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Companion | Drake | Eidolon | Eidolon (Unchained) | Familiar | Phantom

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Adept | Aristocrat | Commoner | Expert | Warrior

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Familiar Details | Familiar Options | Archetypes

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Familiars

Description Source: PRPG Core Rulebook
A familiar is an animal chosen by a spellcaster to aid him in his study of magic. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but is now a magical beast for the purpose of effects that depend on its type. Only a normal, unmodified animal may become a familiar. An animal companion cannot also function as a familiar.

A familiar grants special abilities to its master, as given on the table below. These special abilities apply only when the master and familiar are within 1 mile of each other.

Levels of different classes that are entitled to familiars stack for the purpose of determining any familiar abilities that depend on the master's level.

If a familiar is lost or dies, it can be replaced 1 week later through a specialized ritual that costs 200 gp per wizard level. The ritual takes 8 hours to complete.

Nethys: See the monster entry by clicking on the Familiar's name for full details on its use as a familiar.

Small and Vermin Familiars

Description Source: Ultimate Magic
Small-sized familiars threaten the areas around them like Small creatures, and can be used to flank enemies, though both familiars and their masters are often loath to use such tactics, as the result is often a dead familiar. Small-sized familiars are also harder to keep on a master's person than Tiny or smaller familiars. Often they require some form of magic item, like a bag of holding, for such a feat to work. The process of making a vermin into a familiar grants it an Intelligence score and removes the mindless trait. Vermin familiars communicate with their masters and other vermin of their kind (greensting scorpions with other scorpions, house centipedes with other centipedes, and scarlet spiders with other spiders) by way of a strange combination of behaviors, slight changes in coloration, and even the excretion of scents, subtle and otherwise. As with other types of familiars, other creatures cannot understand this communication without magical aid.

Unusual Familiars

Description Source: Familiar Folio
While most familiars are Tiny animals or magical beasts, spellcasters may acquire larger or more unusual creatures during their travels, which impart certain rules effects that should be considered at the table.

Small familiars threaten the areas around them like other Small creatures, and can be used to flank enemies—though both familiars and their masters are generally loath to employ such tactics, as the result is often a dead familiar. Small familiars are also harder to keep on a master’s person than Tiny or smaller familiars; some form of magic item, like a bag of holding, is usually required.

Construct, plant, and vermin familiars gain an Intelligence score, and they lose the mindless trait if they had it. If such familiars lack a language, they communicate with their masters and other creatures of their kind (greensting scorpions with other scorpions, mobile plant creatures with other mobile plant creatures, and so on) by way of a strange combination of behaviors, slight changes in coloration, and sometimes even the excretion of scents or pheromones. Other types of creatures can’t understand this communication without magical aid.

Outsiders and undead creatures are normally available only with the Improved Familiar feat, and require no other special rules.

*A raven familiar can speak one language of its master's choice as a supernatural ability.

Improved Familiars

Description Source: PRPG Core Rulebook
This feat (for more details, see the Improved Familiar feat) allows you to acquire a powerful familiar, but only when you could normally acquire a new familiar.

When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed below are also available to you. You may choose a familiar with an alignment up to one step away on each alignment axis (lawful through chaotic, good through evil).

Improved familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature's type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).

Nethys: See the monster entry by clicking on the Familiar's name for full details on its use as a familiar.

¹Or other celestial, entropic, fiendish, or resolute animal from the standard familiar list.
² The master must first create the homunculus.
³ A spellcaster within one step of chaotic neutral with an arcane caster level of 3rd or greater can gain a pyrausta as a familiar by taking the Improved Familiar feat. This causes the pyrausta’s heart spark to glow slightly less brightly, but more steadily. This removes its fast healing ability and heart of flame special abilities.