Familiar

A Familiar is a creature that serves as a magically linked assistant to a spellcaster, most often of the wizard class. The different types of familiars have special powers, and may also grant some to their master.

Types of familiar

Many different creatures can be familiars, including:

• Several species of drakes, tower drakes are particularly suitable
• Dreamcrawler
• A wide variety of mundane creatures

Acquiring a familiar

The first step of acquiring a familiar is to locate a speciment of the creature the prospective master wishes to employ. For common familiars, it is as simple as to capture one in the wild or even just to visit an appropriate store in a settlement and purchasing a suitable creature. Rarer or more exotic creatures may require more effort to locate.

The second step is a ritual that grants the creature the capability to speak and sufficient intelligence to make use of it (this ritual can be skipped for already-intelligent and speaking creatures such as tower drakes), after which the creature is offered a contract. The typical familiar contract involves offering the prospective familiar food, shelter, and protection, in exchange for servitude, though many contracts involve more expenditure on the prospective master's part, in particular for creatures gifted with even higher intelligence than a garden variety familiar. Sealing the contract creates the magical link between master and familiar, and makes the effects of the ritual permanent on the now contracted familiar. Should the contract be refused and the familiar refuse to negotiate, the effects of the ritual are dispelled. Practitioner etiquette dictates that the creature be released or returned afterwards. In most cases, any reputable store that deals in familiar capable creatures will issue refunds for incompatible creatures.