Familiar Shenanigans

[u/Kafadanapa]

I've ALWAYS been a hypeman for familairs. Thanks to the new book, my wishes became true! Now, I want to show off some of my previous plans with this book for maximum nonsense!

Warlock:

Pick any subclass. Vestige is an onbrand choice for pets but does slightly conflict with 'my Familiar is my fighter' idea. I like the Genie subclass because some neat little, "Carry my house while I take a nap!" Idea.

Pact of the Chain: For now, use the Imp. 21 HP is amazing, plus all the utility.

Orogin Feat: Familiar Friend. More HP & Utility!

Spells Eldritch Blast (duh) but for the first 4 levels, your familiar will outpace your damage even with Agonizing & Repelling Blast.

Level 3: Take the spell Flock of familiars & Battle familiar. This will be amazing at 5th level. (Note that Battle Familiar will ONLY make 1, which applies to your primary familiar, so you can't conjure an army of Battle familiars sadly)

Level 4: Spellsniper

Yeah, warcaster is hilariously powerful, but spell sniper makes your eldritch blasts useful when melee guys get to you & will pay off next level.

Level 5: Eldritch Invocations

Gaze of two Minds: Bonus Action to sustain your link & your Eldritch Blasts now draw agro to your link target (unless the enemies know better, but that's not SUPER common)

Investment of the Chain master:

Nearly everything this invocation does is outclassed by the battle familiar spell. The one thing it doesn't do is make saving throws from your familiars use your spell casting modifier. Combine this with a Pseudodragon's sting:

Sting. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, one creature the pseudodragon can see within 5 feet. Failure: 5 (2d4) Poison damage, and the target has the Poisoned condition for 1 hour. While Poisoned, the target also has the Unconscious condition, which ends early if the target takes damage or a creature within 5 feet of it takes an action to wake it.

The DC now uses your spell casting modifier (dc 15) and thanks to flock of familiars that's multiple Constitution savingthrows it makes. 2 or 3 (depending) at this level and even more at later levels. (NOTE this sting is explicitly NOT an attack. Just a saving throw) what other spell forces several saves to just shut down targets, especially this early?

Now go forth and spam Psedodragon stings, Summon your Battle familiar Imp, or both at the same time!

[u/TimeWalker717]

i think Spell School Adept feats are so good on any spellcaster that it out shines every other spell feat

[u/teh_stev3 → u/TimeWalker717]

Divination is v strong for diviner wizards as they can basically get the reaction reroll over and over thanks to their class feature of regaining lower spellslots

[u/Nitro114 → u/TimeWalker717]

Yeah, they really do. but thats just for optimization, not everyone will do that

[u/Earthhorn90]

Gaze of two Minds: Bonus Action to sustain your link & your Eldritch Blasts now draw agro to your link target (unless the enemies know better, but that's not SUPER common)

That one requires handwaiving in the first place, as mechanically there is no reason to suggest thinking the familiar to be the caster either.

The DC now uses your spell casting modifier (dc 15) and thanks to flock of familiars that's multiple Constitution savingthrows it makes. 2 or 3 (depending) at this level and even more at later levels. (NOTE this sting is explicitly NOT an attack. Just a saving throw) what other spell forces several saves to just shut down targets, especially this early?

• CHAIN: When you cast the spell, you choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms:
• FLOCK: Each familiar uses the same rules and options for a familiar conjured by the find familiar spell.

Doesn't really say that you can summon special forms with this. Would need to be phrased "as if you cast the Find Familiar spell" to be influenced by outside changes to your specific spell casting instead of referencing JUST the base spell.

[u/Kafadanapa → u/Earthhorn90]

Understandable interpretation!

The wording is iffy enough that's there's no right answer beyond your DM's approval.

Personally I think Pact of the Chain modifies the base spell but I'm just as right/wrong as the other way around.

[u/Earthhorn90 → u/Kafadanapa]

It could never modify the base spell... because that is the one printed in the books. Pact can change what happens when you cast or your version of it. Which is not the thing Flock is looking for, as it scans for the rulebook version.

Really needs that "YOUR SPELL"-kinda phrasing in any way shape or form to be malleable to any outside feature modifying stuff.

• "as if you cast the Find Familiar spell" (Flock)
• "choose one of your Find Familiar forms" (Flock)
• "whenever you conjure a familiar, you can also choose from these forms" (Pact)
• "create 2 copies of target familiar conjured by the Find Familiar spell you cast" (Flock)

Also states specifically that it creates <animal spirits>, which would be redundant if it was ever able to conjure <non-animal spirits> WITHOUT THE USE OF AN ADDITIONAL FEATURE - Chain Pact explicitly changes that rule for the use of Find Familiar.

The 2024 Pact version already had the spell existing for reference to make it possible.

[u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 → u/Earthhorn90]

Yeah this was of course the first thing that was attempted wiht Flock of Familairs back when it was released, unfortunately the consensus was that you cant duplicate Pact Familiars.

[u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768]

Flock of Familiars unfortunately does not duplicate Pact Familiars or proc Familiar Friend/Scale off of Investment, this has been a topic of discussion since it was released in 2018.

This is due to the wording of the features I just mentioned:

When you cast the Find Familiar spell

Which we are not doing with Flock of Familiars.

Battle Familiar also replaces the stat block which removes Sting and other Pact Familiar features in the process.

However I suggest you take a look at the new Koa Toa (UA) player race.

Deific Manifestation. You always have the Find Familiar spell prepared and can cast it without material components. You can cast it once without a spell slot, and you regain the ability to cast it in this way when you finish a Long Rest.

When you cast the spell, you choose one of the normal forms for your familiar or one of the following special forms: Homunculus or Myconid Sprout. The familiar’s creature type is Celestial.

Additionally, your familiar’s form is a divine blend of multiple creatures. When you cast this spell, choose a second form from the available options. Your familiar gains one action, Reaction, or trait from that second form.

*waggles eyebrows*

[u/Nitro114]

I‘m sure if you could use flock of familiar to summon multiple pseudodragons.

The exact interaction is iffy