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In Blood of the Night, Vampiric Companion is not currently listed as legal. I assume this is because it is under the Vampiric feats, but it also works for Dhampirs, albeit in a slightly less interesting form: The familiar gains Fast Healing 5 and "your dhampir weaknesses." Since the other prerequisite is ten levels of familiar-granting classes, this isn't something you could take on a low-level character; by the time you get to level 10 the Fast Healing 5 doesn't strike me as particularly overpowered. Beyond that, it grants no benefits, and since the familiar is now type "Undead" and Sensitive to Sunlight to boot, it's not something you'd want to take on a lark.
The roleplaying concerns of an undead familiar are (hopefully) relatively easily addressed at high-tier tables, especially since the player has made it through ten levels dealing with the roleplaying concerns of being a dhampir, so I don't see any negatives to legalizing it.
The positives, of course, are that it opens up more interesting roleplay--your necromancer dhampir now has an undead Imp on his shoulder! creepy!--and it allows people to take the much-desired and hard-to-get undead familiar. Besides which, it's restricted to dhampir boons, which are very hard to come by, but makes them even more desirable, so they might be utilized again in the future by the campaign staff.
So, I propose it become legal. Thoughts?
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I don't know.. one the one hand.. familiars @ 10th level are kinda fragile (nearly lost mine WITH a save in a recent scenario) but you can't tell me that Fast healing 5 is 'not that much.
I'd imagine you'd see some really NASTY uses for familiar then. (Like an undead familar suddenly getting Form of Dragon 1 and a bunch of buffs that makes it nasty)
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why is the feat different than the one in the rival guide, but has the same (almost) name? i made a big post that made me look dumb because it wasn't anywhere near the wording of that one lol. i don't see why it would be banned either. although gaining the undead type would suddenly grant it a bunch of immunities.
Just as your undead existence mocks nature, so too are you granted a twisted companion that reflects the vile nature of vampirism.
Prerequisites: Dhampir or vampire, nongood alignment, 10 levels in a class that grants a familiar or animal companion.
Benefit: Your animal companion or familiar's type
changes to "undead." The creature gains your vampire
or dhampir weaknesses and fast healing 5 · If you are a
vampire, the creature also gains the following abilities...
<stuff you don't get because you'r not a vampire>
Special: If your animal companion or familiar is
destroyed, dismissed, or lost, you may apply the effects of
this feat to the replacement creature. If you are destroyed,
the creature retains its undead type but loses all other
special abilities from this feat. If you have more than one
animal companion or familiar, choose one of them when
you select this feat and apply its effects to that creature.
You may select this feat more than once. Each time you
select the feat, it applies to a different animal companion
or familiar.
Prerequisite: Vampire, Charisma 18, animal companion class ability, sufficiently high level (see below)
Benefit: A vampire with this feat can elect to use its create spawn ability on an animal summoned using the child of the night ability (such as a dire bat, dire rat, or wolf ) to create a vampiric animal companion. This decision must be made as a free action as the vampire slays the animal with its blood drain or energy drain ability. The animal rises from death in 1d4 days as a vampiric animal bonded with the vampire who spawned it. Thereafter, the vampiric animal advances in abilities like a normal animal companion as the vampire gains further class levels in the class that granted the animal companion.
In order to gain a dire rat as a vampiric companion, a vampire’s effective druid level must be 4th. To gain a wolf as an vampiric companion, the vampire’s effective druid level must be 6th. To gain a dire bat vampiric companion, the vampire’s effective druid level must be 9th. At your option, additional animals could be added to this list—use these examples as guides to set minimum levels. Vampiric animal companions count toward the total number of Hit Dice a vampire may enslave, as well as toward the limit of animal companions the character may have at any one time. Any vampiric animal companion the vampire creates that would exceed such limits becomes a free-willed undead. A vampire may also free a vampiric companion in order to enslave a new one, but once freed, the vampiric animal cannot be enslaved again.
A vampiric animal’s statistics are identical to those of the original animal, save for the following changes.
Its type changes to undead with the augmented animal subtype.
It gains a +4 natural armor bonus.
It gains the blood drain vampire special attack.
It gains an energy drain attack (1 level, DC equal to 10 + 1/2 the animal companion’s racial HD + the animal companion’s Charisma modifier).
It gains the dominate vampire special attack with respect to animals of its type.
It gains channel resistance +2, DR 5/silver, resist cold and electricity 10, fast healing 2, and the vampire qualities of gaseous form and shadowless.
It gains all of the standard vampire weaknesses.
It gains Str +2, Dex +2, and Cha +4.
It does not gain the vampire’s children of the night or create spawn abilities.
edited because i frickin type too slow.
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Venture-Agent, Virginia—Newport News
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although gaining the undead type would suddenly grant it a bunch of immunities.
It would also cause certain PCs (Pharasman clerics, Oath against Undeath Paladins) to be honor-bound to destroy it on sight, a problem similar to the Undead Lord's corpse companion.
Remember what happened to the Undead Lord?
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although gaining the undead type would suddenly grant it a bunch of immunities.It would also cause certain PCs (Pharasman clerics, Oath against Undeath Paladins) to be honor-bound to destroy it on sight, a problem similar to the Undead Lord's corpse companion.
Remember what happened to the Undead Lord?
I always thought this was more of a "The table has grinded to a halt as the necromancer applies templates to that thing we just killed" and "Does the Corpse Companion body carry over, since there's no legal source for 'A dead guy' or 'dead tiger.'" 'Cause if it was a problem with the fact undead exist... there's still Bones Oracles and standard Necromancy.