Ok, so I MAY be starting a campaign as a tattooed sorcerer, and I will be taking the Improved Familiar feat. I'm trying to decide between a Faerie Dragon and a Pseudodragon, and I'm having a really difficult time in doing so. The Faerie Dragon seems so much better in stats and the like, but the Pseudodragon just has some kind of weird charm about it...and a nice poison, but that's beside the point. What is the general consensus on these two choices? Are either actually good at all?
The magic the faerie dragon carries might end up being better. It has plenty of tricky magics that could be useful. It has both ghost sound and silent image, so possible jury rigging of an illusion. Mage hand to steal things at a distance. Invisibility to sneak in and out of tight spots.
Oh I agree, pseudo dragons seem much cooler, mostly due to their lack of butterfly wings, but the faerie dragon tends to be more useful. The poison might seem nice, but by the time you get the dragon, enemy fighters might be able to pass the fort save ~70% of the time. I'm fuzzy on whether such abilities scale, but it would likely not get much better, at least enough to just placing a familiar in such danger.
Plus, my knowledge over what familiars can use UMD (hands and all) is equally fuzzy, and the faerie dragon actually having the skill reassures me. Obviously just a bias based off of a personal problem, but it is still valid. It is also a 3rd level sorcerer, so it has the charisma for effective wand usage too.
What is the general consensus on these two choices? Are either actually good at all?
Pseudodragon are generaly considered lackluster familiars, their redeeming point is their blindsense.
The poison DC scaling on the master's level is DM fiat (whether or not it is an effect based on HD), so ask him first if you want to use it, otherwise you'll never make it work.Faerie dragons have more uses, first they cast spells as a sorcerer, so no die roll needed for most wands. Also they have good SLA, but lack some nice detection ability.
Both have telepathy if you want to keep contact, but telepathic bond is better for that.
If you are into good familiars and if your options are not set on those 2, I suggest you take a look at the lyrakien and the silvanshee.
The cat is the second fastest familiar, a decent backup cleric and an universal translator (think C3PO in cat form).
The little tinkerbell is the best one around at UMD, a decent archer with a good bow, have some of the best detection abilities, a crazy mobility (fly speed and freedom), and you'll have your own personal pin-up :D.
Both have nice SLA and init to make things better.
So it's lookin like I was right in the pseudodragon's being lackluster, but I have a question about the silvanshee's lay on hands...it says always as a 2nd level paladin, but does this ability scale as DCs for abilities do?
Only as a 2nd level pally. Does not improve with caster hd.
Ok that's what I thought. I'm gonna try to get a familiar with good UMD, so the Lyrakien looks awesome but there just seems to be something weird about being magically bonded to a small woman who can turn into a tattoo on my body. haha
Sorry about the double post, but what does everyone think of the Imp?
Imps are cool, but the whole "I'll drag you to hell at first opportunity" thing has always been a turn off.
Yeah...that's kinda true...basically, I'm going for one of two basic ideas:
The first would involve me being a Dhampir, CG, and would have a familiar in that realm of alignment (either CG, NG, or LG).
The second idea would see me play a Spite-Spawn (Div) Tiefling, LE, and I would have either a LE, N, or NE familiar.
Given that information, what would be a suitable familiar for me. If it helps, my character is a blasty Stormborn bloodline sorcerer.
Imp would be appropriate for an evil tiefling.
That's what I was thinking, and traveling with an imp would definitely be interesting. But my GM has some reservations about Tieflings and their resistances, so he MAY ask me to play the Dhampir instead, which I am ok with since I am currently playing a Tiefling in another campaign. If it were to happen like that, what familiars are capable of UMD?
Anything with thumbs that can speak. Thumbs optional.
I like the Psudodragon at mid-range levels. Not to say that its MORE powerful or useful or whatever, but the combination of blindsense and telepathy is pretty dang potent.
Since speaking/communication is a free action, against invisible foes, he can tell the fighter where to swing his pointy stick (or try a grapple), or tell the caster where to target his glitterdust.
If you're against an even moderately stealthy, mobile, invisible foe, targeting them can be a huge hassle, even for a spell effect like glitterdust, especially out in the open, and God forbid they're also flying. At low levels, it takes an extra round and spell slot (if its even prepared) to effectively do the same thing via See Invisibility + Glitterdust.
It'll always be useful, but later on can lose some of that effectiveness once people start getting permanent true seeing and the like.
Plus they're cool. But ultimately of course, it depends on what you want:
Detector - Pseudodragon
Scout - Imp
Backup Caster - Faerie Dragon
Spot healer - Silvanshee
Barbarian's best friend - Lyrakien (also great for fatigue/exhaustion removal if you use the Academae Graduate feat to summon as a standard action frequently)
Ok that's what I thought. I'm gonna try to get a familiar with good UMD, so the Lyrakien looks awesome but there just seems to be something weird about being magically bonded to a small woman who can turn into a tattoo on my body. haha
Be sure to have a heart tattoo in the background and a ribbon with her name on it. Easier to hide if you say "I got drunk, and the tattoo parlor was very close to the tavern."
The thing with UMD: it depends on the magical device. Some just need you to be able to say the command words. A scroll, for example, just needs to be read. The real question come up is whether you can justify how you familiar opens it without hands (of course, hirelings are cheap and expendable...). But most of the time, people are referring to wands for UMD. Yeah, you need at least a raccoon level of limb dexterity for that.
If you are going with pseudo-dragon, consider this feat:
New Feat: Impslayer
Many of Korvosa's nobles decorate their roofs with tiny amounts of precious metals, among them silver-lined weather vanes, shingles, and gutters designed to catch the sunlight to give their homes a distinctive sparkle in the sunlight. By spending years sharpening stings and teeth against these silver-enhanced decorations, or sneaking drinks of holy water from outdoor fonts at various temples, some pseudodragons have effectively transformed themselves into deadly weapons against the city's imps.
Prerequisites: Pseudodragon
Benefit:Your natural weapons bypass an imp's damage reduction. In addition, your great skill at fighting imps allows you to apply your Dexterity modifier to damage done with natural weapons rather than your Strength modifier, as your blows are delivered with great precision rather than force.
Special: Pseudodragons born and raised in Korvosa's Shingles gain this feat as a bonus feat.
James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief
Hmm...Swashbucklersdc, where is that feat from, and how would I go about getting my pseudodragon to get it? They don't usually get feats, do they?
It is from official errata for Korvosa in the blog section; here is the link:
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5la1b?Imps-and-Pseudodragons
This feat is automatically given to any pseudo-dragon from the Shingles area as a bonus feat, kinda like your PC starting with traits for a region.
So, backstory could be you are from Korvosa; when you get Improved Familiar, the pseudo-dragon that serves could have been a friend during growing up or even a familiar to your former master (who has passed on) and now wishes to serve his apprectice...
Erg...I'd have to get it approved...our group decided on playing in the Eberron setting from 3.5. Our GM is pretty easygoing though. Our party, as of now, is a Human Cavalier who will prestige to Mammoth Rider as soon as he can, a Catfolk Ranger focusing on archery, and a Warforged Fighter. He should allow it, considering how pitiful their attacks are at base.
Yeah, a sting of 1d3+2 and bite of 1d2+2 isn't going to break anything but does add a little more flavor for sure, =)
Rycaut: That would be an interesting thing to do...I would say take the bloodline portion of the class away from them, and make their progression somewhere in the ballpark of 1.5 or 2 times as slow as a regular PC, but keep the 1/2 HP as master clause of the familiar. I think that would be a nice trade-off. The familiar would contribute to the game and hep the party, but won't be overpowering.
Now, I would like to ask funny things that people have done with their familiars. I know of people who have their familiars carry things like alchemist's fire over the battle and drop it and other shenanigans, but I would like to hear from you guys if there is anything else special or funny that familiars have done in games you have played in.