is powered by positive or negative energy. (Undead creatures are powered by negative energy. Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.)
You could choose to take over either a stronger or a weaker creature, but which particular stronger or weaker creature you attempt to possess is determined randomly.
Attempting to possess a body is a full-round action. It is blocked by protection from evil or a similar ward. You possess the body and force the creature's soul into the magic jar unless the subject succeeds on a Will save. Failure to take over the host leaves your life force in the magic jar, and the target automatically succeeds on further saving throws if you attempt to possess its body again.
If you are successful, your life force occupies the host body, and the host's life force is imprisoned in the magic jar. You keep your Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, level, class, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, alignment, and mental abilities. The body retains its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, hit points, natural abilities, and automatic abilities. A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks (or more advantageous two-weapon attacks) than normal. You can't choose to activate the body's extraordinary or supernatural abilities. The creature's spells and spell-like abilities do not stay with the body.
As a standard action, you can shift freely from a host to the magic jar if within range, sending the trapped soul back to its body. The spell ends when you shift from the jar to your own body.
If the host body is slain, you return to the magic jar, if within range, and the life force of the host departs (it is dead). If the host body is slain beyond the range of the spell, both you and the host die. Any life force with nowhere to go is treated as slain.
If the spell ends while you are in the magic jar, you return to your body (or die if your body is out of range or destroyed). If the spell ends while you are in a host, you return to your body (or die, if it is out of range of your current position), and the soul in the magic jar returns to its body (or dies if it is out of range). Destroying the receptacle ends the spell, and the spell can be dispelled at either the magic jar or the host's location.
Have your familiar cast that on your animal companion. It wouldn't be the nicest thing in the world what with the familiar exerting it's will over the companion's body and storing it's soul in a nearby recepticle and all. I'm sure you would want to be thinking of some good RP reasons for doing this kind of thing. Perhaps some mutual agreement between your character, the familiar and the animal companion? I dunno. Also, it isn't permanent although you could get an item that does it's effect permanently. In fact, that might be advisable from both an RP and mechanical perspective.
Yeah, it might make you change an alignment step to do it though. ...unless it is an imp familiar like Shfish said. It does kinda seem like something they'd do. ;)
Wow. Yeah, there is a whole lot of room for abuse there.