Feats for familiars? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Feats for familiars? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Dempster
04-22-07, 10:56 PM Do you get to select the feat your familiar comes with or do you have to take the one it has from the monster manual? Do familiars gain feats as you increase in hit die? Can a familiar retrain a feat?
Hariman
04-22-07, 11:28 PM Do you get to select the feat your familiar comes with or do you have to take the one it has from the monster manual? Do familiars gain feats as you increase in hit die? Can a familiar retrain a feat?

I believe that:

1: You must take a standard familiar from the list in the PHB. UNLESS you gain access to a nonstandard familiar through campaign documentation. (It's out there, I've seen monkey familiars on an AR)

2: From what I've seen/read, they don't. They are treated as having hit dice for the purposes of spells that affect opponents based on hit dice (Like Sleep/Deep Slumber) But they don't actually gain hit dice.

3: Since familiars don't gain feats, they can't retrain them. You can, however, retrain your choice of familiar.
TWG_Prometheus
04-23-07, 08:33 AM Familiars don't gain HD. This is why they need an exception for their hp to be equal to half that of their masters...otherwise they'd likely have higher HP than the average wizard does, or at least more than half that many HP. The Tiny Viper familiar doesn't gain any increased DC for its poisonous bite, either.

As with animal companions and paladin mounts, it's best to take the PHB descriptive text very literally. They gain exactly what the PHB says and nothing more.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dempster 04-22-07, 10:56 PM	Do you get to select the feat your familiar comes with or do you have to take the one it has from the monster manual? Do familiars gain feats as you increase in hit die? Can a familiar retrain a feat?
Hariman 04-22-07, 11:28 PM	Do you get to select the feat your familiar comes with or do you have to take the one it has from the monster manual? Do familiars gain feats as you increase in hit die? Can a familiar retrain a feat? I believe that: 1: You must take a standard familiar from the list in the PHB. UNLESS you gain access to a nonstandard familiar through campaign documentation. (It's out there, I've seen monkey familiars on an AR) 2: From what I've seen/read, they don't. They are treated as having hit dice for the purposes of spells that affect opponents based on hit dice (Like Sleep/Deep Slumber) But they don't actually gain hit dice. 3: Since familiars don't gain feats, they can't retrain them. You can, however, retrain your choice of familiar.
TWG_Prometheus 04-23-07, 08:33 AM	Familiars don't gain HD. This is why they need an exception for their hp to be equal to half that of their masters...otherwise they'd likely have higher HP than the average wizard does, or at least more than half that many HP. The Tiny Viper familiar doesn't gain any increased DC for its poisonous bite, either. As with animal companions and paladin mounts, it's best to take the PHB descriptive text very literally. They gain exactly what the PHB says and nothing more.