Familiar question

[Lou Diamond]

What happens to your old familiar when you get an improved Familiar?

[Weables]

it dies. horribly. fed to a wood chipper.

[willuwontu]

Weables wrote:

it dies. horribly. fed to a wood chipper.

Personally, I make it fight my new familiar in a battle to the death, and if it wins it can stay.

P.S. It never wins.

[Melkiador]

There's an FAQ for that.

Quote:

Sorcerer/Wizard: Can I dismiss my familiar so I may select a new familiar?

This isn't addressed in the rules anywhere, but yes, you should be able to dismiss a familiar if you want to select a new one. However, you must still wait 1 week and pay 200 gp for the 8-hour ritual. Dismissing a familiar is ending a link between your soul and it, so it should probably take about an hour.

The exception to the above is if you take the Improved Familiar feat, which allows you to immediately replace your familiar with the new familiar, at no cost or time required (it is assumed this occurs during whatever preparations you make while leveling up).

Once dismissed, an animal familiar is just a normal animal of its type (a special familiar from the Improved Familiar feat reverts to a normal creature of its type). Whether or not it wants to remain with you is up to your GM and probably based on how you treated the creature while it was your familiar.

[LordKailas]

I always figured my familiar turned into the improved familiar, you know like a butterfly or chest burster.

to the OP: nothing is stated in the rules how the transition occurs so it's up to the DM. But whatever the method is your old one goes away and your new one shows up. It could be something as simple as the old one being dismissed and the new one showing up.

[Xenocrat]

There is one exception: the qlippoth improved familiar states it eats your previous familiar when you summon it.

[Lelomenia]

LordKailas wrote:

I always figured my familiar turned into the improved familiar, you know like a butterfly or chest burster.

to the OP: nothing is stated in the rules how the transition occurs so it's up to the DM. But whatever the method is your old one goes away and your new one shows up. It could be something as simple as the old one being dismissed and the new one showing up.

that is how it works for Pact Wizard.

[Indagare]

LordKailas wrote:

I always figured my familiar turned into the improved familiar, you know like a butterfly or chest burster.

to the OP: nothing is stated in the rules how the transition occurs so it's up to the DM. But whatever the method is your old one goes away and your new one shows up. It could be something as simple as the old one being dismissed and the new one showing up.

Personally I'd prefer if they allowed some Evolution Points like the Summoner has and allow Improve Familiar that transforms the base familiar as if it were an eidolons (or upgrades a weapon somehow). This also applies to animal companions. I've always found it a bit upsetting to have to dismiss a loyal companion just because it can no longer keep up.