Attacking a protector familiar


Rules Questions


I am looking at making a melee character with a protector familiar to improve his AC with Bodyguard. However, I cant see any way to prevent a frustrated opponent whop keeps missing me from simply attacking my familiar and then attacking me once it is dead.

I'm assuming that RAW an opponent can still attack a familiar that is clinging to my back as there is no facing rule

Is there anything I can do to protect my familiar and still allow it to use bodyguard?


He can hide in a familiar satchel once he’s injured. At 5th level, you can share damage with him, and in general it’s usually as hard or harder to hit a familiar as it is to hit a player (size + dex + natural armor + anything else you feel like adding). At 11th, he’s got a zillion hit points to get through, especially with damage splitting. So...yes?


David Wallace 583 428 wrote:
I'm assuming that RAW an opponent can still attack a familiar that is clinging to my back as there is no facing rule

You are correct, and if there were facing rules preventing the foe from attacking it, they would doubtless also prevent it from using Bodyguard to help you versus that particular foe.

David Wallace 583 428 wrote:
Is there anything I can do to protect my familiar and still allow it to use bodyguard?

What kind of creature is it? Some could wear rings of protection or amulets of natural armor (those give an enhancement bonus to natural armor, so they do improve the familiar's NA bonus, no stacking worries). Some could wear adorable little suits of armor/barding.


I was originally looking at a scarlet spider for its high DEX but have decided that a squirrel is better as its DEX is only slightly less but it has more item slots and I may even convince my DM it could wear armor.

I will be playing an Eldritch Guardian and considered a familiar satchel but having total cover would mean my familiar cant use bodyguard or feats such as cut from the air and later smash from the air. I must admit I find the idea of a squirrel standing on my shoulder, deflecting boulders, to be highly amusing.

I guess though that as long as it could survive a round of full attacks it could retreat to the satchel to hide.


I think your understanding of the rules is correct. Familiars commonly have mage armor etc active; as your Share Spells class feature isn’t going to help you much, you may want to read up on what the rules are to provide a diminutive creature with barding. I’m leaning toward squirrels aren’t physically “capable of properly handling” bucklers, but the thought is adorable enough if you got shield focus it might be allowed.


Yes, assuming my DM is ok with the squirrel using armor/barding and a shield I will need to be careful to get the ACP down to 0 for each to avoid non proficiency penalties as I want to make sure its attack bonus is as high as possible to get the best use out of Cut From The Air. I think that given a squirrel’s paws are hand like I should be ok. I know they aren’t natural tool users but a familiar has a much higher intelligence so I would be able to explain what to do with them even if it lacks the required proficiency.

I think a miniature dark wood buckler (or heavy shield if I want to be silly) and a dashing suit of silken ceremonial armor are in order.

I may also be able to ask if I provide soft cover for my familiar, though RAW I believe I don’t, but it is a reasonable request for a wee critter that is sharing my space.


What is your familiar doing with his actual turn? I.e., he could use total defense if all he was doing was bodyguard aoo’s. And feats that improve total defense.

I mentioned bucklers because they don’t use hands (unlike other shields).


Wrap your familiar in full plate barding.

If they're small enough, have them sit with their head sticking out of your backpack/familiar satchel/whatever so that they get at least some cover.

Displacement is also useful, if confusing to visualize when the familiar is affected by it but the wizard is not.


As clawed quadrupeds squirrels have the armor slot, so you should be OK there. But remember that armor for Tiny or smaller creatures has only half its normal armor bonus, so silken ceremonial won't do any good unless it's enchanted.


Ahh, total defence. I had completely forgotten about that. It does state under total defence that you can’t make an AOO so my DM is likely to say that prevents the use of the bodyguard feat and will certainly say it prevents cut from the air. However if he allows bodyguard because of its wording then total defence is a good option when I’m not worried about ranged attacks.

Cover looks to be an interesting option. The familiar could conceivably be in my pocket with his head sticking out, which would provide cover. Since the familiar is closer to the cover than his target (for those AOOs) he gets to ignore the cover as per the rules.

I had forgotten that tiny armor only provides half the armor bonus. Thank you for pointing that out. That would mean my best bet for armor would be leather or a mithril chain coat. I think that will offer the best AC while still having a 0 ACP.

All this would give me a before magic AC of 24
(+4 Dex, +4 Size, +1 Leather armor, +1 buckler, +4 cover)
That isn’t bad at all and is actually higher than my PC!


Good catch on aoo/ total defense issue. Could still Fight Defensively for +2 I think. Although he will be provoking attacks from you when he unarmed strikes you in the head.


get 3 ranks in

acrobatics:
Special: If you have 3 or more ranks in Acrobatics, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2, and a +6 dodge bonus to AC when taking the total defense action instead of the usual +4.
(familiar share ranks right?).

then have him Fight Defensively for a +3 to ac. and have him aid another to rise your ac . he need to melee attack your target. see if you can get him reach somehow (blue scarf?)
that is +3 to his ac. and if he roll over 10 +2 to yours ;)


The AC bonus for 3 ranks in Acrobatics is a nice little bonus I had forgotten about. I think I can spare 3 skill points for that. That’s a good catch there thanks.

The wording in the Protector archetype states that the familiar doesn’t need to be able to threaten the attacking foe in order to use bodyguard so there is no need for reach.


David Wallace 583 428 wrote:

The AC bonus for 3 ranks in Acrobatics is a nice little bonus I had forgotten about. I think I can spare 3 skill points for that. That’s a good catch there thanks.

The wording in the Protector archetype states that the familiar doesn’t need to be able to threaten the attacking foe in order to use bodyguard so there is no need for reach.

i think he’s saying he needs to attack someone to be Fighting Defensively. In my post I had suggested he makes an unarmed strike against you each round, but optionally I believe he could throw acorns at people.


Ahh yes, I misunderstood and confused fighting defensively with total defence.

I have managed to get his AC up to 27 without magic

Base 10
Size +4
Dex +4
Darkleaf hide armor +2 (bonus halved due to size)
Masterwork Buckler +1 (I could use a Darkwood heavy shield but I prefer him having both paws free)
Shield Wall feat +2 (I have a heavy shield and share the feat with my familiar)
Cover +4

I'm quite pleased with that over all.

Dark Archive

David Wallace 583 428 wrote:

Ahh yes, I misunderstood and confused fighting defensively with total defence.

I have managed to get his AC up to 27 without magic

Base 10
Size +4
Dex +4
Darkleaf hide armor +2 (bonus halved due to size)
Masterwork Buckler +1 (I could use a Darkwood heavy shield but I prefer him having both paws free)
Shield Wall feat +2 (I have a heavy shield and share the feat with my familiar)
Cover +4

I'm quite pleased with that over all.

I don't think it can use a shield. Most dms won't allow it.

Cover works both ways and prevents AoOs (both ways)


It is a valid tactic for an NPC or monster to attack any active foe on the map. How 'smart' it is and it's normal tactics will determine if it attacks your familiar.
I could go on but suffice it to say that as a wizard you have low HPs and your familiar has half of that (with an exception at higher level and that's what you chose). So expect it to die if it gets into combat. Usually Horrid Wilting or Cloudkill is used to take out 'weak' opponents.
You will need to review the Familiar's body slots if you intend it to wear magic items.

Grand Lodge

If a player wants to make sure the familiar doesn't die, it shouldn't actively play or even be in the map, so hidden in a satchel.

Bodyguard is assuming it is active so targeting is fair game and won't always involve Armor Class. So it's not the only way defences should be upped. But at the very least it requires the PC to have a big constitution or to retrain the hit point levels

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