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Every class has access to a Feat called Magic Initiate. And best of all, it is not limited by class! Yes, it is a Wizard spell, but it’s a level 1 Wizard spell. There is a 100 foot limit on this, but this does allow extra positioning on the combat field.Ī familiar adds a lot of flexibility in game play, and a fun pet to add to the role playing. Then they could cast the spell through the familiar, as if the familiar was the caster. If the character had a familiar, the character could send the familiar to the target. Then the spell would not be able to be cast on the target. The caster is 100 feet away, and has no way to reach the target. For example, let’s say a spell requires the target to be in touch range, that is, 5 feet away. Fly over an enemy camp and spy, or sneak through a wall and pull a switch to open a door.Ī spell may also be cast through a familiar. The player’s character may also use an action to telepathically link their mind to the familiar, and experience what the familiar experiences, with all of their senses. This might be because the familiar can fly, or because it is small and can fit inside a small crevice, or maybe the familiar is a fish and swims under water.
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In combat or not, the character can take control of the familiar, move it - separate from their own actions - and traverse into areas the character cannot. What the familiar can do, and where it can go, is important. For example, if the player chose a Fey that appeared to be a Raven, then the familiar uses the Raven statistics, available on sites like. Whichever is chosen, the creature has the statistics of the beast the player selected for the appearance, and the abilities of that animal. The player chooses what type of creature the familiar is. It is classified as either a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend. The shape can be consistent, or the player could choose a different form when summoning.Įven though all of those forms are beasts, the familiar is not a beast. The forms of the familiar, per the D&D Player Handbook are: bat, cat, crab, frog or toad, hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish, rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. The familiar is limited in what it can take the form of, but there are still many choices within that limitation. Let’s look at some of the options available to the different classes.įind Familiar is a Wizard spell that allows a character to summon a creature, to have as a pet, and to use them in or out of combat. Dungeons and Dragons is a game that has lots of pets available to players, and not just to the Ranger class. The adventurer with the familiar is a trope that works well in fantasy. The raven flies back and reports what is going on.
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He sends his pet raven to secretly spy on the band of orcs occupying the valley. Imagine a grizzled, old Wizard, staring down from a hill.
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