should mages have familiars?

[keiichimorisato98]

i was thinking after reading a thread on summoning, should mages have familiars? it would make sense, and it would help the player, i dont know if it is a good idea or anything, i just want your guys two cents on the idea

[Sensuki]

Not with the times are you

 

From Update #36

 

Wizard

• 1st Level Wizard Spells - Wizards can access all 1st level wizard spells immediately. Unlike other wizard spell levels, the wizard does not need to find scrolls or grimoires to use any 1st level spells. Wizards can cast a fixed number of 1st level spells before they must rest to recover their uses. They can cast any combination of different spells up to the per-rest limit. As wizards gain levels, their 1st level spells will eventually become per-encounter resources.
  
• Blast - When wizards use any implement (i.e. a wand, rod, or scepter), they generate a Blast on the target. The Blast does a modest amount of damage to all enemies in a Small area around the target (excluding the target).
  
• Familiar - All wizards can summon and dismiss familiars. Familiars are mobile "totems" for the wizard, providing defensive bonuses to allies near them and inflicting defensive penalties to enemies near them. Players can also access the master's spell list through the familiar, though casting a spell through the familiar still requires the master to physically cast it; it's simply targeted from the familiar. Familiars are weak and fragile. If a familiar is killed, the wizard takes damage and is unable to summon his or her familiar until he or she rests again
  

[Lephys]

It's no biggie. He probably just wasn't... "familiar" with that post.

[.Leif.]

The conversation we should be having is what sort of familiars the mages should be able to get and what sort of abilities they have.

 

There's always the classic Bat, Cat, Hawk, Lizard, Owl, Rat, Raven, Snake, Toad and Weasel from 3rd Edition. Other favorites of mine from 3rd edition are Pseudodragons, Small Beholders, Spiders, Squids and Planar Imps. What other familiars would folks like to see included?

 

Like any proper pet of a mage, our familiar should talk. Talking with your familiar should yield some great dialogue and some plot development.

 

-edit-

 

I forgot floating Eyeballs, homunculi, skeletons (of all sorts), Chocobos, Velociraptors (Philosoraptors !!), mechanical beasts, dogs, ravens, faeries, goats and Miniature Gigantic Space Hamsters.

Edited January 14, 2013 by .Leif.

[Lephys]

From a game mechanic standpoint, a "giant" (relative to their realistic size) firefly would be awesome. Instant Light spell in dark caves! ^_^

 

Based on the role they're going to mechanically play in P:E (based on what's been officially stated thus far), it would seem prudent to stick to the smaller, less-martially-capable creatures. They don't necessarily have to be small, but I think a Dire HoneyBadger would be a bit much. It's already a creature that's magically amplified by your own power (as it's, to some degree, a part of you. Maybe it shares your soul?), so even a butterfly is going to be pretty fierce at level 30.

 

I'm not saying anyone specifically suggested larger/more-war-ready creatures. I just wanted to mention that.

 

I think a flying squirrel would be awesome, or a lemur-like animal. Maybe a large dragonfly. Hedgehog. Wombat! Tortoise! Tree Frog!

[TRX850]

Meerkats!

[Lephys]

"How do you like my familiar? He's a meerkat, 8D"

 

"Are you crazy? That is no mere cat!"

[Alexjh]

I'd personally be inclined to stick to more everyday animals for the standard options, purely because I suspect having monsters for familiars would run the risk of getting you lynched. I'd also say that although by default a familiar shouldn't be a worthwhile combatant, perhaps including the option to upgrade it into one through fear spending could be worthwhile as an option for the mage. Giving a mage a panther for a standard creature would be overpowered, but if you give him the option of upgrading it into one for combat purposes thats a valid choice.

 

Raven, owl, cat, bat, rat and snake would be the obvious ones, but it would be interesting to throw a few more original options in there - small fox perhaps, or some birds that don't get a lot of time in the spotlight. A gull, tern or otter might make sense for a wizard on the coast, or a wizard from a more tropical clime might have a parrot, monkey or something. You could also imagine high-born wizards at court having little yappy and fluffy lapdog breeds. A mountain wizard might have a bird like a mountain thrush of some sort or a falcon. All sorts of options that tie back to the tone of the wizard havign them.

[Gfted1]

Wait, blast doest actually damage the target, just stuff around the target? What if there is only one mook, you have to aim the blast at the ground near them?

[Somna]

Wait, blast doest actually damage the target, just stuff around the target? What if there is only one mook, you have to aim the blast at the ground near them?

Or target someone in melee with it.

[Umberlin]

I liked NWN's Beholder familiar . . . it was adorable. Anything that looks like a horriifc abomination from some ungodly eldritch realm, really. I never like the typical 'hey looks its an insect/animal' or 'its a larger than normal animal/insect' types. And the imps? I just would prefer a familiar be a character, not just this mindless thing, and its the worst with the Imps or anything that looks like it should be able to communicate on some. Mind any familiar should be able to communicate, but, again, so many just have familiars as these pets . . . that aren't even as good as anything else you'd summon. The deifing factor for me, at least, would be their interactions - since they wouldn't just be dumb animals, but intelligent things - even if they were visually animals/insects, they'd still be more aware than that.

 

As someone that always likes Wizards a familiar always felt like it should be a far more major thing than most games with familiars make them be, even in settings they would be more than the games present them as, for the player character at least. NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer outlined what had been bugging me about familiars, especially, in that Safiya had a familiar who, in comparison to my own, was an actual character - however limited. It also wasn't a gerbil, which was a plus.

 

That's just me though, which, really, means my opinions are worth all of about nothing.

[Tamerlane]

Wait, blast doest actually damage the target, just stuff around the target? What if there is only one mook, you have to aim the blast at the ground near them?

I believe you damage the target with the implement's attack itself.

[LadyCrimson]

I like familiars because: it's cool to have a constant "pet" that gives you some kind of bonus or help.

I don't like familiars because: more often than not, the familiar I like best (looks/personality wise etc) isn't the one that gives the game/combat bonus/help that I want.

 

I always thought of familiars as a bond with a permanent creature, not a summon, however (probably because of some novels I've read - like the cat familiar). So P.E.'s way of doing it seems a little odd to me. But I'm not some expert on fantasy lore. heh

[rjshae]

I like familiars because: it's cool to have a constant "pet" that gives you some kind of bonus or help.

I don't like familiars because: more often than not, the familiar I like best (looks/personality wise etc) isn't the one that gives the game/combat bonus/help that I want.

It would be nice if the familiar itself has talents that you, the player, can select as the character increases in level. That way you can shape the familiar into the type of companion that you want.

[Lephys]

Wait, blast doest actually damage the target, just stuff around the target? What if there is only one mook, you have to aim the blast at the ground near them?

I believe you damage the target with the implement's attack itself.

 

^ This. I believe it is meant to extend the implement's attack to the surrounding targets. They were trying to be clear, methinks, that your target would not get hit twice from the same attack. But, in the event that the implement's attack and the Blast attack/effects differ (which it seems is at least possible), it DOES seem as though you will be incapable of affecting a single target with the Blast effect (unless you can ground target, or I'm mistaken.)

 

 

It would be nice if the familiar itself has talents that you, the player, can select as the character increases in level. That way you can shape the familiar into the type of companion that you want.

 

Seconded. The rules of magical properties of ficticious familiar creatures don't even have any counterpart in reality for basis, so it's not as if they have a reason to say "Nooo, no, a magical bat would TOTALLY give a vision bonus, not a mana bonus, u_u... you're gonna want the cat for that. Everyone KNOWS cats are inherently mana-rich."

 

At that point, the options are even all there already, they're just arbitrarily tethered to the mechanic choices as well. It would be like giving all the male character models the appearance of wearing chainmail, and all the female character models the appearance of wearing leather.

[Faerunner]

I feel odd for saying I don't mind not having a mythical or exotic familiar. A simple pet like a cat or a rabbit would do. I will say though that I hope we get to interact with our familiars, just like how I hope rangers/druids will be able to interact with animal companions, like we could in NWN1 but not NWN2. =(