Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 snex Apr 29, 2008 17:15:27	a familiar may receive one or more feats based on their natural hit dice. according to the monster manual, those feats can be replaced at the option of... well the monster manual just says "you." so who is it referring to? can a wizard choose his familiar's feat(s) as long as the familiar would meet the prereqs of those feats? can you, for example, take the improved familiar feat and get a quasit that has Skill Focus (UMD) and Magical Aptitude instead of Improved Initiative and Weapon Finesse? are these rules clarified further in any books other than core?
#2 phaedrusxy Apr 29, 2008 17:24:38	You could certainly swap them out via Psychic Reformation to whatever you want. I think some of the other feat swapping methods should work for this, also.
#3 snex Apr 29, 2008 17:35:55	You could certainly swap them out via Psychic Reformation to whatever you want. I think some of the other feat swapping methods should work for this, also. im referring to the actual summoning of the familiar, not what you do with it later on.
#4 andyjames Apr 29, 2008 17:43:46	When you summon a Familiar, it is normal in all respects, so the feats listed in the monster entry are the feats you get. The only one that does not conform to this that I can think of off-hand is a Dragon Familiar, which has no feats listed because the DM is supposed to customise them to his liking. If this is the case, then the player should get to choose the feats, IMO, but there are no hard and fast rules on that.
#5 awaken_D_M_golem Apr 29, 2008 19:00:32	If you are role-playing a Sorc, you (the player) need to "know", that you (the PC) are not as smart as the Familiar, and that the Sorc might not know that. So the Familiar chooses itself, but makes it seem like it's the Sorc's idea. Kinda like Sonny and Cher, then she got all uppity ... or somethin'. ;)
#6 ChristopherGroves Apr 29, 2008 19:20:10	Your sorcerer is going to hit a tree while skiing? They come with the default set. Rule wise there are retraining options as PhaedrusXY mentions, but otherwise they are set unless your DM feels generous.
#7 wwad_dup Apr 29, 2008 22:50:54	I there are feats available but not specified, I would treat it as a cohort--in which case the DM should decide and make it as "plain" as possible (taking a feat critters of its type favors, etc.)
#8 x-codes Apr 30, 2008 5:29:41	Another option is just getting the feats you want on the familiar. Earth-subtype mephits carry Power Attack and a nice Strength score backing it up. With your personal-range buffs on it, it can become quite a force.
#9 ronyon Apr 30, 2008 6:31:11	Do families get HD based feats once they are with you? If so, can you influence(control)those choices?
#10 andyjames Apr 30, 2008 6:53:36	Do families get HD based feats once they are with you? If so, can you influence(control)those choices? The familiar doesn't actually rise in actual HD, unlike the druid's animal companion. It merely use your HD to counteract things like spells that affect it based on HD. So, it doesn't actually get HD based feats, unless you apply Leadership to it...
#11 Senevri Apr 30, 2008 6:54:50	familiars don't really gain HD. That being said, DCFS works, obviously.
#12 ronyon Apr 30, 2008 10:00:32	:embarrass Thank you...
#13 indeterminate Apr 30, 2008 10:43:03	The familiar doesn't actually rise in actual HD, unlike the druid's animal companion. It merely use your HD to counteract things like spells that affect it based on HD. So, it doesn't actually get HD based feats, unless you apply Leadership to it... That does, however, mean that an Arcane Hierophant's companion familiar ought to get some new feats, even interesting ones now that it has an Int score above 2. It makes me want to optimize a companion familiar for ridiculousness.
#14 jesterzero Apr 30, 2008 13:08:16	That does, however, mean that an Arcane Hierophant's companion familiar ought to get some new feats, even interesting ones now that it has an Int score above 2. It makes me want to optimize a companion familiar for ridiculousness. There was a discussion some time ago regarding an Arcane Hierophant's companion/familiar that decided to take VoP...which was rather terrifying. Just imagine a very ethical magical bear kicking your keister... :D
#15 andyjames Apr 30, 2008 15:11:42	There was a discussion some time ago regarding an Arcane Hierophant's companion/familiar that decided to take VoP...which was rather terrifying. Just imagine a very ethical magical bear kicking your keister... :D Now why didn't I think of that when I was playing my Arcane Hierophant with his warbeast baboon companion?