It's gonna SUCK for those familiars.
Unless you GM-wave away issues for familiars hidden. But any familiars out-and-about getting affected and some familiars safe will cause some consistency issues.
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So I was wondering if there is any shielding effect against channeling? In particular I am thinking of the case an evil cleric going up against a witch. If the witch has a viper familiar that they keep hidden on them under their robes, Is the viper considered a target of the clerics channel assuming they are within 30ft.
This is coming up since I am DMing a Rise of the Runelords campaign and they are going to be facing Naulia soon and a couple of people in my party have familiars or just animal companions of some sort that they keep with them.
My understanding is that Channelled Energy doesn't have any penetration power, so should stop upon coming in contact with paper doors, cloth curtains, tents, and other questionably durable barriers.
So if the familiar is completely surrounded by the clothing of a larger creature, I would consider them immune to channel (both harming and healing channel). If the familiar is partially exposed (within the definition for cover, partial cover, or improved cover) from the clothing, then they would take full damage. Cover and concealment doesn't otherwise affect channel.
Clothing isn't enough to protect the character themselves, but it should be enough for a smaller familiar contained within.
If the familiar is the same size or larger than the character, they are unable to conceal themselves within the clothes of a creature the same size or smaller.
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Channel Negative is terrifying to familiars, because their normal defense (Improved Evasion) does nothing against it. Corners/cover also don't provide bonuses to the Will save like they would on a Reflex save.
Total cover however would stop it. That's why the familiar satchel is very useful.
A fair compromise ruling is: if your familiar is available to help in combat, he's also available as a target/victim. If he's safely in the satchel, he also can't help.
To keep it clear what the familiar's current tactic is, you could insist that players use a mini for the familiar any time it's outside the satchel.
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I'd expect some table variation on whether or not a robe or baggy tunic counts as cover (or just concealment) for the purposes of stopping a burst emanation like channeled energy.
But a toad in a backpack, I'd totally rule was out of 'line of effect.'
I'd *also* rule that a toad in a backpack doesn't grant Alertness, since it's mostly clueless about what is happening outside of the backpack...
I'd also consider a house rule that a familiar, or other creature with which you share a share spells / link, can be counted as 'you' for the purposes of effects, if you desire, so that if an evil cleric in your party uses selective channeling and negative channels, he only counts you *and your familiar* as a single target to be excluded. But that could lead to some wonky abuses, such as someone insisting that their mauler familiar gets a free haste, when they get hasted, or something similar, so proceed with caution.
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Yeah I had a feeling that was the case, most of the familiars won't be doing anything combat related however the PC's do have attachments to them. I feel as though fully allowing them to be affected would cause an the party to get side tracked in combat. However at the same time I am not sure if having this inconsistency would be considered unfair for those who want to use their familiars in combat.
I have been considering adding some sort of free action or reaction that would allow PC's to shield their companions at the cost of taking a -2 on their own will save, or something like that.
There are other ways to protect a familiar from Channel.
Improving their will saves will help alot. The Emissary Familiar archetype has substancial boost there.
Most channel has very limited range, so a bird familiar, for example, should be able to stay out of range quite easily just by flying outside of range. It also won't penetrate barriers, as mentioned, so it can't really harm burrowing familiars.
There's also the option of giving the familiar/companion some armor. The Deathless armor property (only costs a +1 bonus) is a pretty solid defender against channeled energy.
Additionally, you could increase the familiar's HP. Since the familiar has 1/2 of your HP, increasing your HP is the way to do this.
There are a few options to make a familiar actually be healed by negative energy (as if undead), though the same problem arises when you are attacked by positive energy opponents.
Beyond that, there is Figment familiar archetype, which doesn't offer any protection at all, but removed the penalties for familiar death. This isn't an option for casters that require familiars (like shamans and witches) but remains an option for others (like wizards).