Rules for Gaining a New (Improved) Familiar

[davidernst11]

What are the rules for gaining a new familiar in Pathfinder Society? I can't find anything in the rulebooks. It seems like taking the "Improved Familiar" feat should be a good idea, but the rules seem to not make it that simple.

If I'm reading it right, this is what it says:

A wizard can acquire a new familiar if the old one is lost, dies, or is dismissed by the caster. However, the wizard needs to wait a week, and then pay 200 gp per level in order to replace the familiar. This is apparently the case even if he already has a living familiar and chooses to only dismiss him. The new familiar will only know two spells per level, and he must repurchase all other spells that he lost. The only way around this is to play a Society game with another wizard, have him pay to have all of his spells placed in his spellbook, and then after getting the new familiar, playing another game with the same wizard and transferring all the spells back over.

A witch, however, can only acquire a new familiar if the old one is lost or dies. There is no rule about a witch being able to dismiss a familiar ever. And thus, if a witch wishes to gain a familiar, she must either kill her old familiar or lose it somewhere. Then, it costs 500 gp per level in order to acquire the new familiar. Then, she must rebuy all spells, besides the two per spell level she got. She can do the "teach her spells to another witch's familiar" trick, but again, she has to find another witch with which to commune in two consecutive games.

Has there ever been any specific information regarding gaining an improved familiar? I feel like we are in the dark here and are tempted to make up rules about how this is done, but I don't see any approved rules set to state how this process should be done the right way.

I want to take the Improved Familiar feat, but there is so much red tape to it that it probably wouldn't be worth it the way I'm understanding it.

[LazarX]

Take the Improved Familiar Feat.

Choose your new familiar.

Ignore the fact that you ever had anything different.

This works for PFS play.

[Eric Clingenpeel]

davidernst11 wrote:

A wizard can acquire a new familiar if the old one is lost, dies, or is dismissed by the caster. However, the wizard needs to wait a week, and then pay 200 gp per level in order to replace the familiar. This is apparently the case even if he already has a living familiar and chooses to only dismiss him. The new familiar will only know two spells per level, and he must repurchase all other spells that he lost. The only way around this is to play a Society game with another wizard, have him pay to have all of his spells placed in his spellbook, and then after getting the new familiar, playing another game with the same wizard and transferring all the spells back over.

I'd just like to point something out that I think you're mixing up. Wizard familiars have nothing to do with spells. Witch familiars know spells, wizard familiars do not. Wizards keep spells in their spellbooks, witches in their familiars. That is why it is more expensive for a witch to replace her familiar than it is a wizard, since she is also replacing her "spellbook" at the same time.