Assuming your familiar has Manual Dexterity, would your familiar pull out a healing potion to feed you if you fall unconscious from dying? Feels like RAW that can't happen because if you don't take an action to command them, they just do nothing. I can understand that animal companions aren't smart enough to do that (maybe they'll just keep licking your face), but familiars should be at least somewhat intelligent to do what it can to keep its master alive? (I mean, they can speak human languages!)
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
If it had Manual Dexterity and Independent, certainly. Without Independent, it'd take GM grace.
It begs the question: What is a familiar's carrying capacity?
It begs the question: What is a familiar's carrying capacity?
"1 Light object" is implicit in the valet and toolbearer abilities.
(I vaguely think this is mentioned more explicitly somewhere, but I can't find it, so maybe not.)
It begs the question: What is a familiar's carrying capacity?"1 Light object" is implicit in the valet and toolbearer abilities.
(I vaguely think this is mentioned more explicitly somewhere, but I can't find it, so maybe not.)
If it were mentioned explicitly somewhere, someone would have posted it a long time ago. People have been arguing about familiars in PF2 since before the game's release. But the sad fact is that:
- familiars have no listed stats- without a STR score, there is no way to calculate their carrying capacity
- nothing in the rules allows them to act on their own volition (edit: except for the "independent" familiar ability, that I wasn't familiar with before).
Sure, I agree it's reasonable to allow them to carry something very small. Whether that something should be of negligible bulk or of light bulk, I'm not sure.
There is no RAW answer to the OP's question. It's up to you and your DM to decide what supports your shared story.
|
Familiars are minions. So the following applies : "If given no commands, minions use no actions except to defend themselves or to escape obvious harm. If left unattended for long enough, typically 1 minute, mindless minions usually don’t act, animals follow their instincts, and sapient minions act how they please."
So I would say no, unless they are Independent.
I wouldn't say there are no rules for it. It seems pretty clear to me that, absent master input, minions are essentially NPCs controlled by the GM. The rule you quoted was clearly (to me at least) intended as a guideline and not as rote machine language meant to enslave players and GMs.
For example an animal companion that gets swallowed whole while its ranger is unconscious isn't going to wait around 1 minute before it decides it doesn't want to be digested. Like most any living creature, it's going follow its natural instincts and fight to survive.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I wouldn't say there are no rules for it. It seems pretty clear to me that, absent master input, minions are essentially NPCs controlled by the GM. The rule you quoted was clearly (to me at least) intended as a guideline and not as rote machine language meant to enslave players and GMs.
For example an animal companion that gets swallowed whole while its ranger is unconscious isn't going to wait around 1 minute before it decides it doesn't want to be digested. Like most any living creature, it's going follow its natural instincts and fight to survive.
That falls under "...except to defend themselves or to escape obvious harm." Feeding someone else a potion doesn't.