Table of Contents:
A Spellcaster’s Best Friend
Partway between a handmaid and a charming pet, in dnd 5e, a conversant shares a charming bond with their summoner and is frequently an integral part of their lives as they master the arcane arts. In 5e D & D a little animal company seems simple but can have deceptively deep applications. Pick your front-runner critter from the pet denounce as we go through the rule familiar while and everything you need to know .
How Do I Get a
?
technically every character has access to a familiar, it ‘s merely a heck of a lot easier for some classes.
Reading: Find Familiar 5e Guide
basically it ‘s all about the spell Find Familiar. If you want a small charming raven to call your own, you ‘ll need to add this spell to your repertoire .
Since Find Familiar is entirely found on the sorcerer spell list, which means that by far the easiest way to gain a familiar is to simply be a charming and foot Find Familiar as one of your 1st level spells. For everybody else it ‘ll take just a bit of cultivate .
The new bible Tasha ‘s Cauldron of Everything added optional features for all the classes, including the wild Companion have for druids. hazardous company straight up grants you the find familiar 5e spell and lets you ignore the material components to boot. Simply being a druid is now one of the easiest and most effective ways of gaining a friendly animal .
future, warlocks choose a treaty at 3rd level, one of which is the Pact of the Chain. More than just giving you the spell, Pact of the Chain basically gives you a SUPER FAMILIAR that works a bit differently .
ultimately, that leaves us with everybody else, who are stuck with the least efficient but however viable option of taking the Magic Initiate feat. This feat gives you access to 2 cantrips and a 1st floor while from a spell list of your choice. And Find Familiar is handily a 1st level charming spell. The other commodity newsworthiness is that it ‘s a ritual while, therefore if you are a ritual caster you can besides get one without having an available spell slot. This works evem of you are cleric, rogue, etc., etc. Yes, even the barbarian can get a familiar if they want. It in truth works with those totem folks .
How Does Find
Work ?
The spell Find Familiar takes an hour of charming work, 10 general practitioner worth of magic infuriate, and a brass brazier, to summon a spirit into a nearby unoccupied outer space that takes the physical human body of an animal. The animal you summon is bonded to you in a few important ways, but is otherwise a fully-fledged animal at your military service for an space duration. It obeys your commands, but it acts independently and has its own spot in first step .
We ‘ll go into a familiar ‘s uses in a sting. But for now, let ‘s start with the utilities written into the spell :
- If the
drops to
, it disappears, drops any object they ‘re holding, and waits to be summoned again. mechanically this is practically the same as summoning a new
, but emotionally you do n’t have to feel like you killed your fuzzed buddy whenever they get poofed .
- It ‘s important to note that most do n’t have more than 1
, so they ‘re not actually intended to be active combatants .
- While the
is within 100 feet of you, you have a telepathic connection with it. As an military action you can besides use your
‘s senses and see and hear what they do, though you go subterfuge and deaf while you ‘re doing so .
- As an natural process you can make your
fagot out of universe into their own short pocket dimension or back out of it into a space within 30 feet .
- You ca n’t have more than one
.
- Your
will last constantly or until they get killed and temporarily poof away .
- You can deliver touch spells through your
as if you were the one doing the touching. This uses the
‘s reaction .
- Your
ca n’t
. ( notably, the familiars summoned using the
‘s Pact of the Chain feature CAN
. More on that in a bit. )
faq
Can I Store Stuff in My Familiar ‘s Pocket Dimension ?
No. When your companion fagot back to their pocket property they drop any object they ‘re holding. sol, you ca n’t use your familiar like a bleary bag of holding .
What is a Familiar Pocket Dimension Like ?
This is about like asking what the inside of a pokeball is like, it precisely is n’t touched a lot in the rules. however, we know that their pocket dimension is tailored to them, so it ‘s likely comfortable for their heart class to occupy .
Ca n’t I Just Pick any Tiny Monster out of the Monster Manual ?
technically you could if your decimeter allowed it, but that rule is specifically meant for NPCs. Any bantam giant could serve as a familiar, but rules as written you are limited to the creatures specified in the spell itself .
I need to make a save throw, what does it use ?
Most lenient DMs will let you use YOUR preservation throw, but otherwise your little buddy might go fagot .
How to Best Use Your
I ‘ve seen a lot of players dismiss or ignore Find Familiar, but it ‘s one of the most useful features a character can have if you know how to use it right, the benefits good are n’t immediately apparent .
Scouting
Do n’t like the look of the future room ? Send the charming cat in inaugural and see if any traps go off or if there ‘s an monster around the corner. It may seem a sting barbarous but having the familiar check for danger risks 10 general practitioner and an hour to recast it, quite than a player quality. then you factor in your familiar ‘s motion and senses and you can fly your familiar up to get a dame ‘s eye view, use them for quasi-darkvision by “ seeing ” through their eyes, or get a sense of a outer space alone a tiny-sized creature could fit through .
Touch Spell Delivery
Some very herculean spells use the scope of touch, particularly some great early spells like shocking grok, inflict wounds, or cure light wounds. Getting those touch spells in normally requires getting into the thick of combat, a place where many spongy spellcasters would n’t be caught dead. If you use your familiar in battle like this, they ‘ll probable get poofed by the first thing that attacks them, but that means they wasted an assail on something other than you and your allies at the price of 10 general practitioner. It ‘s besides normally not wise to use them against enemies using damaging areas of effect, your little familiar wo n’t last long if fireballs are getting thrown around .
aid
Familiars may not be able to attack, but they can perform the much forgotten “ help ” action. When a creature uses the help natural process, they have two options :
The first base modality grants advantage on another creature ‘s future ability check, you literally help the other animal with whatever they ‘re doing .
The 2nd modality grants advantage on an ally ‘s attack roll against a creature within 5 feet of you, you basically distract and mess with a target to give your friend a better shoot. This is particularly utilitarian if you ‘re an eldritch knight or early desegregate soldierly and charming class .
A side eminence for using your companion this direction, specifically for rogues. A familiar counts as an ally for the purposes of sneak attack !
Item Holders
Did the all-important charming mcguffin skid across the floor in the in-between of the fight ? Send your familiar to go snatch it. They can besides administer items like healing potions, so your familiar can act as the hand brake items dispenser while you fight the badly guys .
Which
Should I Pick ?
The abruptly answer is you should pick whichever creature you like the most. beyond that, it ‘s actually a matter of picking between a few key attributes, statistics, particular senses, and what animal form your party would benefit from the most. It ‘s best to ignore the claw and other attacks as that ‘s not what they ‘re best at anyhow. here are the basic options ( from the 5e srd ) and what they have going for them :
bat
Bats are one of the frontrunner options for their senses, particularly if you plan on using your familiar for scouting. They have a flying travel rapidly, blindsight ( echolocation ), and keen listening ( advantage on sensing checks that are hearing-based ) .
kat
Cats miss out on a flying speed but have estimable bonuses to Stealth and Perception along with a climbing speed. Of the non-flying/non-swimming familiars they ‘re one of the best options, but I ‘d only take it if that bonus to Stealth is what you ‘re after .
crab
Crabs get a float travel rapidly ( though a behind one ) and are amphibious which means they do n’t suffer the lapp pitfalls of the other aquatic familiars. They besides queerly get blindsight, which makes them a decent scouting option if your political campaign is going to have a adult water adventuring element, but otherwise give crab a pass. They are potentially great if you temporarily will want to look through your familiar ‘s eyes for anything that might differently go unnoticed .
.
frog
The stats are about identical to crabs, but you lose out on blindsight and get darkvision rather. You besides get a largely useless jump ability, but if you ‘re considering a frog, I ‘d take a crab louse alternatively .
hawk
With a fast-flying accelerate and advantage on sight-based percept checks, hawks are an all-around potent lookout option. They still lose out to owls statistically though, and if you ‘re considering clear the throat, I ‘d take a potent look at owl rather .
lounge lizard
You get darkvision and a climb travel rapidly, but they lose out wholly to much better options .
octopus
By far the best strictly aquatic option, octopi are the arrant furtive subaqueous scouts. They are strictly aquatic though, so you ‘re limited to subaqueous campaigns or to temporarily transforming your conversant into an octopus when the need arises .
owl
They gain advantage on both sight and sound-based perception checks, they have excellent darkvision, and a firm fly focal ratio. What locks them up as the lead spot though is their flyby ability that lets them move out of enemy threatened areas without provoking an attack of opportunity. This flyby ability cinches them as the individual discipline choice if you plan on using your familiar to deliver reach spells or perturb enemies using the help oneself action .
poisonous Snake
You get a float accelerate ( but no water breathing ) and a short roll blindsight. The big trace though is the deadly bite, which is actually a properly price source at literal level 1 or 2 but will be largely irrelevant later .
fish ( Quipper )
technically this has some applications for getting tint spells through in an aquatic campaign, but it should be a hard pass in every other scenario .
denounce
I personally love rats, but they ‘re sadly outclassed by basically every other option .
raven
You get a fly speed, a adequate bonus to Perception, and a cool if decrepit apery ability that you may be able to trick some guards with. Worth considering if you ‘re going for an magician or arcane prankster .
Sea Horse
very cunning but amazing stats and about laughably bad in every respect .
spider
With a climb speed that works on ceilings, darkvision, and a big Stealth bonus, I consider spiders to be the absolute best non-flying scout option. If you ‘re more worry about scouting out the future keep room than the following leg of the woods, go with the spider .
weasel
The best Stealth bonus of the bunch and faster than the denounce, weasels are n’t the best choice by a farseeing blast but they ‘re properly .
What About X/Y/Z Animal ?
I ‘ve so far to see any gamemasters who would n’t allow you to flavor your raven familiar as a parakeet, or a weasel familiar as a squirrel. If you ‘re absolutely set on a particular magic favored, barely pick the stat block that seems the cheeseparing and ask your DM for permission .
treaty of the Chain Warlocks
Warlocks who select the treaty of the range gain the Find Familiar spell but with respective options for their familiar that are army for the liberation of rwanda stronger than normal critters and their familiars can make attacks. All in all, we think warlock familiars are reasonably cool :
imp
Imps have a vanish travel rapidly, super darkvision, magic trick resistance, the ability to turn inconspicuous at will, and the ability to polymorph into early less “ demonic ” forms when the site calls for it. They besides get a whole swerve of devilishly resistances, bonuses to a short ton of skills, and a stinger attack that can deal a surprise total of damage. I tend to regard imps as the absolute strongest treaty option, sol long as your party mates are n’t concerned with having a little hellion tag along .
Pseudodragon
A misprint bantam dragon, they ‘re statistically exchangeable to imps but lose out on a short ton of resistances and skill bonuses and gain limited telepathy. I think of pseudodragons as a solid base runner up to be taken when the party has besides many paladins for a devil ally .
Quasit
about strictly worse than the imp as it loses out on a flying speed, and it shares the “ fanatic in the party ” trouble. If you have the choice, pick the imp over the quasit .
fairy
The invisibility combined with the poison shortbow shots make for a queerly fight relevant familiar for ambushes. You get the invisibility but miss out on the magic trick resistances and type resistances. Sprites are decent, but I ‘d distillery take the imp or pseudodragon over them .
form Familiars
Hidden off in bestiaries and adventure paths several creatures have been marked as “ form familiar “ ( some folks look for the term familiar discrepancy ) available at your DM ‘s discretion. A lot of these are singular to the setting, or are downright stronger options that the DM may choose to provide you as a reward :
Abyssal Chicken
You read that correctly, the abysmal chicken conversant can be found in Baldur ‘s Gate : Decent into Avernus and these “ chickens ” are bantam screech demons. statistically they have decent hit points and a bunch of demonic resistances and immunities. They besides have blindsight and a bad chicken-y “ flight ” ability. A funny option, but a viable one .
Almiraj
basically, a lapin with a unicorn horn, these little buns can be found in the Tomb of Annihilation venture path. Almiraj get a 50-foot land amphetamine, which is the fastest non-flying familiar I ‘ve seen, and they have advantage on both sight and sound-based perception checks .
Anvilwrought Raptor
These are charming exist alloy birds unique to the Theros set. They have a surprisingly baffling AC, the ability to record sounds like a charming tape fipple flute, and you can use them to scout huge distances as the conversant telepathic bind to these robot-birds extends to 1-mile rather of 100 feet ! We think this is a big companion liveliness for a inventor !
Flying Monkey
These are besides out of the Tomb of Annihilation adventure, they get a vanish and wax speed, and clique tactics of all things which makes them a very potent touch spell delivery system .
Gazer
Found in Volo ‘s Guide to Monsters, gazers are basically bantam beholders, and they ‘re an INSANE gradation up in exponent level from most familiar options. You do have to be at least 3rd degree to bond with one, but that ‘s a belittled price to pay for center rays. If you can gain a gazer familiar, TAKE it. We think this is a bang-up familiar for a necromancer, or a sorcerer who has taken a feat or dim into sorcerer ! It ‘s one of the best familiars in Dungeons and Dragons 5e !
Tressym
Found in Storm King ‘s Thunder, tressym are literally cats with wings. Besides the fly rush, they besides get permanent detect invisibility and poison sense. Making tressym influence less as scouts and more as early warn alarms .
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last update : January 27, 2019
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