RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Let me ask you all your opinion:
1) I see that a witch must pay a little bit of time and gold, to recover her familiar if one dies. How do you rule that works? In particular, if the characters were, say, sealed in a spaceship on its way to another planet, and the Witch called for a pig, where would it come from?
2) Does the recovered familiar need to be of the same species as the one that was killed?
3) Let's say my fighter decides to dip a level of Witch. Does the familiar automatically come, for free, or does the brand new witch need to summon the familiar for the first time, just as he would if he ere replacing a slain one?
My two cents:
1) A normal animal must be nearby(-ish) in order to be called as a familiar. So a witch on a spaceship would be out of luck, just like a wizard on a spaceship would be out of luck if his spellbook were destroyed.
2) Not sure; at the very least, Improved Familiar should work. Again, it should be compared to a spellbook being lost or destroyed.
3) The first one comes for free.
Let me ask you all your opinion:
1) I see that a witch must pay a little bit of time and gold, to recover her familiar if one dies. How do you rule that works? In particular, if the characters were, say, sealed in a spaceship on its way to another planet, and the Witch called for a pig, where would it come from?
2) Does the recovered familiar need to be of the same species as the one that was killed?
3) Let's say my fighter decides to dip a level of Witch. Does the familiar automatically come, for free, or does the brand new witch need to summon the familiar for the first time, just as he would if he ere replacing a slain one?
All in my opinion:
1) you're done, no familiar will ever come. it's up to you DM to make you find something2) I think it can be different
3) if I were your DM I'd give the first for free
but as I always state, the loss of a familiar must be considered a tragedy and a good DM should always try to avoid it if possible, so I would not mind too much about a loss of familiar
Let me ask you all your opinion:
1) I see that a witch must pay a little bit of time and gold, to recover her familiar if one dies. How do you rule that works? In particular, if the characters were, say, sealed in a spaceship on its way to another planet, and the Witch called for a pig, where would it come from?
I would allow you to bring back you lost familiar only. This is more for spellbook than anything, as if you lost your familiar as a witch you lose your whole spellbook as well. I would allow a player a way of resurecting his familiar and make up some fluff about it being because of the magical bond that exists between them, this is just a choice I made as a DM, not by RAW. However if summoning a new familiar, a normal version of the animal must exist somewhere near by to summon.
2) Does the recovered familiar need to be of the same species as the one that was killed?
You can summon any type of familiar that is available to you
3) Let's say my fighter decides to dip a level of Witch. Does the familiar automatically come, for free, or does the brand new witch need to summon the familiar for the first time, just as he would if he ere replacing a slain one?
You get the first one for free, just like a 1st level wizard or witch always does. You may want to make up a plot device to explain where it came from or something, but it shouldn't "cost" anything.
All right: thanks. Next question: if a witch's familiar were kidnapped and replaced with a doppelganger / evil twin / shapeshifter, etc. how difficult would it be for the witch to notice?
(And yes, obviously, I have something in mind.)
I thought they could sense things through familiars, and there is also he issue of not having access to certain spells. The ruse would not last a day most likely. I also can't see a witch letting the familiar out of eyesight, but that is another story.
All right: thanks. Next question: if a witch's familiar were kidnapped and replaced with a doppelganger / evil twin / shapeshifter, etc. how difficult would it be for the witch to notice?
(And yes, obviously, I have something in mind.)
Well, the Familiar and the Witch (but this is true also for the Familiar of an Arcane Bloodline Sorcerer or an Arcane Bond Familiar of a Wizard) share empathycally feelings and so on (see the Empathic Link special ability); I believe that, should something happen to her Familiar, the Witch would notice immediately. And even if her Familiar had simply been replaced by another one, she would immediately feel that she cannot 'perceive' anything from the 'doppleganger' (even if the familiar looks like her real one, she would not feel its emotions - the 'familiar' would only be an empty shell for her).
It would be like having a prosthetic arm, in a way; it LOOKS exactly like yours, but it DOESN'T FEEL like yours, and you even cannot feel anything through it...
All right: thanks. Next question: if a witch's familiar were kidnapped and replaced with a doppelganger / evil twin / shapeshifter, etc. how difficult would it be for the witch to notice?
(And yes, obviously, I have something in mind.)
The witch regains her spells by communing with her familiar, so it would have to be a pretty special shapeshifter to have the same property.
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Let me ask you all your opinion:
1) I see that a witch must pay a little bit of time and gold, to recover her familiar if one dies. How do you rule that works? In particular, if the characters were, say, sealed in a spaceship on its way to another planet, and the Witch called for a pig, where would it come from?
This is easy since everyone knows there are Pigs in Space.
On a more serious note since this is much akin to a wizard losing his spellbook and familiar all at once I would work with the player to make this work. Having a witch without a familiar is going to suck.
Very likely I would make the new familiar would be something that suits the previous familiar but would be more at home in the witch's current location (if it's that alien). Maybe it would be a space pig ;)
2) Does the recovered familiar need to be of the same species as the one that was killed?
This should be up to the character. I see no reason you should force them to stick to the same species.
3) Let's say my fighter decides to dip a level of Witch. Does the familiar automatically come, for free, or does the brand new witch need to summon the familiar for the first time, just as he would if he ere replacing a slain one?
Much like crack the first familiar is free.
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All right: thanks. Next question: if a witch's familiar were kidnapped and replaced with a doppelganger / evil twin / shapeshifter, etc. how difficult would it be for the witch to notice?
(And yes, obviously, I have something in mind.)
I imagine it would be similar to misplacing a limb. Doesn't King Missile have a song about this?
I imagine it would be similar to misplacing a limb. Doesn't King Missile have a song about this?
Wow,now I feel even older than I usually do. Gone are the days of "that song" and "Jesus Was Cool", but I remember them well . . .
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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All right. Another set of questions:
A witch gets his powers from a pact made with some entity:
... Generally feared and misunderstood, the witch draws her magic from
a pact made with an otherworldly power. Communing with that source, using her familiar as a conduit, the witch gains not only a host of spells, but a number of strange abilities known as hexes. As a witch grows in power, she might learn about the source of her magic, but some remain blissfully unaware. Some are even afraid of that source, fearful of what it might be or where its true purposes lie.
Has anybody considered what this pact is, or who these alien patrons might be? In particular, how is it that the familiar is a magical beast, and not a celestial or fiendish creature?
Thematically, how would a witch and a druid discuss the differences between their paths to authority in the world?
In particular, if the characters were, say, sealed in a spaceship on its way to another planet, and the Witch called for a pig, where would it come from?
(edit: The ogre got there first)
2) Does the recovered familiar need to be of the same species as the one that was killed?3) Let's say my fighter decides to dip a level of Witch. Does the familiar automatically come, for free, or does the brand new witch need to summon the familiar for the first time, just as he would if he ere replacing a slain one?
I'd say "whatever floats your boat"
Personally, I'd allow them to exchange familiars - but remember that they basically just lost their spellbook!
I'd also award the first one for free, regardless of whether your first class level in witch was your first, second, twenty-third, or one killionth character level.
Has anybody considered what this pact is, or who these alien patrons might be? In particular, how is it that the familiar is a magical beast, and not a celestial or fiendish creature?
There is no one single pact for all witches. It depends on the witch, where the witch comes from, and so on.
You can have a witch lie with devils to get dark powers from the Lower Spheres, and the pact would probably cost her soul and require her to do some acts of fealty, usually seducing others to the dark side.
You can have a witch have a sort of pact with magic itself, or other ideals, or a particular land.
Look at the Discworld witches for the latter. The witches of Lancre! Nanny Ogg even comes with a familiar, Greebo the cat. And Granny has even spoken with Lancre (not the people of Lancre, or the ruler of Lancre, but the Land itself) and taken on a job for it. While she doesn't have a dedicated familiar, she borrows so often that you might say she has an epic witch ability that lets her change familiars like Nanny used to change suitors.
And they're undoubtedly powerful: They go up against stories, fairy godmothers, vampires, elves, and sexism in magic!
Of course, the core rulebooks don't have a Headology skill yet...
Thematically, how would a witch and a druid discuss the differences between their paths to authority in the world?
Depends on their paths - though for druids, the path is narrower. Still very wide, though: They have to revere nature in some way. This can mean a hands-off approach, nature is balance, emulating the benevolence of animals caring for and protecting their young, or striving to copy the behaviour of the bloodiest predators, worshipping the pure elemental destruction nature can bring......
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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And, I'm afraid, yet another question.
One way the witch can protect the investment he makes in his familiar is to learn the feat "Scribe Scrolls" and use scrolls to "back up" the spells he carries about in his familiar.
So, let's say a 3rd Level Witch with a viper familiar scribes three copies of the spell shocking grasp onto scrolls. (Shocking grasp is not a spell that's normally on the Witch spell list, but it's the spell that the viper familiar gave its witch once he reached 2nd level.)
On Monday, the Witch gives one of the scrolls to his Rogue ally, who employs Use Magic Device to cast the spell. Does that work?
The opinion on the boards is that the Witch can switch out familiars. On Tuesday, the Witch elects to send his familiar away. He spends 500 gp per level, and 8 hours, and summons a rat familiar, who comes installed with 6 spells and detect undead as a bonus spell.
Can the Witch use the scroll to load shocking grasp into his new familiar?
On Wednesday, if the Witch gives the last remaining shocking grasp scroll to the Rogue, can she utilize Use Magic Device to cast the spell?
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And, I'm afraid, yet another question.
One way the witch can protect the investment he makes in his familiar is to learn the feat "Scribe Scrolls" and use scrolls to "back up" the spells he carries about in his familiar.
So, let's say a 3rd Level Witch with a viper familiar scribes three copies of the spell shocking grasp onto scrolls. (Shocking grasp is not a spell that's normally on the Witch spell list, but it's the spell that the viper familiar gave its witch once he reached 2nd level.)
On Monday, the Witch gives one of the scrolls to his Rogue ally, who employs Use Magic Device to cast the spell. Does that work?
Should do as it's just a scroll with a spell on it. To the Rogue it makes no differnce if a witch, wizard or Pope Gregory the 9th puts a spell on a scroll, it's just a spell ona scroll
The opinion on the boards is that the Witch can switch out familiars. On Tuesday, the Witch elects to send his familiar away. He spends 500 gp per level, and 8 hours, and summons a rat familiar, who comes installed with 6 spells and detect undead as a bonus spell.
Can the Witch use the scroll to load shocking grasp into his new familiar?
I don't think so as with the new familiar, Shocking Grasp is no longer on his spell list. He could cast it with a UMD check from the scroll, just like any other spell on a sxcvroll that wasn't on his spell list.
And though you didn't ask this, I'd say the rat would come pre-loaded with the SAME spells as the previous familiar. Otherwise an enormous level of munchkinism can ensue.
On Wednesday, if the Witch gives the last remaining shocking grasp scroll to the Rogue, can she utilize Use Magic Device to cast the spell?
Yes. For the same reasons as above. The changes to the witch, don't change the pre-scribed scroll
What happens if you take improved Familiar at 7th level and take a pseudo dragon. What spells would you get and what bonus skill does it provide. I see the same problem with Wizards for the skill but the spell list kind of has me at loss.
Now if I was the GM I'd probably just give it the Viper or Lizard spell list and bonus on stealth as stealth is the highest skill.
What happens if you take improved Familiar at 7th level and take a pseudo dragon. What spells would you get and what bonus skill does it provide. I see the same problem with Wizards for the skill but the spell list kind of has me at loss.
I've been considering this for a Witch in my Kingmaker game, and I think I'm going the "soul/spirit" route. If she wants an Improved Familiar, she pays the cash, takes the time to do the ritual, and the spirit in the familiar is transfered/comes back (if the familiar died) in a new body, but the spell list remains the same (at least in the case of unlisted familiars).
This gives me the opportunity to develop the witch's unknown tie to magic within the rules. And it kinda makes sense to me, but I'm strange. :)
What happens if you take improved Familiar at 7th level and take a pseudo dragon. What spells would you get and what bonus skill does it provide. I see the same problem with Wizards for the skill but the spell list kind of has me at loss.
I've been considering this for a Witch in my Kingmaker game, and I think I'm going the "soul/spirit" route. If she wants an Improved Familiar, she pays the cash, takes the time to do the ritual, and the spirit in the familiar is transfered/comes back (if the familiar died) in a new body, but the spell list remains the same (at least in the case of unlisted familiars).
This gives me the opportunity to develop the witch's unknown tie to magic within the rules. And it kinda makes sense to me, but I'm strange. :)
Makes sense to me. Also deals with the issue of improved familiars not having bonus spell lists.
What happens if you take improved Familiar at 7th level and take a pseudo dragon. What spells would you get and what bonus skill does it provide. I see the same problem with Wizards for the skill but the spell list kind of has me at loss.
Now if I was the GM I'd probably just give it the Viper or Lizard spell list and bonus on stealth as stealth is the highest skill.
I think it should work a bit like reincarnate in that respect like was said.
A player of mine will be summoning an imp soon to replace his old familiar, it will appear and eat the piglet (the old familiar) and take it's place, I will allow it to assume the exact shape of the old familiar in this particular case even.
Let me ask you all your opinion:
1) I see that a witch must pay a little bit of time and gold, to recover her familiar if one dies. How do you rule that works? In particular, if the characters were, say, sealed in a spaceship on its way to another planet, and the Witch called for a pig, where would it come from?
This is easy since everyone knows there are Pigs in Space.
On a more serious note since this is much akin to a wizard losing his spellbook and familiar all at once I would work with the player to make this work. Having a witch without a familiar is going to suck.
Very likely I would make the new familiar would be something that suits the previous familiar but would be more at home in the witch's current location (if it's that alien). Maybe it would be a space pig ;)
Remember that ships, even space ships, are going to have an assortment of vermin along for the ride. Rats, cats, and even bats as the space shuttle proved a few years ago. It could also be interesting, if a bit cruel, to give your witch an insect familiar. A fly, cockroach, even a spider.
Additionally, if she's of a high enough level to take the Improved Familiar feat then one of the elemental/magical familiars would work quite well.