Enjoyed Oliver Diaz and John E. Ling Jr.'s piece on familiars. You can never have too many options for choosing familiars. Frankly, the substitution of the platypus for the hedgehog was inspired. INspired! I say: Inspired!
I have to admit, though, that the first thought that popped into my head when I read that you'd added dog and rabbit to the familiar list was that ....
.... dogs and rabbit make very good Meals Ready to Eat.
"Your adventuring party is now exploring Maure Castle for the second straight month. Food and water have been scarce, and you haven't seen the sky in all that time. And, oh yes, your cohort is eyeing your familiar hungrily."
So who do you keep happy? The cohort or the familiar? It's not like you can order out for KFC or anything.
Is that what you meant by the "flavoring" part of the title?
I haven't seen the article yet, so I'm not quite sure what it looks like or how Mike blended the stuff from me and Oliver into a cohesive unit. But I've never let a lack of knowledge keep me from commenting on something before. :D
I'm glad you liked the platypus. I also like when wizards have options for familiars, and I've always found the platypus to be a fascinating creature. I find familiars tend to get ignored, and my hope with the article was to provde some good alternatives that would allow a familiar to remain in the foreground more.
As for substituting the hedgehog stats for the platypus - I originally wrote the article in the 700 word format, so the goal was to provide a quick reference for where to find the stats. Hedgehog seemed like the best solution statistically.
The dog started the entire article idea for me, actually. One of my players once asked if he could have a dog as a familiar. He was pretty clear he wanted just a plain ol' lazy mutt, not a guard dog or riding dog or anything like that. It was fun and, well, flavorful. And so the original article was born.
After I get my copy of 341 I'll offer up some more comments. I have no doubt, though, that Mike did a masterful job blending my work and Oliver's work into a cohesive unit.
So .... what you're saying is, that no one ate the dog?
Hmmmmm.
Again, though, a tip of the hat on the platypus. Subbing the hedgehog stats for the platypus makes PERFECT sense, yet I'm sure no one's ever thought of doing so. And the article is right -- a platypus is the perfect animal for an eccentric wizard.
I'm sure NPCs would take one look at the platypus and say "What the heck is that?"
So .... what you're saying is, that no one ate the dog?
Hmmmmm.
No, mostly the dog laid at his feet and growled at anybody who approached.
Again, though, a tip of the hat on the platypus. Subbing the hedgehog stats for the platypus makes PERFECT sense, yet I'm sure no one's ever thought of doing so. And the article is right -- a platypus is the perfect animal for an eccentric wizard.
Thanks. :)
My copy didn't come in today's mail, either; so I'll have to wait until at least Monday before I see the wonderful job Mike did putting things together.
I'm sure NPCs would take one look at the platypus and say "What the heck is that?"
That was one of the reasons to add it. :D It's such an odd looking critter...
Yay! My copy finally arrived today. Now I can look at the article and talk about what's there. Woohoo!
I sure wish the artist had worked a platypus into the art. My guess is he didn't know how to draw one. :D :D
It looks like Mike did a masterful job blending our two articles together. Kudos, Mike!
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Yay! My copy finally arrived today. Now I can look at the article and talk about what's there. Woohoo!
I sure wish the artist had worked a platypus into the art. My guess is he didn't know how to draw one. :D :D
It looks like Mike did a masterful job blending our two articles together. Kudos, Mike!
Thanks! :)
I'll take the blame for lack of platypus. I should have mentioned it in the art order. As it turns out, that art piece is still HEElarious. The monkey is grooming Hennet and he looks soooo pouty! LOL!!! :D I still laugh every time I look at that art, and I've seen it plenty of times. :)
Indeed. I loved the monkey. I didn't even see the other critters at first, to be honest. I was laughing over the monkey and my wife's like, "You do see the other animals, too, right?" :)
Oliver had some nice ideas for familiars that went really well with my article. The two mixed together quite well.
I belive that there should be more platypus in Dragon as well.
Fun article, Zherog.
:)
Thanks, Chris. But make sure Oliver gets his share of the credit too - he wrote half of the article. ;)
I'm going to be starting in a new play-by-post game on another messsage board soon, and I was thinking of doing a caster. If I go arcane, I'm totally using the platypus. :D
See the platypus ...
Feel the platypus ...
BE the platypus.
I think that for any future games I DM, I will invoke the platypus rule anytime my spellcasters forget to factor in their familiars. Their regular family will reject them and it will always be replaced by a platypus. There's no way a spellcaster can forget their familiar when it's a platypus.
The platypus is one of my favorite critters. I think Mother Nature was stoned out of her mind when she first created it. :D
Must have been the happy mushrooms she made and then had with a light butter sauce. :-P
The platypus is one of my favorite critters. I think Mother Nature was stoned out of her mind when she first created it. :D
A Neurotic, Poo-flinging, coffee-making Paranoid Monkey..Spider Monkey at that who wears a vest of Immense Holding....'I fling poo at the Anchient Red Dragon'
I know I'm a little late to post on this subject, but I was just rooting around and found my name (Oliver) popping up.
I too like Mike's little Article Golems...blending parts of various authors together into one mean editorial construct.
Mike how you guys doing over there? Need any more slave labor hehe?
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I know I'm a little late to post on this subject, but I was just rooting around and found my name (Oliver) popping up.
I too like Mike's little Article Golems...blending parts of various authors together into one mean editorial construct.
Mike how you guys doing over there? Need any more slave labor hehe?
Yeah, Oliver, shoot some queries my way! :)
Ah, my cohort in crime... er, writing... my cohort in writing has made an appearance. *waves*