Look up the alien animals from Numeria and Iron Gods.
Personally I enjoy the normal familiars. I love my owl. Enjoyed a Raven once as well.
If your GM is willing to do the conversion from 3.5, look at the Grimalkin (Monster Manual II). Everything should come across as-is except the polymorph ability, which might need to become beast shape, and the skill conversions.
Originally a sort of boutique pet, they are kinda perfect as familiars: they're described as having malleable personalities that take on a disposition similar to their owner, speak common, and have a nice empathy ability that allows them to pick up the surface emotions of creatures they can see within 50 ft (Will negates). The shapeshifting is more playful and reactive to the environment, but still a handy thing, since they could turn into a form that can, say, grasp a wand or other item that you might need to help you.
They are also described as being "chatty creatures" which can give your GM some opportunities to inject some levity into the game, or just RP in general by interacting with you and the party.
As a GM I might rule you'd need Improved Familiar to do this, but it sounds like you've been green-lighted to go wild.
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You may need to be more specific on "ANY"... because, for example, a Maharaja Rakshasa (including the unique Rajadhirajas) is a medium sized creature.
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Good point. The Maharaja would be a pretty strong. One of the least servile creatures around though, which makes him a bit prickly as a servant and familiar.
What about the Nightripper?
http://www.archivesofnethys.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Nightripper
Our boy Riktus Scroon is medium and he's used to being employed by others. Plus you can give him wands like other Improved familiars. He has four arms and UMD of +37 so he will be okay. Terrible menace, mind.
If you can go fantastic, mini griffin with the halves being raven and black cat, for the ultimate goth vibe, winged monkey, a classic, if you read Steven Brust pick anything from Dragaera.
On a more mundane level, chimpanzee, St. Bernard (mainly for the brandy cask), pangolan, to make folks think it is a magical beast.
A duplicate of yourself, one size category smaller but otherwise exact. Name it "Mini-Me."
A duplicate of yourself, one size category smaller but otherwise exact. Name it "Mini-Me."
I think he was two size categories.
A dust mite. Might or might not be in your bestiaries, depending on your cleaning habits.
Have a look at the work of arvalis. He's mostly known for his Realistic Pokemon, but also does artwork of dinosaurs and other creatures.
http://arvalis.deviantart.com/gallery/39915677/Realistic-Pokemon
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A dust mite. Might or might not be in your bestiaries, depending on your cleaning habits.
Mite be, mite not be.
I second mini-me and yes he is one eighth your size, so two size categories, though small would probably work a little better than tiny mechanics wise
For lols, I'd choose human.
Pig. Or a pug.
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Then I would go for a personal totem/ spirit animal, family heraldic device, or somesuch for appearance. Perhaps a chimeric thing composed of features from the top three or so animals whose symbolic association works for the character.
The OP has not said his character has the Improved Familiar Feat.
With this in mind, the Familiar should not be that much more powerful.
A cool way to change up the regular Familiars is to add a Template to them.
With this you could have a:
Construct spider
Dire Owl
Flaming Toad
Shadow Viper
Skeleton Chicken
Or the Blob of Mana could merge with a person. Giving you the Instructor Wizard Archetype.
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Get a Lantern Archon.
No joke. They were allowed in 3.5 (after jumping through feat hoops), thus they have precedent as a familiar creature.
They are CR 2 but only on a technicality. They fly, teleport at will, cast Aid at will, DR 10, shoot lasers which bypass all DR, I am not kidding. They even have a strength score and are described as carrying things so you could give them a wand. Communication is not a problem as they have Truespeech.
OP, ask your GM for one of these little angels, and show them some old 3.5 book to help your case, I think it is Planar Handbook or Book of Exalted Deeds.
Lasers!
Cheshire Cat
Flubber
Dobby the Houself
Flapping Bird
Minion(megamind) complete with glass ball fitted atop your favorite staff
Either the blue snake or the shiny collecting mole from Fantastic Beasts and where to find them
The hand from Adams Family
Picmen
Bunicula
CatORPillar- shapeshifter between a cat and and a medium pillar
Harvey the pooka(as movie not RAW)
The hand is called "thing" I think it once dated a female hand named "amijig"
Succubus , go hot or go home.
Mantis shrimp.
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If you can go fantastic, mini griffin with the halves being raven and black cat,
Yes, this is a fun option. Pick a bigger monster, and make a smaller version of it.
Instead of an owlbear, for instance, have a bearowl, with the head of a bear, the wings of an owl, and a sort of tauric griffon body that includes the forelegs of an owl and the hindquarters of a bear. Instead of being a mindless rage-monster that eats anything, like an owlbear, it's perpetually sleepy and goodnatured, but a finicky eater.
For an improved familiar, a tiny steampunk-looking gearworks iron golem, able to belch out a stinking cloud (instead of a cloudkill) once per day. (Or a variant, belching out a stinking cloud that only fills one adjacent 5 ft. square multiple times a day).
Other themes of the wizard could come into play. If he's an item-crafter, perhaps he has a sentient ioun stone familiar, that can interpose itself to block attacks (and is as hard as adamantine). If he's into botany, he might have a crawling vine that clings to his upper torso and leaches nutrients directly from his body, and can produce pollen with certain effects on adjacent folk, or has sharp thorns that jab anyone contacting the wizard, or assists him with grapples (or getting out of grapples or swallow whole situations...).