Questions about Familiars

[Hell_Born]

Okay, this is just a litany of questions about Familiars in Ravenloft that I need some help answering.

*A Mage who summons a Familiar for the first time in Ravenloft receives a Dread Familiar, whilst one who brings a Familiar from off-plane retains a normal Familiar, unlike a Paladin whose Special Mount becomes a Dread Companion, right?

*If the Familiar of an Outlander Mage dies and the mage summons a new familiar in Ravenloft, is it a Dread Familiar?

*Do the Animal Companions of Outlander Druids and Rangers risk being corrupted into Dread Companions like an Outlander Paladin's Mount?

*If a Mage, Outlander or Native, purchases the Improved Familiar Feat, is the Improved Familiar a Dread Familiar or not?

*A player of mine plays a Wizard with the Improved Familiar feat and wants to give him a Construct Familiar, from the special article in Dragon #341- should the Familiar be a Dread Construct in addition to/instead of a Dread Familiar or should it remain a Dread Familiar?

In addition, I have two requests:

-Could someone please give me a suggested list of "tricks" Dread Companions might pull off? Perhaps divided by species? A Dread Familiar Asp isn't likely to behave like a Dread Familiar Bat after all.

-I've been looking at the list of Improved Familiars and, frankly, I don't think they fit in Ravenloft. I mean, you have Fiendish or Celestial versions of ordinary Familiars, Formorians, Shocker Lizards and a bunch of other high-fantasy stuff. Can anyone suggest a more "appropriate" list of Improved Familiars for Ravenloft?

[LouisVendredi]

I'll give you my thoughts:

*A Mage who summons a Familiar for the first time in Ravenloft receives a Dread Familiar, whilst one who brings a Familiar from off-plane retains a normal Familiar, unlike a Paladin whose Special Mount becomes a Dread Companion, right?

Sounds about right.

*If the Familiar of an Outlander Mage dies and the mage summons a new familiar in Ravenloft, is it a Dread Familiar?

I would think so.

*Do the Animal Companions of Outlander Druids and Rangers risk being corrupted into Dread Companions like an Outlander Paladin's Mount?

My understanding is that Druid and Ranger animal companions (Outlander or Native) are not affected by the Dread Companion rule.

*If a Mage, Outlander or Native, purchases the Improved Familiar Feat, is the Improved Familiar a Dread Familiar or not?

I'm not familiar (pardon the pun) with the feat buy my guess would be that he'd get a dread improved familiar.

*A player of mine plays a Wizard with the Improved Familiar feat and wants to give him a Construct Familiar, from the special article in Dragon #341- should the Familiar be a Dread Construct in addition to/instead of a Dread Familiar or should it remain a Dread Familiar?

My thought is the familiar should be a construct that acts like any other dread familiar.

In addition, I have two requests:

-Could someone please give me a suggested list of "tricks" Dread Companions might pull off? Perhaps divided by species? A Dread Familiar Asp isn't likely to behave like a Dread Familiar Bat after all.

I've only run one dread familiar, a raven. He tried to suffocate a party member his mage disliked by stuffing grubs in his mouth while he slept.

Although not a "trick" per se, I have also had a lot of fun having the raven subtly talking the mage into becoming evil.

-I've been looking at the list of Improved Familiars and, frankly, I don't think they fit in Ravenloft. I mean, you have Fiendish or Celestial versions of ordinary Familiars, Formorians, Shocker Lizards and a bunch of other high-fantasy stuff. Can anyone suggest a more "appropriate" list of Improved Familiars for Ravenloft?

Personally, I think fiendish could work pretty well and I have an elemental lich who has a Shocker Lizard named "Sparky".

[Dion of the Fraternity]

-Could someone please give me a suggested list of "tricks" Dread Companions might pull off? Perhaps divided by species? A Dread Familiar Asp isn't likely to behave like a Dread Familiar Bat after all.

A dread familiar's tricks are basically the same as a non-dread one, although I am inclined to believe that since dread familiars are a bit sneaky (thereby making them slightly note SLIGHTLY intelligent) the DC's for teaching a familiar could be reduced by as much as 5.

[Hell_Born]

Um, by "tricks" I mean "things the Dread Familiar might pull off to 'avenge' slights to its master".

[Mangrum]

*A Mage who summons a Familiar for the first time in Ravenloft receives a Dread Familiar, whilst one who brings a Familiar from off-plane retains a normal Familiar, unlike a Paladin whose Special Mount becomes a Dread Companion, right?

All dread companions follow the same rules -- what you have here goes for special mounts as well.

*If the Familiar of an Outlander Mage dies and the mage summons a new familiar in Ravenloft, is it a Dread Familiar?

A couple of books in the line address this specifically, but here's two simple rules to remember:

1. Does the character have an empathic link to his or her companion?
2. Did the character summon the companion while in Ravenloft?

If you answered "yes" to both, the companion (familiar/special mount) is a dread companion. If you answered "no" to either, then it's not.

*Do the Animal Companions of Outlander Druids and Rangers risk being corrupted into Dread Companions like an Outlander Paladin's Mount?

See above. (No, because there's no empathic link. Rangers and druids already in Ravenloft don't run the risk either.)

*If a Mage, Outlander or Native, purchases the Improved Familiar Feat, is the Improved Familiar a Dread Familiar or not?

An "improved familiar" is just an unusually powerful familiar. Still being a familiar, it still follows the rules for familiars.

*A player of mine plays a Wizard with the Improved Familiar feat and wants to give him a Construct Familiar, from the special article in Dragon #341- should the Familiar be a Dread Construct in addition to/instead of a Dread Familiar or should it remain a Dread Familiar?

Whether or not it's a dread construct is dependent on its means of creation; "construct of obsession" and "dread familiar" are entirely unrelated states of being, which may or may not overlap, depending on the individual case.

In other words, depending on the specific creature's origins, a construct familiar in Ravenloft might be both a dread construct and a dread familiar, a dread construct but not a dread familiar, a dread familiar but not a dread construct, or neither of the above.

[Matthew L. Martin]

All dread companions follow the same rules -- what you have here goes for special mounts as well.

Generally true, but 3.5 complicates this by having the paladin summon his mount from the Upper Planes each time he wants to use it. Therefore, it could be argued that even an outlander paladin who entered Ravenloft would get a Mist-born replacement when he tried to call his faithful steed.

The lack of any attention to this matter is one of the more glaring oversights in the RL PH, alas.

Matthew L. Martin

[Hell_Born]

Actually, there's an article in one issue of Quoth the Raven that actually has rules covering the gradual transformation of an Outlander Paladin's Special Mount into a Dread Companion. It also has special mounts for Native Paladins that don't become Dread Companions.

[Jasper]

I've been looking at the list of Improved Familiars and, frankly, I don't think they fit in Ravenloft. I mean, you have Fiendish or Celestial versions of ordinary Familiars, Formorians, Shocker Lizards and a bunch of other high-fantasy stuff. Can anyone suggest a more "appropriate" list of Improved Familiars for Ravenloft?

Wolves (Dire, worgs, winter and normal), Bats (all types), Ravens, Hawks (normal and blood), Toads (high chance of being posionous), spiders, snakes, rodents (rats, ferrets, otters etc; ), Cats, Dogs, lizards (normagical).

[Jakob]

I was skimming through RPHB... And rangers and druids who turn to evil attract Dread Companions as animal companions.
Not joking. RPHB pagg 47 and 52.

[Mangrum]

I was skimming through RPHB... And rangers and druids who turn to evil attract Dread Companions as animal companions.
Not joking. RPHB pagg 47 and 52.

God, I hate that book.

[Lord Cyclohexane]

I was skimming through RPHB... And rangers and druids who turn to evil attract Dread Companions as animal companions.
Not joking. RPHB pagg 47 and 52.

Yeah, that's another horrible addition by the Dark Duo. The original RLCS p39 and p43 has the animal companions remaining normal, which makes more sense.

Why is the Dark Duo's addition nonsensical? Because Dread Companions, when they work their evil, are working from the secret desires of their master (a wizard that they're the familiar of, etc), learned by the Dread Companion via the empathic bond with the master. A druid or ranger's animal companion has NO ability, whatsoever, to know what its master's secret desires are and so obviously has NO ability to act on them.

And before you say "Well, the RLPHB came after RLCS, so even if we don't like it, this is still the way things are," please check p50 of the RLPHB, in the sidebar entitled "Dread Companions." The fourth paragraph specifically states "Dread companions share an empathic link with their masters." As a druid or ranger's animal companions do NOT "share an empathic link with their masters," the Dark Duo's little addition should be thrown out as inconsistent with the overall work.

Just one more reason to throw out the RLPHB and stick with the RLCS instead.

[Joël of the FoS]

I was skimming through RPHB... And rangers and druids who turn to evil attract Dread Companions as animal companions.
Not joking. RPHB pagg 47 and 52.

God, I hate that book.

Don't we all?

Problem is we're stuck to recommending it, since the former isn't available anymore, but with the advice "to read the errata snd reviews to quickly pinpoint the odd stuff"...