How does Improved Familiar work?

[Heather 540]

Improved Familiar: This feat allows you to acquire a powerful familiar, but only when you could normally acquire a new familiar.

Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a new familiar, compatible alignment, sufficiently high level.

Could someone explain what the heck that means?

[Meirril]

Sure. Most classes that have familiars can dismiss them. Every class that has familiars details a way to replace them (typically a 200-500gp/level ritual).

When you select Improved Familiar your existing familiar needs to be dismissed and replaced with the new more powerful familiar. When I say dismissed, it could be a dead familiar being replaced.

When the Improved Familiar is selected it must be taken from a valid table for Improved Familiar. On the right side there will be a level requirement. Whatever class ability or feat that allows the character to take a familiar must equal or exceed that number. Multiple classes that grant familiars can be combined. So a Sorcerer 2, Witch 5 is 7th level *if* the Sorcerer chose an ability to get familiars. If that choice wasn't made when the Sorcerer levels were gained, you are only a 5th level because Witch doesn't have any other options but to have a familiar.

The alignment of an Improved Familiar must be within 1 step of the master. So for example if you are CG you can have a CG, CN, or NG familiar. Familiars are assumed to be typical for their race other than specific familiar modifications.

Any questions?

[blahpers]

Note that per FAQ, you don't have to pay to replace your familiar when taking the feat; this is an exception to the usual rules for replacing your familiar.

So the TL;DR is: You takes the feat, you swaps your familiar with a shiny new one that meet any alignment or whatever requirements, and you're done.

I've seen the "replacement" flavored many ways. One of my favorites is the rather gruesome one where the raven's beak opens far, far too wide then splits open, and a gore-covered imp squeezes its way out of the aperture, shedding the raven's carcass like old clothing.

Or, it could just go *poof* and change into the new form, personality intact.

[Heather 540]

Ok, thanks.