I am playing a witch in a Ravenloft adventure and I want to have a flying monkey, ala Wizard of Oz, for a familiar. I'd like to have a concept together to present to the GM when I ask permission. This means I can have some stuff that's "DM's Call", but I won't be the one making the call.
If I base them off the Monkey which you can already have as a familiar:
N Tiny animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 4 (1d8)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee bite +4 melee (1d3–4)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 5
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 6
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +10, Climb +10, Perception +5; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics
Adding wings with this template is +1 CR:
From Super Genius Games
Rebuild Rules: Creatures with this template gain a natural fly rate, and treat Fly as a class skill. The fly rate is equal to 20 feet + 10 feet per size category smaller or larger than medium +10 feet for every 4 hit dice (or fraction thereof).
The CR of an airborne creature is +1 over the base creature, with a minimum CR of 2.
This is moving a CR 1/4 creature to CR 2 for the addition of wings, which seems excessive. If you made this a familiar, would he then be an Improved Familiar? At what level? I would have to say 3rd because he doesn't compare to the Entropic Monkey at 3rd.
Rebuild Rules: Senses gains darkvision 60 ft.; Defensive Abilities gains DR and Resist acid/fire 5; SR gains spell resistance equal to new CR +5; Special Attacks smite law 1/day as a swift action (adds Cha bonus to attack rolls and damage bonus equal to HD against lawful foes; smite persists until the target is dead or the entropic creature rests).
Or, he could be based on the chimpanzee, who is CR 1:
XP 400
N Medium animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 11; (+4 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 13 (3d8)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Melee 2 slams +2 (1d4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 19, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Great Fortitude, Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +12, Perception +8
So now he's a 2 CR creature and this makes a lot more sense. Only thing is, how he's definitely Improved Familiar, probably at level 7, which puts him on par with a mephit, quasit or imp and he doesn't compare to them at all. They all have spell abilities and this guy basically has nothing you'd want your familiar to use. Additionally, he's a medium creature, which I certainly don't want.
So, what about the young template:
-1 CR
Size decrease by one category; AC reduce natural armor by –2 (minimum +0); Attacks decrease damage dice by 1 step; Ability Scores –4 Strength, –4 Con, +4 size bonus to Dex.
This makes him a 1 CR creature which would be Improved Familiar level 3 or 5?
So I'm caught kind of in the middle. We are starting the game at 6th level. Witches MUST start with a familiar - so I'd take bat. I would want to upgrade to a sylvanshee at 7th level, but calling a new familiar would be 3500 gp.
And while yes, a witch having a flying black cat familiar is kind of cool, it's not nearly as cool as a flying monkey.
Anyone have any ideas?
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If you can rustle up a copy of Dragon #334, you'll find stats for a flying monkey in the Monsters of Arabia feature. The flying monkey presented in the magazine is only CR 1/3. The creature is a Tiny Magical Beast with 1HD and two special abilities called Drop Stones and Group Snatch.
Drop Stones is just what it sounds like. The monkey is adept at dropping rocks on you. Group Snatch is a tactic employed by four or more flying monkeys that allows them to carry Small creatures into the air or Medium creatures if there are enough monkeys. Despite being Magical Beasts, they only have Low Light Vision and not Darkvision.
There's no mention of how they might serve as familiars, but they've got 5 INT and Drop Stones is a special attack they can use alone so I'd say they count as an improved familiar for a caster with the minimum level(7) for the Improved Familiar feat.
Drop Stones lets the monkey drop small rocks with a range increment of 60ft and no maximum range for 1d4 damage. The damage isn't affected by their low strength (STR 6) since gravity is doing most of the work. I imagine a familiar monkey could easily be taught to drop other light items like acid flasks and alchemist fire.
Thank you so much for the replies. This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for!