If I were to choose a Bloodseeker as a Familiar does it loose attach and blood drain?
Also it flys so one of it's familiar abilities it gains must be flier. It fly speed is 30ft but flier is 25ft, which one is used?
Does the familiar gain the frighten 4 condition if it has the animal trait?
A familiar is a Minion but is it a summon minion?
Minions: "......For an animal companion, you Command an Animal; for a minion that’s
a spell or magic item effect, like a SUMMONED MINION, you Sustain a Spell or Sustain
an Activation; if not otherwise specified, you issue a verbal command, a single action
with the auditory and concentrate traits." What does this mean?
A familiar only gains abilities from the familiar abilities you pay for.
A familiar must pay for all abilities it'd normally have, i.e. flying for birds (& Bloodseekers), and it gains them as a familiar, not as a member of its original species (so use the familiar fly speed, and walk speed for that matter).
So it's not just that your familiar loses attach & blood drain, your PC cannot choose a Bloodseeker because it cannot have attach & blood drain. A GM might overrule that and let you have a broken Bloodseeker that cannot do those things (or that can buy them as familiar abilities), but I wouldn't rely on that.
I do not understand the reference to Frightened 4.
All creatures may have that condition unless specifically immune, i.e. fearless.
The familiar is a minion, but not a summoned minion (in this sense of the word). Minions gain no actions (w/ some advanced minions being exceptions). Your PC can spend one action (w/ auditory & concentrate traits)) to give your minion two actions.
If I were to choose a Bloodseeker as a Familiar does it loose attach and blood drain?
Also it flys so one of it's familiar abilities it gains must be flier. It fly speed is 30ft but flier is 25ft, which one is used?Does the familiar gain the frighten 4 condition if it has the animal trait?
A familiar is a Minion but is it a summon minion?
Minions: "......For an animal companion, you Command an Animal; for a minion that’s
a spell or magic item effect, like a SUMMONED MINION, you Sustain a Spell or Sustain
an Activation; if not otherwise specified, you issue a verbal command, a single action
with the auditory and concentrate traits." What does this mean?1) It loses the attach and blood drain since it does not have the ability to attack (with the exception of touch spell if you take that ability). It is NOT an attack buddy
2) It must take the fly speed and gets the fly speed as described in the familiar abilities (not the bestiary)
3) It is not an animal that would get the frightened condition if attacked
4) It is a minion NOT a summoned minion. Thus you command it not sustain it
Actually it can attack however it needs something to attack with since they have no natural attacks.
If it attempts an attack roll or other skill check, it uses your level as its modifier.
A familiar has no abilities outside the ones you buy for it.
Your choice of familiar's species only dictates which abilities you must purchase and which animals they're allowed to speak with if you take kinspeech.
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Familiars don't have their own attacks so a tiny weapon is not a thing
Familiars don't have attacks on their own, but you could conceivably give a familiar one with a spell or ability. The primal spell moon frenzy, for instance, gives a creature claws and a bite attack.
thx thats helps guys.
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There is nothing mechanically stopping an familiar from attacking, bar the lack of means of attacking.
If you give a familiar a means of attacking, it can do so. Spells, Alchemy, some class features, etc can all provide means of granting familiars actions they can take with the "attack" trait. I have a brief write up on this here.
Manual Dexterity and handing them a tiny sword is not enough, they actually need some ability which grants an attack.
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Because having hands and a weapon is somehow not enough to attack? What kind of reasoning is this?There is nothing mechanically stopping an familiar from attacking, bar the lack of means of attacking.
If you give a familiar a means of attacking, it can do so. Spells, Alchemy, some class features, etc can all provide means of granting familiars actions they can take with the "attack" trait. I have a brief write up on this here.
Manual Dexterity and handing them a tiny sword is not enough, they actually need some ability which grants an attack.
Well, in a more general sense, it's not about "reasoning", it's just about game mechanics. I get that you might not find them intuitive, but that's not really here or there.
In a more specific sense
Manual Dexterity: It can use up to two of its limbs as if they were hands to use manipulate actions.
Manual Dexterity allows familiars use manipulate actions.
The following actions are listed as having the manipulate action as part of their use
Administer First Aid, Conceal an Object, Craft, Disable a Device, Feast on the Fallen, Grab an Edge, Impersonate, Interact, Palm an Object, Pick a Lock, Point Out, Quick Alchemy, Release, Repair, Steal, Treat Disease, Treat Poison, Treat Wounds
You'll note that none of these are strikes, or attack actions.
Also, compare the above list to those actions which have the attack trait
Disarm, Escape, Force Open, Grapple, Shove, Strike, Trip
See the lack of overlap?
That all reinforces the post by Mr. Jacobs from the linked Forum post further up the thread.
Honestly even if a familiar could attack, you would be better off with an Animal Companion instead, or even just a trained animal. With the caveat that the trained animal is not a "Minion" so you would have to trade action for action to make it attack.
Familiars in first edition were not exactly combat powerhouses either. Even using them to apply melee touch attack spells was suspect most of the time, and more often than not in my experience led to a Wizard mourning their little buddy.
Something I would like to see is the option to have an Animal Companion/Familiar hybrid of some sort. Build an Animal Companion that has limited access to Familiar master abilities in trade for one or more of the animal companion "upgrades". Could create some neat options like a Hawk with full bird flight speed to use as a Scout with your limited empathic senses Note: Reread the familiar rules and realized that you don't share any senses with your familiar, however it can communicate with you in a limited emotion based manner, so could still report whether there are threats nearby. While familiars can do so now, they aren't half as fast as a full on bird animal companion so wouldn't make the best scouts.
This would be a cool addition to a casting Ranger archetype perhaps.
Can't find a reference in the forums or the rule book but do Familiars count as significant characters for the dying rules?
It specifically calls out companions but Familiars and Animal Companions seem to be treated as seperate entities in chapter 3.
If they do count, that helps their survivability a bit.
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Familiars do not have a listed STR score and hence do not have a carrying capacity.
Some of us are hoping that the GMG gives us a stat block for familiars, no matter how limited.
As things currently stand, no familiars have stat blocks, with the possible exception of a tiny snake - although its stat block is not intended to represent familiars.
In consequence, familiars bombing with alchemical gear or reloading your heavy crossbow are not possible. Having your familiar fight for you is not possible, with the sole exception of carrying your touch attack spells.