I had a question about whether or not a particular combo works like I think it does. I am working on an Inquisitor with a one level dip into a Foresight wizard - basically a fairly standard ranged Inquisitor with a magical knack and a fondness for arcane items. From this one level dip, I get the following two things:
1) A familiar, for which I want to select a Greensting Scorpion with the School Familiar archetype from Familiar Folio (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/familiar/familiar-arch etypes/school-familiar-familiar-archetype). This book does appear in the additional resources list, so this should be fine. This gives my familiar Ever Ready, which among other things allows him to always act in the surprise round.
2) Forewarned, which allows me to always act in the surprise round.
At Inquisitor level 3, I gain Solo Tactics and a free teamwork feat. Solo Tactics reads:
"all of the inquisitor’s allies are treated as if they possessed the same teamwork feats as the inquisitor for the purpose of determining whether the inquisitor receives a bonus from her teamwork feats"
I take Lookout as my teamwork feat:
"Whenever you are adjacent to an ally who also has this feat, you may act in the surprise round as long as your ally would normally be able to act in the surprise round. . . If both you and your ally would be able to act in the surprise round without the aid of this feat, you may take both a standard and a move action (or a full-round action) during the surprise round."
Now, as I understand this, both myself and my familiar are always able to act in the surprise round. Solo Tactics allows me to treat any allies as if they had my teamwork feats, so I can treat my familiar as if it had Lookout. Since we can both act in the surprise round, and (from my perspective) we both have Lookout, I can take a standard and a move action in the surprise round (my familiar cannot, as he doesn't actually have Lookout). Is this correct?
The feat Animal Ally (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/animal-ally) grants you an animal companion; judging my the name of the feat, the animal companion would be an ally, right? If an animal companion would be considered an ally, it seems reasonable that a familiar would as well.
@Ascalaphus, thanks! Yeah, it won't always work, but I enjoyed the idea of a magical flavor to my Inquisitor, and I get lots of other benefits from the Foresight dip (all arcane wands, level 0-2 arcane scrolls with my 14 Int score and Magical Knack trait, Prescience school ability, +4 initiative from the Greensting, +1 initiative from Forewarned, plus a handful of cantrips and 1-level spells for casting). If I can wire up the ability to always full-round act in any surprise round, that's just extra goodness :).
|
Make sure you're aware that the School Familiar archetype requires the School Familiar feat on page 14 of Familiar Folio (the feat requires that your effective familiar level be 5 or higher). You may need to take Boon Companion to get the familiar to a high enough level, since without more levels of wizard, it just counts as a 1st-level familiar.
Familiars definitely count as allies (saying "it's a class feature so it's not an ally" would be absurd). If you do qualify for the familiar archetype by getting the feat, the combo definitely works.
Make sure you're aware that the School Familiar archetype requires the School Familiar feat on page 14 of Familiar Folio
Well drat. I don't actually own Familiar Folio yet, as I am still just planning this character and haven't played him yet. I can't find School Familiar in the list of feats on D20 (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats); are you sure that is the right name? I don't know if this combo would be worth burning two feats for in an already feat-starved build, so I'd like to research it more before buying Familiar Folio.
Try Archives of Nethys; it has all the feats in there.
|
|
I also couldn't find it on d20pfsrd, weirdly. I couldn't see it on Archives of Nethys, either (but I found Greater School Familiar there).
An alternate option is, instead of a familiar, find a way to get an animal companion with the Bodyguard archetype (possibly by being a Sacred Huntsmaster inquisitor, an amazingly good archetype). They always act in the surprise round too, so you'd get your move/standard in a surprise round.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Try Archives of Nethys; it has all the feats in there.
Thanks, they did have it; this is the first time I've seen D20 not have something. Weird.
Regardless, this does put a damper on things. This is why I ask before I buy. Thanks!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I just found School Familiar on the list of feats in Archives of Nethys.
An alternate option is, instead of a familiar, find a way to get an animal companion with the Bodyguard archetype (possibly by being a Sacred Huntsmaster inquisitor, an amazingly good archetype). They always act in the surprise round too, so you'd get your move/standard in a surprise round.
Excellent idea, I had strongly considered Sacred Huntsmaster, but didn't know of a way to make the AC always act in the surprise round; bodyguard looks perfect! Might have to give that a try.
Thanks!
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Another idea, is use the Familiar Adept archetype for your wizard dip. You give up Spell Focus, but you don't need to take the School Familiar feat.
|
|
Another idea, is use the Familiar Adept archetype for your wizard dip. You give up Spell Focus, but you don't need to take the School Familiar feat.
Hey, good find! That might make this concept work out with the original plan!
Since levels mentioned in a class or archetype are class level by default, I think it requires too large a dip for the OP, since the OP is counting on the lesser school power.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have the unfair advantage of having written that archetype as a freelancer, along with nearly all the archetypes and familiar archetypes in the book. That's also partly how I knew that d20pfsrd was missing the feats.
The Familiar Adept archetype is a great find, though the level 4 restriction does put a damper on things. With the Magical Knack trait, though, my caster level gets a +2 trait bonus - does this impact the familiar level? If so, that would get me up to CL 3 with a one level wizard dip, so I would only need a 2nd dip to get what I need. Not sure if even just one additional level dip is worth it, though. Any ideas on other ways I could increase my CL by 1 more, without an additional dip? Boon companion is always an option, and one feat seems like a better price than an additional level dip.
I am planning on going the ranged route with my inquisitor; does the Sacred Huntsmaster work as well with the ranged style? Most teamwork feats seem rather melee-centric.
