Post/Author/DateTime	Post
createvmind 08-02-04, 05:20 PM	A player in my game is in Amn, Murann actually , trying to keep his head on his shoulders and such. He hasnt used or had his familar with him for better part of 6 months in game time.its still in Silverymoon and at no point has he interacted with it. Yet the party is at a point in the game where the players are discussing strategy and others have mentioned to him that he should use his familar for this and that OUT OF GAME. Now none of their chars are mages so they know I wont allow their chars to try and suggest it since none of them have even seen or know what his famialr is IN GAME. But now that its been brought up I know hes going to try to find a way to suddenly decide he wants to check on his familar.....my question is what would his famialr have done this past 6 months.........can a Famialr feel abadoned and choose to move on? Does it have free will like that or will it just cry and wait for Master to return. Might he have to reconnect with it, I cant stop him from returning to his tower because he had planned to do so regardless but he was not remotely thinking about his familar untill the others mentioned it. What a mage huh,:rolleyes:
Mr. Domino 08-02-04, 07:07 PM	Mages and their familiars share an empathic bond that links them together. Now, technically, this only extends 1 mile between them, but familiars are often more intelligent than the rest of their kind, so it is not to absurd to think the familiar may have re-located to a more hospitable local most likely within 1 mile vicinity of the mage's home.
createvmind 08-02-04, 09:42 PM	Hmmmm Thats not bad though I doubt the famialr would know a mile distance, perhaps it might stay with the mages tower visible at a distance......of course that distance could extend over a mile depending on terrain. i like your idea now that makes me wonder if said Familar now is at risk of predation and maybe i'll roll secretly each week to see if it comes to an unfortunate end. Now the distance Matters not if the familar should die, its like part of him died right? This is gonna be great.........hee hee, thanks Metagamers get metagamed :behold:
SALDAR 08-04-04, 05:12 AM	Any wizard that does not keep his familiar with him or safely in his tower SHOULD lose it to predation. The rules state that a wizard and his familiar are practically one being. A wizard, although protective of it, would leave his familiar behind just as readily as he would his spellbooks or his hands. If you are the DM you should make him keep it with him for the stated reasons. If he doesn't have it near him (within 1 mile) he doesn't gain the granted special ability listed for that type of creature. And do not forget that by merely being a familiar it has enough intelligence to tell his master "The next time you leave me behind I'm going shred every book, piece of furniture, drapery, and tapestry in the tower. I will also make a litter box out of your bed!"
Starmage21 08-04-04, 05:21 AM	familiars are highly intelligent, even to the point of being able to speak in the case of the raven. Even at first level, they start with an INT score of 6 which is still way better than a normal animal. If the familiar understands that he was left behind for a reason, theyd be more than willing to accept it (depending on the familiar. Psudodragons demand constant attention). What is the wizard's familiar? Also, I would say losing the familiar to predation because it went outside is highly unlikely. It would take something of greater than intelligence than an animal to chase it down because a familiar has the same amount of reasoning ability as a human does. For instance, in the case of a toad familiar. The only thing thats going to eat it is a hawk that sees it on the ground. Its likely the toad will see the hawk coming, and simply move out of the way of the hawk's less than maneuverable dive. Perytons are a different matter, and are more likely to dive on humans than a toad. *edit* Also, the massive HPs a familiar has in comparion to every other normal animal make it so that no other animal is going to have a chance 1dmg attacks or not.
createvmind 08-04-04, 11:49 AM	Here's the funny part I think its eiter a snake or 'Spider".....though now that i think about it, can a spider be a familar and he's had it for about 4 years......which means now I have to doublecheck to see it lifespan of a familar is extended even though it is now a magical creature.....i dont think so but ill double check
ClobberinTime 08-04-04, 12:07 PM	Why didn't he leave the familiar in his tower... It would be safe there... If given enough food. Honestly If he's figured out a good use for the familiar then why not just let him do it. Seems like your kind of in a DM vs the players competetive mode. Also honestly there is no way to stop metagaming, The PCs spend hours together in the game world which aren't roleplayed, if they discussed the familiar in real life then I'd just assume it came up in conversation in the game world that this Wizard has a familiar. And its not like some big secret in Faerun that Wizards have familiars, so why is it such a problem.
Starmage21 08-04-04, 12:14 PM	you certainly dont have to feed a spider, especially an intelligent one :D Personally, Id be more scared of a spider with human intelligence than of a dragon.
jake_lex 08-04-04, 07:11 PM	Why do Wizards always live in towers? You'd think one would go for a nice split-level ranch, or perhaps a cozy townhome.
Mr. Domino 08-04-04, 07:20 PM	Thieves are less likely to break into the looming tower fortress of Arakamos the Black Tongued than they are to rob the snuggly warm and cozy cottage of Arakamos the Black Tongued.
The Simbul 08-04-04, 11:19 PM	A familiar will remain linked to a Wizard or Sorcerer indefinately until either: A) the familiar is slain. B) the spellcaster dismisses the familiar. In either scenario the character must suceed the standard Fortitude save or lose 200 XP/level (100XP/level on a sucessful save). If he never dismissed his familiar or told it to "get lost", and it isnt dead, then it will still serve him. I have had characters and NPC's who often leave their familiars behind to guard to a tower or spellbook, or to keep watch over a spellcaster slumbering in statis. You dont have to carry your familiar everywhere if you dont want to, and they are perfectly intelligent enough to survive without their master feeding or overtly protecting them.