Toughness and Familiars


Rules Questions

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Ferious Thune wrote:
It's still only going to grant 3 HP, since familiars are 1 HD.
Quote:
Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master’s character level or the familiar’s normal HD total, whichever is higher.


rules for familiars wrote:
Use the basic statistics for a creature of the familiar’s kind, but with the following changes.

Basic statistics, so I'd say no to swapping out feats.

wrote:
Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master’s character level or the familiar’s normal HD total, whichever is higher.

Is toughness an effect?

wrote:
Hit Points: The familiar has half the master’s total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.

So, that would make me believe toughness is a no go. Hit dice aren't considered for familiars, period.

Best case scenario, you'd get a whopping 3 more hit points.

Share spells; cast false life or greater false life on your familiar and move on.


"Graymalkin, I was going through the catalog, and i can't help but notice that the belt of con +2 has already been filled in on the order sheet in red ink, and that you seem to have a bit of red ink on your paws...


Koi Eokei wrote:
rules for familiars wrote:
Use the basic statistics for a creature of the familiar’s kind, but with the following changes.

Basic statistics, so I'd say no to swapping out feats.

wrote:
Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master’s character level or the familiar’s normal HD total, whichever is higher.

Is toughness an effect?

wrote:
Hit Points: The familiar has half the master’s total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.

So, that would make me believe toughness is a no go. Hit dice aren't considered for familiars, period.

Best case scenario, you'd get a whopping 3 more hit points.

Share spells; cast false life or greater false life on your familiar and move on.

Toughness itself is not an effect. It is a feat. But what is the effect of the toughness feat? The effect is you gain 3 hit points, +1 per additional hit die beyond 3. So the effect of Toughness is tied to the number of hit dice. As such, the masters level would increase the number of hit points a familiar gains from the Toughness feat.

If a familiar can benefit from the Toughness feat, it would use the masters level as its effective number of hit dice, and gain an appropriate number of hit points.


I would allow mauler's endurance to work (which as written shouldn't), but I couldn't allow toughness (even though its written with similar ambiguous language).
I don't understand how a fighter 11/wizard 1 with 114 hit points would have a mauler familiar with the endurance feat to have 57+24 hit points who could then get toughness somehow, to gain +12 more hit points.
(Except if I'm allowing "half the master's hit points" to effectively become just a base amount of hit points, then his giant isopod familiar should then be allowed to gain his Con bonus (+2)/per hit dice as bonus hit points as well for an extra +24.

constitution wrote:

You apply your character’s Constitution modifier to:

•Each roll of a Hit Die (though a penalty can never drop a result below 1—that is, a character always gains at least 1 hit point each time he advances in level).

Well, my familiar isn't rolling hit die, it just HAS hit dice, and gains effective hit die every time I level. So, I'll let it swing. The rules for familiars don't say not to.

Master 114 hit points. Familiar 117 hit points.

I have to allow bonus hit points for con otherwise if my isopod familiar takes 13 ability point of con damage. It would have a constitution score of 1 and not lose any points...

Hit Points: The familiar has half the master’s total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.


Really this is an order-of-operations question - do you change the hp to half it's masters then add the Toughness, or do you add Toughness to what it's HP would be, then change the HP? I'd consider it to be the latter. Toughness applies to what the HP would have been, and then the familiar specific rules otherwise overrides that total.

I will say, in my own games, I'd allow the +3 Hp from Toughness if someone really wanted it. It's 3 HP, not going to break the bank.


Many improved familiars have toughness. That would fall under the "basic statistics for a creature of it's kind." Then you make the following changes: "half of master's hit points."

As a DM I would just change mauler's endurance to say 75% of master's hit points, so the whole can of worms stays closed.


Koi Eokei wrote:
Many improved familiars have toughness. That would fall under the "basic statistics for a creature of it's kind." Then you make the following changes: "half of master's hit points."

This. If the creature has Toughness as a feat, it had Toughness added to its hit points before it became a familiar. Then it becomes a familiar and its hit points get overwritten.


^^Exactly.


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I prefer familiars that have tenderness.


Coquelicot Dragon wrote:
I prefer familiars that have tenderness.

Like a familiar teddy bear you can snuggle with when you're the last surviving member in your party and you're struggling to pass the night without an encounter to get your spells back.

Scarab Sages

If a familiar had toughness before it becomes a familiar, then that sounds like a great candidate for a feat to swap out for something like Familiar Focus or Critical Conduit.


Koi Eokei wrote:
Like a familiar teddy bear you can snuggle with

Really, you just don't want to overcook them.

Scarab Sages

I know it doesn't work this way, but it would be mildly amusing if increasing the familiars HP increased its masters HP. Raven has 3 hp, master has 6. Give familiar toughness so it has 6, master jumps to 12 HP.

Scarab Sages

Ruske Bell wrote:
I know it doesn't work this way, but it would be mildly amusing if increasing the familiars HP increased its masters HP. Raven has 3 hp, master has 6. Give familiar toughness so it has 6, master jumps to 12 HP.

If the master takes tribal scars, the fear, they'll have +6 hp and their familiar will have +3.

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