|
With the Remaster, the Witch's familiar got buffed to starting with 4 abilities, one of which is based on the patron you choose. How does this interact with qualifying for Specific Familiars? Would the ability that comes with your patron not count for the purposes of selecting a specific familiar? Thanks!!
Your patron has sent you a familiar, a mystical creature that teaches you magic and facilitates your spells. This familiar follows the rules beginning on page 212, though as it’s a direct conduit between you and your patron, it’s more powerful than typical familiars. Your familiar gains two additional familiar abilities: one of these is a unique ability based on your patron and is always selected, and the other is an additional familiar ability that can be selected daily as normal. Your familiar gains another extra ability at 6th, 12th, and 18th levels.
Any character can gain a specific familiar so long as they already have a familiar with at least the required number of abilities listed in the specific familiar's stat block. Such a familiar usually replaces an existing familiar, though in some circumstances (such as for a witch) the familiar may evolve or reveal its true form. In any case, this transition from a normal familiar to a specific familiar requires no downtime and has no cost. Once you've selected a specific familiar, you can't change it without losing your familiar—this uses the same rules as if your familiar had died.
While you can make a case that the patron ability counts, most people I speak to agree it doesn't RAI. I would not treat it as counting without asking.mh GM first. The topic could be revisited after player core 2 drops because I think specific familiars will be in there.
While you can make a case that the patron ability counts, most people I speak to agree it doesn't RAI.
I would agree with that. There is an unfortunate lack of distinction between the special Patron ability and the standard familiar abilities that you can spend on getting an upgraded familiar.
That doesn't mean that the RAI isn't clear that you can't use the Patron ability to qualify for an upgraded familiar.
Besides, even if you could - you would end up with a Witch familiar that doesn't have their Patron's signature ability. Why would you want that?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Imp requires eight abilities, and gives seven. Can I spend the eighth ability on "Resilient Familiar"? No. Can I assign all eight abilities to eight different "Skilled Familiar" choices and then also get what an imp provides because I have eight abilities? No.
Naturally, a Witch-granted ability that is a specific thing also doesn't count. If it did, then you would be able to assign the familiar abilities freely and still meet the "number of abilities" requirement. The wording is vague, sure, and it'll make a few people happy if it's cleaned up, but the intention is pretty clear.
Wanting to trade out the Patron ability for earlier access to a specific familiar is the Witch equivalent to the request from certain Fighter players wanting to trade out Shield Block for a different level 1 feat because their character is going to be using 2-handed weapons anyway.