Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Voldenuit 09-12-04, 03:52 AM	Should familiars and psicyrstals gain feats as they gain HD? (remember a familiar has the same effective HD as its master). Druid and ranger animal companions gain feats as they level up. So do Blackguard and Paladin mounts. So why not familiars? Cheers, V.
Mordmorgan the Mad 09-12-04, 04:21 AM	I'm not sure about psicrystals, but familiars don't actually gain hit dice (remember, they get "effective" HD, which is important for things like spells that affect a certain number of HD). Thier hit points are based on thier master's hp, and thier abilities are based directly on the level of the wizard. I think the main reason that familiars and psicrystals don't advance like a druid's animal companion is because they're not designed for combat. A large wolf is pretty scary, but an oversized toad? Not so much. Plus, wizards and psions aren't close combat folk, and they don't need their familiars to protect them.
Voldenuit 09-12-04, 05:12 AM	From the SRD: Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master’s character level or the familiar’s normal HD total, whichever is higher. Now I agree a familiar is not a combatant, but there are plenty of feats that are not-combat-orientated, especially survival ones.
darkwave 09-13-04, 03:45 PM	Well, some have argued that the abilities they gain (lower right of P53 in PHB), are more or less feats, and others say that the Sorcerer and Wizard are already powerful enough (of course, if one then goes pointing to the Druid...), and some DMs have house rules that familiars DO gain temporary feats (they go away if the master dies), or that if the player "pays off" the HD levels of the familiar (done the same way as EL - however I don't know the rules for doing that either) then it gets feats. I'm mostly of the first group. On the flip side, I think that sorcerers and wizards should be building/buying magic items for their familiars. Since that isn't the case in the main rules (and few PCs think of it even when it is faintly suggested by their uselessly flexible DM :D ), it hasn't been a main issue. I at least wouldn't mind it if the familiars got skills/feats/tricks. On the flip side, it seems to me that they don't for now, and I don't mind that either. ------- Not to try a threadjacking, but as an admitted aside, what do others think of magic items on familiars?
Dlgood 09-13-04, 04:04 PM	I think that sorcerers and wizards should be building/buying magic items for their familiars. Since that isn't the case in the main rules I suppose it's not specifically in the rules that a master is required to equip a familiar. But in the campaigns I've played, characters do generally try to find equipment to improve the survivability of their animal companions and familiars. No reason not to give that cat or doggie a magic collar... Psicrystals, on the other hand... It's a friggin' hunk of crystal. Can't really dress up one of those.
Mordmorgan the Mad 09-13-04, 06:28 PM	Psicrystals, on the other hand... It's a friggin' hunk of crystal. Can't really dress up one of those. Not that some people haven't tried :D