Pipefox Specific Familiar, and its Skilled ability

[Azrhi]

Good day - I'm looking for some input here. Pipefox is a bit unique in that it gives you a choice when you first gain the familiar, it has the Skilled ability with two abilities you can pick.

Now I understand that specific familiar abilities are permanent, non-swappable with other familiar abilities - but, can the choices made within this ability me changed? Perhaps on daily preparation?

Please advise, and thank you.

[graystone]

Azrhi wrote:

Now I understand that specific familiar abilities are permanent, non-swappable with other familiar abilities - but, can the choices made within this ability me changed? Perhaps on daily preparation?

Only if you murder your familiar and go through the process of gaining a new Pipefox familiar with different Skilled skills.

[Lucerious]

graystone wrote:

Only if you murder your familiar and go through the process of gaining a new Pipefox familiar with different Skilled skills.

Murder?! I prefer the term euthanize, or having your familiar scout the afterlife. :)

[breithauptclan]

I don't think it is quite that unambiguous. But I would also have the skills chosen when you gain the familiar and not changeable each day.

[graystone]

breithauptclan wrote:

I don't think it is quite that unambiguous. But I would also have the skills chosen when you gain the familiar and not changeable each day.

Somewhere on the site, Mark said that abilities that require a choice, like Cantrip Connection, are set once picked.

Lucerious wrote:

graystone wrote:

Only if you murder your familiar and go through the process of gaining a new Pipefox familiar with different Skilled skills.

Murder?! I prefer the term euthanize, or having your familiar scout the afterlife. :)

Would you prefer instead I say 'take a bath in this cookpot' while I light this campfire? ;-)

[Lucerious]

If it is the same familiar spirit just taking different forms and selected abilities with the caveat of having to exit the mortal coil every time, I believe that familiar has full right to be a bit peeved with their master.

On a more serious note, I think it is a bit odd to have a standard familiar be able to change out abilities daily while a specific one needs…”rebooting”.

[Farien]

graystone wrote:

breithauptclan wrote:

I don't think it is quite that unambiguous. But I would also have the skills chosen when you gain the familiar and not changeable each day.

Somewhere on the site, Mark said that abilities that require a choice, like Cantrip Connection, are set once picked.

Too bad he didn't put it in the FAQ where we could find it again, huh.

So does that also apply to Resistance and Fast Movement? Because that is a serious amount of power difference if it does.

Cantrip Connection - for spontaneous casters - says that the choice of cantrip is fixed and can only be changed with retraining. The others don't.

[Luke Styer]

I can’t back this up, but as GM, I’m inclined to rule that the ability itself is locked, but that the choices within the ability are selectable daily, unless the Specific Familiar specifies. I just don’t think familiars are sufficiently powerful that this limitation is necessary.

[graystone]

Farien wrote:

Too bad he didn't put it in the FAQ where we could find it again, huh.

I say that about a LOT of answers we get in various blogs, video and other places other than here. At least it was actually on their own site for this one.

Farien wrote:

So does that also apply to Resistance and Fast Movement? Because that is a serious amount of power difference if it does.

As far as I understand it, that's right.

Luke Styer wrote:

I just don’t think familiars are sufficiently powerful that this limitation is necessary.

Well, there are quite a few things in PF2 I think they've been overcautious about. For instance, I don't think anything would get out of control if you could pick a new cantrip with Cantrip Connection every day.

[Luke Styer]

graystone wrote:

Well, there are quite a few things in PF2 I think they've been overcautious about. For instance, I don't think anything would get out of control if you could pick a new cantrip with Cantrip Connection every day.

Agreed. And I get why they started from that over-cautious position, but the 2E super-conservative clarification / errata policy is a problem.