![]() ![]() Is that I have two big problems with this approach to “solving” the problem. I know there are a thousand forums giving advice on different ways a DM can neutralize the power of a familiar (distance, area effect attacks, etc.), and I want to stress that is not the lack of ideas on how to do it what takes me here. Second, as the spell is written, it is what would be called a “disruptive technology” for the game. Treated this way, it seems to me a familiar has the narrative weight of a magic potion: this is, none at all. ![]() You can even make it disappear when you don't need it and it’s going to be a nuisance for a given scene (let's get rid of the damn cat in this scene, now it is useless!). You can have one familiar now and a totally different one an hour later, almost at no cost. It was powerful, but the stakes were high.īut as the spell is written in DnD, this is just some kind of disposable resource, not even worthy of a spell slot (since you can even cast it as a ritual). It should be a creature with a name, and its survival should be of paramount importance for the wizard, being its death a great loss for them.įor example, I recall that this spell in Rolemaster required acquiring the creature by normal means, spending a week casting the spell on it and that if the creature died you had a -25 penalty for two weeks! So it was hard to get it and it was very, very bad to lose it. In my opinion, a familiar should be a very special creature for the wizard, a sort of magical pet they are very fond of. The goal of using a prewritten adventure is because I cannot stress enough that what I am looking for is not ways to design adventures against the rules (more on why I don’t like/need that later), but help on shedding some light on whether maybe I am overstating its potential effects.įirst of all, the narrative problem. I am going to present my arguments against the spell as is written first, and after that, I am going to exemplify the effect that a familiar could have as the rule is written on a very well known adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver, so that I can be told if I am misinterpreting something. I think the only way to address the problem is to change the spell, but before doing so (to my wizard player’s initial regret) I want to get other DM’s opinions first. But I think the way it is handled in DnD 5e is very disruptive for the game and, from a narrative point of view, very far from the fantasy trope of what a wizard’s familiar should be in my opinion. I will state first that I have always considered the familiar as a very attractive archetype of fantasy literature and I’d love to have it in my games. I am having some issues trying to find a balance in what seems to me to be an overpowered spell ( Find Familiar) considering its low level.
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