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General Discussion / RE: Why X Familiar is Broken Thread

« on: February 14, 2007, 06:06:44 PM »

This could be a very interesting discussion! However this won't be a clear answer to "why X familiar is broken", but rather an answer to "What can I use X familiar to, when it can't pick locks or traps". I've just made my character Rajistin, a halfling wizard with an eyeball familiar. "Why pick an eyeball and not the pocket-rogue pixie?" you may ask, and the answer is simply that familiars holds a tremendous amount of RP-value and possibilities! Its a wonderful challenge to bring life to both your character and the familiar through roleplaying, especially in a situation where the two have very different personalities.
  The eyeball companion is an excellent example of this, as it serves as the malevolent and scoundrelly opposite of my character, being an evil beast who hates everybody and everything. However I play after the principle that the familiar is completely harmless and unable to affect the world, no matter what intents it has. Thus the eyeball may try to rough up everything, but always resulting in failure... Likewise one could play a mischievous imp, a ne'er-do-well pseudodragon or a wannabe-vampire bat!  
  Moreover familiars could be quite an interesting part of a character's development in game: perhaps the bat-familiar helped the gnome master (who was very afraid of the dark) to become fond of dark forests and caves, or the feline grace of the panther inspired the noisy Sir Bigfoot to move silently. Pixies have great possibilities too, just think of the jealous Tinkerbell from Peter Pan - and did she do locks and DC 65 traps while the lost boys looked the other way?
  Well, the point with this reply was to encourage future wizards/sorcerers to incorporate their familiars in their character submission and development - it's fun and challenging, and if it isn't your style there's simply one summon-button less to click!
  ♣ Dyslogia

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General Discussion / RE: Do Familiars Talk?

« on: February 14, 2007, 01:32:24 PM »

Just adding a bit on the subject; to me, it would be within reason that familiars, who have some resemblance to animals (panthers, bats, doggies and so on), won't be speaking any "humanoid" language. Though their intelligence is higher than the normal 1 or 2 for animals, their evolution isn't - their language will still be growls and groans (the animal language, right?), which would translate into something like Rowana said. Their intelligence would moreover allow them to understand languages, not restricted to animal.
  However the "monstrous" familiars (imps, eyeballs, mephits, and pixies) all have an intelligence higher than ten, even in the wild, and should therefore be able to speak. The Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual even clarifies that they do speak common (eyeballs being beholderkin). Pseudodragons are something special here, as the manual states that "A pseudodragon can communicate telepathically and can also vocalize animal noises, such as a rasping purr (pleasure), a hiss (unpleasant surprise), a chirp (desire), or a growl (anger). As to Fairydragons, are there anybody here who remember talkative Riisi from SoU?
  But again, it was from the Monster Manual... and Riisi was Forgotten Realms.  
  There is some useful links about roleplaying with a familiar around the forum, here's a couple:
  http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=30669&posts=13&start=1
  http://www.layonaraonline.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=23516&posts=11&start=1
  ♣ Dyslogia