Hello!
After doing some theory crafting on a wizard-familiarist with the Master Familiar Archetype, I have a few questions about the Improved Familiar Attunement Arcane Thesis (or IFA.)
1. If one has the IFA as their Thesis, are you required to use your familiar as your Bonded Item? Or can you have a sup'd up familiar AND an item as your Bonded Item?
2. If your familiar does act as your Bonded Item, does it replace your Bonded Item in terms of feats that involve your Bonded Item? ie Call Bonded Item, Linked Bonded Item, etc? The wording of IFA only relates to the Drain Bonded Item feature.
The wording in IFA is:
"Drain Familiar can be used any time an ability would allow you to use Drain Bonded Item and functions identically, except that you draw magic from your familiar instead of an item."
The segment "and functions identically" is referring to the Drain Bonded Item OR the whole Wizard feature? Meaning that wherever Drain Bonded Item is mentioned, one can replace entirely with their familiar? The copywriter in me would want it to read "...and functions identically to the Drain Bonded Item feature" if it did indeed include both. To me, it seems odd that one cannot use the familiar as the Bonded Item in every sense, but the wording is confusing me.
I have mentioned this in a few other forums/Discords and the response has been that the two are not mutual, and the GM will have to decide if the familiar can act in a 100% capacity as the Bonded Item.
Thanks!
Question 1 is simple.
If you take Improved Familiar Attunement then you don't have a separate Bonded Item. (Even if you did, you wouldn't be able to use it since you don't have the Drain Bonded Item action.)
Improved Familiar Attunement
...
Your connection with your familiar alters your arcane bond class feature so that you store your magical energy in your familiar, rather than an item you own; you also gain the Drain Familiar free action instead of Drain Bonded Item. Drain Familiar can be used any time an ability would allow you to use Drain Bonded Item and functions identically, except that you draw magic from your familiar instead of an item.
There's no ambiguity there.