Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
Changeling wizard 5 / Alienist 10 / Fleshwarper 5 or Alienist 5 / Fleshwarper 10 depending on your needs.
Comes with LOTS of flavor, make sure you're a changeling because then your familiar can change to whatever you need it to be with the ACF of wizard 5 which is completely awesome, especially with a liberal reading of the ACF which says it can change into anything available to you and taking:
Improved Familiar (DMG p 201)
Dragon Familiar (Dracon p 104)
and then having it shift between shapes.
Otherwise, spell-linked familiar (PHB 2, p 83) is really the only must-have for the familiar build.
Also, why are you taking the obtain familiar feat? Do you want two? Will your DM let you have a second one if you do that?
Re: Evoker. It's one of the weakest of the specialties. Transmutation or maybe conj because it's just that good is the way to go and share that buff and shapechange with your familiar for the win! All of your offensive needs can be handled by conjuration
Re: Low level wizard. Grease:smallcool:! Glitterdust:smallcool:! Crossbow pew pews :smallfrown: It's not great but a couple well placed spells win matches. Also get some social or useful skills because of your int and do fun things!
Edit: Re: Familiar dies --> get another one! It's a minor XP drain, hopefully the BBEG thinks there are better targets around...
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
I have obtain familiar listed as a bonus feat even though it's a class feature; the class feature is essentially to get 'obtain familiar' as a bonus feat at first level anyway.
I'm not familiar with Changelings or the ACF you mention; where are they from?
As far as Grease/Glitterdust; I know that's what a typical low-level wizard does. I'm trying to find spells that let the familiar be the main focus (in fact, I'm considering having the wizard be practically autistic and having the familiar be my 'character' - the wizard is just around as a spell conduit. I suppose it would almost be like the wizard is the raven's familiar and not vice-versa).
I'm also not familiar with Fleshwarper but since it doesn't come in until after 10, I'm not particularly concerned with it. Our games almost never go beyond 10 (I think we got to 12, once; otherwise we've always stopped somewhere between seven and ten).
Conjuration has offense, but not of the channeled-touch-spell variety (at least, not as well as Evoker). I do intend to use a lot of Transmutation and Conjuration, but Evocation is the one school I know I'll be consistently using (as my Raven can't do much damage without chanelling spells).
I'll look into Spell-Linked Familiar, thanks.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
It's been a while since I looked into it, but if you get an Improved Familiar later on, don't you have to first dismiss your existing familiar (which makes you wait a year and a day before getting your new one)?
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
IMP familiar says you instantly gain a new one (this is also addressed in errata/faq)
I posted just the other day on familiars and someone told me something very interesting...
If you go sorc with the arcane line and then do like fighter or paladin even, your familiar is always based off you. So...you could have the paladin saves, HP and stuff like that even though you are a full BAB class. If you need I can dig up the post if you want, just PM me.
If you are super focused on this a druid's animal companion actually advances and gains feats and size increases...or there is a class you could look at converting from PF, the summoner.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Exirtadorri
IMP familiar says you instantly gain a new one (this is also addressed in errata/faq)
This is contrary to the text of the feat -- which actually requires you to be able to summon a new familiar as a prereq. It is not in either the DMG or CW errata.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
I am currently at school but I will get you the reference info as soon as I get home :D
Edit: the wait time isnt a year its a week. Pg 82 of the core book. Im still looking for the rule but im 100 percent sure you get one instantly.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
From here:
Quote:
A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day.
You said 'core book'. Are you thinking PF?
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sheep Overlord
I know this topic has been done before (and I've seen the handbook, though in my personal experience just because it's RAW doesn't mean the DM will allow it so I've taken it with a grain of salt)
This implies something is being banned or nerfed. Could you specify what?
Without knowing what the familiar ability does in your game, it's hard to say what can do it well.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
Nothing is explicitly banned or nerfed, but again: just because it's RAW doesn't mean it will fly if it's brokenly powerful (or otherwise deviates too far from RAI). Many guides and handbooks suggest high-op choices which I really don't expect to ever see play, simply because the DM would take one look and say 'haha, no. Not at all.' I'm not looking for an exploit to make my familiar have superpowers, I don't want infinite spells per day, I don't even want to be particularly powerful in comparison to the other PCs. I just want some suggestions for the roughly outlined build above, and tweaks to make it more survivable / efficient for the range at which we play (generally up to tenth level).
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
If you play a gish, the familiar will be much better.
Also, my Wizard/Druid/MysticTheurge/RangerKnight/ArcaneHeirophant had a familiar ubermount... that was an AnC and a Special Mount. And a dragon.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Snowbluff
If you play a gish, the familiar will be much better.
^That.
The actual familiar progression is nowhere as useful for the familiar as what you could be getting by turning it into a skillmonkey or fighter of its own by improving your own character's chassis with gish PrCs.
Re: [3.5] Familiar Wizard
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Snowbluff
If you play a gish, the familiar will be much better.
Also, my Wizard/Druid/MysticTheurge/RangerKnight/ArcaneHeirophant had a familiar ubermount... that was an AnC and a Special Mount. And a dragon.
The first part is totally true--a duskblade with obtain familiar as a feat would be pretty awesome. Lots of touch spells and stuff.
The changeling ACF is called morphic familiar, it's in Races of Ebberon I think? A raven or imp or dragon or wolf or toad or rabbit is better than just a raven :smallamused:
Look into Fleshwarper in lords of madness--you can enter early, like level 6, your familiar gains some bonuses every couple of level and gains the aberration subtype. One bonus is making them a size larger. This means they don't have to enter squares to deliver your touch attacks.
Alienist gives you the psuedonatural template at lvl 5. Otherwise not super good, but it gives you truestrike and a bunch of funny things.
There are low level touch spells...ghoul touch, chill touch, shivering touch, rigor mortis, that would work for some spells.