Companions in general. Re: "Losing your familiar"

[PensivesWetness]

Beholder-kin. now i can understand how cheesy Beholder-kin can be, is not Rp'd at sorta correctly. what are the concerned one has to think about at chara creation time (i'm thinking of making a mage who "owns" one, since i miss my adventures with Bill, missle sponge as he was). alignment differences? actually being allowed? accidental PKings (i have not seen a beholder-kin here so that in itself makes me ask before i finish "designing the chara and his history) and just plain scareing the crap outta PCs who never seen a floating volleyball before...

thoughts and limitations before i make gessica and "Fred"?

[Innuvindyl]

There was a couple of one-timers that had Beholder familiars just after the release of HotU, personally I think it is stupid to have a Beholder familiar, just as I think Imps and other "otherworldly" familiars are at the first couple of levels.

I know levels has nothing to do with RP, but I still see it as a measure of how powerful you are (this especially holds true for spellcasters, as they actually gets visibly more powerful as they advance), and a first lvl "green" mage shouldn't be able to control demonic familiars... of course there can be numerious reasons to why (for instance I've always played Magnus as a powerful mage, who just didn't show off his power all at once - i.e. not before he gained levels), but in general I think all demonic familiars should be banned (except for the imp) - but hey! It's not me who makes the rules, so you still have to wait for the DM guys to answer I guess :)

[Algernon's Ghost]

thoughts and limitations before i make gessica and "Fred"?

The beholder is a ridiculous familiar, what was BW thinking when they allowed that? I'm looking into scripting it so it will never summon in The Vast. In the meantime, any beholders will be killed by guards, and PK against any character bringing such evil along will be a distinct possibility.

"Fred"? Would a beholder - or any companion be named "Fred"?

Please begin a new thread for any further questions regarding wizard's familiars, I'd like to keep this one on the topic of animal companions.

[PensivesWetness]

"thoughts and limitations before i make gessica and "Fred"?
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The beholder is a ridiculous familiar, what was BW thinking when they allowed that? I'm looking into scripting it so it will never summon in The Vast. In the meantime, any beholders will be killed by guards, and PK against any character bringing such evil along will be a distinct possibility.

"Fred"? Would a beholder - or any companion be named "Fred"?

Please begin a new thread for any further questions regarding wizard's familiars, I'd like to keep this one on the topic of animal companions."

*a brief pause to see if the ciese fire is in effect*

...could have just said "no, the Beholder-kin is a bit over powered and not realistic", AG. now come over here and help me pull these arrows outta my butt :o

[Algernon's Ghost]

;)

Now back to on topic.

[Vetigipher]

I've recently decided to MultiClass Cairshto as a Druid. I'd love to discuss role-playing finding a companion (a fuzzy little wolfie, as long as he doesn't slobber as much as my dog).

Cheers,
Vetig

(Cairshto Jard)

[Dracharla]

Can be alot of fun. i kind of wish i'd gotten to do it with nara, but didn't make sense from an RP perspective..

in Pnp though thats how its done youhave to find your animal companion.

whenever you wanna go questing Isendyl is ready to go too!

[Cafall]

Sorry if this isn't the place to post a quesiton about familiars; the thread seems to include them.

I was wondering... does anyone know how long familiars generally live? I thought it might simply be the average life expectancy for their respective species. On the other hand, if that was true, I'd imagine a mage might go through toad or snake familiars every few months or something. Does it usually live as long as the caster, or their species, or is their lifespan extended somewhat?

-- Cafall (Corvus Gwynstredd'ae and Khiasa Restil.)

[Algernon's Ghost]

I don't know the answer off hand, did you check the Player's Handbook? I do know snakes can live an extremely long time (not that NWN supports snakes or toads), and in general, animals that are no longer wild will live longer as well.

[Cafall]

I just checked the Handbook, but it seems to only give information on familiars' special abilities and the usual numbers-stuff. It looks pretty dry on roleplaying info, unfortunately.

I'm actually wondering this with Khiasa and her bat in mind. I don't really have much of an idea as to the average life expectancy of bats, but when I considered the elven lifespan, I wondered if a familiar wouldn't be able to remain with an elven wizard or sorcerer for more than a small fraction of their life without some kind of magic, whether it's the bond or ritual that they go through or something else.

-- Cafall (Corvus Gwynstredd'ae and Khiasa Restil.)

[goatte]

I read a novel about an elven wizard, whose familiar had apparently died of old age on him - 'Forsaken House.' I also remember seeing something regarding aging for familiars in the 'Tome and Blood' sourcebook. I'll have to dig it up and check on it. I'm not in front of my main pc right now.

Great question, though. It will affect how one of the Tel'Quessir goes about obtaining a familiar, as you've stated.

goatte (faelar ammirynth)

[goatte]

From 'Tome and Blood':

"If the familiar has a shorter lifespan than the master, it ceases aging at its normal rate and instead ages at the standard rate for the master."

It's not the 'official' word, but it does help explain how a toad can live hundreds of years.

goatte (faelar ammirynth)

[Cafall]

Thanks. ;)

One more quick question, if no one minds: at what point in a wizard's training do they usually bind a familiar? Is it at the accumulation of their training or the start, or can it vary?

-- Cafall (Corvus Gwynstredd'ae and Khiasa Restil.)

[Algernon's Ghost]

Whenever they want. The spell to attract a familiar is first level, but can be performed no more than once per year, so if a familiar is dismissed or dies right away, then the wizard must wait.

[Cafall]

Thanks. Is there some set rule on when a wizard can get their first familiar? Does it have to be at the end of their initial, pre-first-level training/apprenticeship, or can it be sooner, like during or even at the beginning?

-- Cafall (Corvus Gwynstredd'ae and Khiasa Restil.)