Hiya.
Obviously, the GM allowing me to train an animal would be the quickest, but I mean using the rules, what the fastest, legit way?
I'm assuming maybe a dedication, or something, but a quick scan didn't net me anything.
I'm not looking for optimization either; I just want a owl I can name Hoo Dunnit.
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The quickest ways to get an owl familiar would probably be:
1.) Play a gnome and take the 1st level ancestry feat Animal Accomplice.
(Note that the feat doesn't require you to choose an animal with a burrowing speed, but if you want to there are these adorable owls.)
2.) Play an elf, select the Ancient Elf Heritage, and then choose the Witch Multiclass Dedication.
Either will get you an owl familiar at 1st level.
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If you don't want to take those ancestry paths, you could wait until 2nd level and:
1.) Take the Familiar Master Dedication.
2.) Take the Witch Multiclass Dedication.
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Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other options that become available before 4th level.
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There are some ancestries which give you the possibility to get a familiar:
- Gnome
- Kitsune
- Gnoll
- Sprite
- Ratfolk
- Human ( Versatile Heritage > Adopted ancestry Gnome )...
I always forget about Adopted Ancestry.
But the Kitsune, Gnoll, Sprite, Ratfolk, (and Azarketi) ancestries don't allow you to choose an owl.
We must be pretty far away from each other. It's closing in on midnight here in California.
We must be pretty far away from each other. It's closing in on midnight here in California.Yeah, It's almost 9 A.M. here in Italy!
9 am is waaay too early for me to be awake. :)
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Beastmaster Archetype as well if you want your owl to fight alongside you aswell.
The quickest ways to get an owl familiar would probably be:
1.) Play a gnome and take the 1st level ancestry feat Animal Accomplice.
(Note that the feat doesn't require you to choose an animal with a burrowing speed, but if you want to there are these adorable owls.)
2.) Play an elf, select the Ancient Elf Heritage, and then choose the Witch Multiclass Dedication.
Either will get you an owl familiar at 1st level.
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If you don't want to take those ancestry paths, you could wait until 2nd level and:
1.) Take the Familiar Master Dedication.
2.) Take the [url=https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=44]Witch Multiclass Dedication[/url
Just chiming in with the pros and cons.
Gnome- Level 1, gets you a familiar with two abilities, but it has to be a burrowing owl, and one of those abilities will be Burrow.Elf- Level 1, gets you any owl, but it only gets one familiar ability until you spend another feat. The big upside is that you also get a cantrip. Investigator is a lot more fun if you have a magical attack you can make if you "predict" a bad roll with your weapon. And, it uses intelligence.
Human- Same as gnome, but you have a weirder backstory and it takes your heritage too.
Familiar Master- Level 2, but you get any owl with two familiar abilities and play any race. You can just keep spending more feats on your familiar with this. (You can combine this with any of the other options to instead upgrade your familiar.)
Witch Dedication- same as elf, but you can play any ancestry.
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Just chiming in with the pros and cons.
Gnome- Level 1, gets you a familiar with two abilities, but it has to be a burrowing owl, and one of those abilities will be Burrow.
...
It's easy to misremember the rule for Animal Accomplice. Choosing an animal with a burrowing speed is a flavor suggestion, but not a requirement.
The type of animal is up to you, but most gnomes choose animals with a burrow Speed.
You could choose a penguin with Amphibious and Darkvision, for example. I mentioned the burrowing owl just in case they wanted to embrace the usual Gnome preference.
You would need to take Flier, though.
If your familiar is an animal that naturally has one of these abilities (for instance, an owl has a fly Speed), you must select that ability.
There were flightless owls, but I don't think they would have qualified as Tiny. :)
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
I knew it was possible somehow, but when the ranger and wizard dedication didn't have anything, I was lost.
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Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
I knew it was possible somehow, but when the ranger and wizard dedication didn't have anything, I was lost.
Wizard Multiclass does work, but it is one of those 4th level options that I mentioned. You take the Dedication, and then at 4th level you take Basic Arcana and select the Familiar class feat. It will get you an owl familiar, but it's 4th level and two feats. You can take a similar approach with Magus MC or Sorcerer MC. Alchemist MC would let you have an owl-shaped familiar.
I'm not looking for optimization either; I just want a owl I can name Hoo Dunnit.
If you just want it for flavor with no mechanical benefit, as a GM I wouldn't make you spend much character build into it. Train Animal skill feat at most.
Like others have mentioned, the fastest way to get a familiar is through Ancestry options. So if you want some mechanical benefit to your owl, that would be the better option. Either that or getting an Animal Companion instead of a familiar.
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I got inspired by this thread so I whipped up a list of ways to get familiars and increase the number of their abilities.
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I got inspired by this thread so I whipped up a list of ways to get familiars and increase the number of their abilities.
I think that Leshy Familiar Secrets is important enough to include in the Druid's list of feats. It unlocks a few new abilities for the familiar that can't be gotten any other way.
I got inspired by this thread so I whipped up a list of ways to get familiars and increase the number of their abilities.
It still boggles the mind that an archetype witch's familiar would have less ailities than literally any othe familiar. Seems totally backwards.
It still boggles the mind that an archetype witch's familiar would have less ailities than literally any othe familiar. Seems totally backwards and against a RAW reading, especially after one takes into account the phrasing of Basic Witchcraft.
Nah, it boggles the mind that the Witch doesn't have the most useful familiar available. Druids with Leshy Familiar Secrets, Shadowcaster, Familiar Master, and even Elementalist all get unique abilities that their familiar can use. Witch might have more ability slots, but no additional unique abilities to put in them.
It still boggles the mind that an archetype witch's familiar would have less ailities than literally any othe familiar. Seems totally backwards.I got inspired by this thread so I whipped up a list of ways to get familiars and increase the number of their abilities.
It is purely a balance thing for comparing it to other multiclass dedications. A better way to think about it is your familiar has the same number of benefits, but one is locked in already: the extra cantip the dedication lets you prepare. And if you take the extra cantrip familiar ability the net result is a normal caster multiclass dedication.
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I think that Leshy Familiar Secrets is important enough to include in the Druid's list of feats. It unlocks a few new abilities for the familiar that can't be gotten any other way.I got inspired by this thread so I whipped up a list of ways to get familiars and increase the number of their abilities.
Thanks! I think I missed that one because the title was similar to Leshy Familiar. I added it, updated a few things, and added a list of specific familiars.