So, lets say I take 10 levels of a sepentine bloodline sorcerer. I have a viper familiar.
1) Can I take improved familiar to upgrade the viper to a different creature entirely?
2) Can I take the feat Wasp Familiar? (assume I multiclass out of sorcerer so as to avoid a different arguement entirely)
3) How does Wasp Familiar interact with Improved Familiar? Wasp familiar specifically states that I can't have 2 familiars... Would it just result in having a higher level wasp? a higher level Improved Familiar?
And another question.
I take a bloodline familiar for my 1st level bloodline ability, then multiclass into Arcanist and take the Bloodline Development exploit. Will the two stack, allowing my Bloodline Familiar to continue scaling alongside my Arcanist levels?
Before I can answer any of these questions, do you have a link for how you obtained this familiar? From what I can see in the Familiar Folio, Serpentine is not given as a bloodline familiar option. I only nitpick because if it was house-ruled that you could gain a familiar as a Serpentine, on the condition that its a viper, then there's a good chance your GM isn't going to let you replace it with something else, and none of the rules will back you up since the entire thing is based on a house rule in the first place.
However, generally, it appears that:
1. A regular viper familiar could be replaced by improved familiar.
2. A viper familiar could be replaced by a wasp familiar with Imp statistics.
3. You could take Improved Familiar with Wasp familiar, but all it would let you do is replace the wasp with something from the improved list. Nothing about Improved Familiar implies that it in any way grants effective levels for familiars, so you would be qualifying for the feat with your wasp familiar, but only gaining the option to instead select from the improved list. Legality aside, there's an incredibly good chance that a GM would rule that replacing your Wasp Familiar would piss off your deity and cause you to lose it, especially since you ARE given a viable way to improve the familiar (by taking Wasp familiar twice and using Imp stats).
EDIT:
Also, as far as I can tell, the Arcanist ability ought to work with the bloodline familiar ability.
Before I can answer any of these questions, do you have a link for how you obtained this familiar? From what I can see in the Familiar Folio, Serpentine is not given as a bloodline familiar option. I only nitpick because if it was house-ruled that you could gain a familiar as a Serpentine, on the condition that its a viper, then there's a good chance your GM isn't going to let you replace it with something else, and none of the rules will back you up since the entire thing is based on a house rule in the first place.
However, generally, it appears that:
1. A regular viper familiar could be replaced by improved familiar.
2. A viper familiar could be replaced by a wasp familiar with Imp statistics.
3. You could take Improved Familiar with Wasp familiar, but all it would let you do is replace the wasp with something from the improved list. Nothing about Improved Familiar implies that it in any way grants effective levels for familiars, so you would be qualifying for the feat with your wasp familiar, but only gaining the option to instead select from the improved list. Legality aside, there's an incredibly good chance that a GM would rule that replacing your Wasp Familiar would piss off your deity and cause you to lose it, especially since you ARE given a viable way to improve the familiar (by taking Wasp familiar twice and using Imp stats).EDIT:
Also, as far as I can tell, the Arcanist ability ought to work with the bloodline familiar ability.
I got the Viper familiar as per the 3rd level serpentfriend power. In the second scenario with Bloodline Familiar, I have a different bloodline. Or, technically crossblooded. My build revolves around the clause that states if you get a familiar from different sources, their levels stack to determine total familiar level. As of right now, at 20th CL, the familiar is level 117!
but to make sure I understand:
In 2), the wasp replaces the viper, but their levels still stack for purposes of determining the familiar level.
In 3), it seems to be dependant on the timing. ie: If I take Wasp Familiar then Improved Familiar, I get an improved familiar and probably piss of my deity. If I upgrade an old familiar with Improved Familiar then take Wasp Familiar, I end up with a wasp familiar and the Improved Familiar feat is effectively wasted.
My build revolves around the clause that states if you get a familiar from different sources, their levels stack to determine total familiar level. As of right now, at 20th CL, the familiar is level 117!
but to make sure I understand:
You don't. :-)
Basically, the stacking of familiar levels mean that all levels that can count toward a familiar does. Sorcerer 3/Arcanist 2 will have a 5th level familiar. Not (3+2)+2 from effective sorcerer level + effective arcanist level. In other words, each level can only count once toward the familiar level. You are not stacking caster levels of the various classes.
Generally, without very special stuff, at 20th CL, you have a 20th CL familiar.
/cevah
My build revolves around the clause that states if you get a familiar from different sources, their levels stack to determine total familiar level. As of right now, at 20th CL, the familiar is level 117!
but to make sure I understand:
You don't. :-)
Basically, the stacking of familiar levels mean that all levels that can count toward a familiar does. Sorcerer 3/Arcanist 2 will have a 5th level familiar. Not (3+2)+2 from effective sorcerer level + effective arcanist level. In other words, each level can only count once toward the familiar level. You are not stacking caster levels of the various classes.
Generally, without very special stuff, at 20th CL, you have a 20th CL familiar.
/cevah
My bad, I abreviated CL to mean Character level rather than caster level. But I'm using tricks like variant multiclass witch and take Wasp Familiar to have levels count towards my familiar twice.
Though I don't want this to turn into an argument on wether or not that would grant 2 familiars, grant a super familiar, or grant 1 regular familiar, effectively making one of them useless. That is a question that I will bring up with the GM. I just want to ensure that certain things stack seperately first.
Improved familiar should allow you to upgrade your viper familiar, but expect some table variation. Wasp should also upgrade a viper familiar. But taking both improved and wasp would be redundant and a waste of a feat.
I’m not seeing much point in having a high CL familiar anyway. Assuming your DM lets you go past the 20 level chart, you’ll just end up with extra intelligence and natural armor. Which could be fun but not that powerful. Now if you tried to go for mauler, things could be interesting.
My bad, I abreviated CL to mean Character level rather than caster level. But I'm using tricks like variant multiclass witch and take Wasp Familiar to have levels count towards my familiar twice.
The variant multiclass does not give you familiar levels. It allows you to count you familiar as equal to your character level. It does not stask with levels that grant familiar. For example:
Wizard 20 w/variant multiclass witch gets the familiar the stats of a 20th CL familiar, not a 40th CL familiar. This is because the variant multiclass does not actually give you levels. Your familiar only advances 1 when you advance a level that counts towards familiars.Though I don't want this to turn into an argument on wether or not that would grant 2 familiars, grant a super familiar, or grant 1 regular familiar, effectively making one of them useless. That is a question that I will bring up with the GM. I just want to ensure that certain things stack seperately first.
While it is possible, it is quite difficult to have more than one familiar at a time. Scan the boards to learn how.
I’m not seeing much point in having a high CL familiar anyway. Assuming your DM lets you go past the 20 level chart, you’ll just end up with extra intelligence and natural armor. Which could be fun but not that powerful. Now if you tried to go for mauler, things could be interesting.
High CL gives high SR on a familiar.
/cevah