Author Topic: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."  (Read 6069 times)

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Emy

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Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« on: December 24, 2008, 09:41:14 PM »
Pseudodragons.

They're available as an option through the Improved Familiar feat. Obviously, they don't have the combat abilities of an Imp or Coure Eladrin. In his helpful Familiars handbook, Dictum Mortuum colors the Pseudodragon black. Not good. Not bad.

I disagree rather strongly. Here's why:

  • A pseudodragon gets two feats, one racial (Weapon Finesse), and the one normal feat that everyone with an int score gets on creation. This feat is normally Alertness, but it doesn't have to be.
  • A pseudodragon has natural Telepathy 60ft.
  • Telepathy is the only requirement for Mindsight.(Lords of Madness p126)

This opens up many possibilities, especially for Good casters that couldn't easily get Telepathy themselves1.

  • Pinpointing any enemy within 60 feet. Between Mindsight and Blindsense, the only creatures that won't be detected in range are mindless creatures that are out of line of effect. Your familiar is now a radar dish. Bleep!
  • Determining who the enemy wizards are, and taking them out first. Mindsight grants the ability to see other people's Int scores. I'm sure there are out-of-combat uses of this I haven't thought of.
  • "Hey guys, my familiar just told me the local magistrate is undead. We probably shouldn't take his offer of that magical macguffin at face value." Ability to see creature types is useful, especially in a campaign that involves any shapeshifters or other enemies that can easily masquerade as human.
  • It is slightly less likely to drive the DM insane than a PC with Mindsight is, due to the horror of keeping track of everything. It also gives the DM a little more control over it.

Two final caveats:
  • Leadership or Dragon Cohort can both do the same thing better, and each cost one feat slot, just like Improved Familiar.
  • A familiar with Mindsight is not as powerful as a player character with Mindsight. (This may, however, be a selling point.)

Any comments?

1 The only ways I know of to do this are with a Mindbender dip (nongood only), Ghostwise Halfling (can't be any other race, and pathetically short range), Totemist 2, Totemist 1 with Open Least Chakra (lose casting), or being a Telepath of level 5 or higher (not good for normal casters, for obvious reasons).
« Last Edit: December 24, 2008, 10:01:17 PM by Emy »

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2008, 09:57:46 PM »
1 The only ways I know of to do this are with a Mindbender dip (nongood only), Ghostwise Halfling (can't be any other race, and pathetically short range), Totemist 2, or Totemist 1 with Open Least Chakra (loses casting).
You can also be a Telepath using the Telepathic Communication ACF, but again, you're not a wizard, and it's very short at earlier levels (starting at 25' at lvl 5).
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Emy

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2008, 10:01:49 PM »
1 The only ways I know of to do this are with a Mindbender dip (nongood only), Ghostwise Halfling (can't be any other race, and pathetically short range), Totemist 2, or Totemist 1 with Open Least Chakra (loses casting).
You can also be a Telepath using the Telepathic Communication ACF, but again, you're not a wizard, and it's very short at earlier levels (starting at 25' at lvl 5).

Thanks. I've added that to my footnote. Wouldn't want an incomplete footnote, after all. :p

Runestar

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2008, 10:34:56 PM »
At first, I was fairly reluctant to swap out finesse for mindsight. Now that I am aware that the SRD errata'ed weapon finesse to a bonus feat, there are no obstacles left... :love
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jameswilliamogle

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2008, 11:07:09 PM »
Hrm... how can we abuse that Dragon type w/ Alter Self, I wonder?

Emy

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2008, 11:16:39 PM »
Hrm... how can we abuse that Dragon type w/ Alter Self, I wonder?

Well there's always Wyrmling Shadow Dragon for 120ft fly (average), Tiny, and +7 NA. Mercury for perfect maneuverability, but only +2 NA.

I'm sure there are some dragon types that get racial Hide/Move Silently bonuses with fast flying, to get a speedy scout.

edit:
Portal Drake from Underdark could be good for scouting. +4 hide and move silently, fly 90ft, burrow 20ft.

If you share an Enlarge Person with it before hand, increasing its size to small, Alter Self could turn it into a Horned Felldrake.

How does your familiar delivering a touch spell with a charging 4d6 horn attack sound?

Wait, maybe not. The charge ability is (Ex). I thought it was natural. On the other hand, the Spitting Felldrake has a natural ranged touch attack (range 30ft) for 2d4 acid damage. I would expect it to be the other way around @.@
« Last Edit: December 24, 2008, 11:30:54 PM by Emy »

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #6 on: December 25, 2008, 07:25:34 AM »
Very nice, Emy :)
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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #7 on: December 25, 2008, 10:57:05 AM »
Not that the pseudodragon is bad familiar but there are better choices at CL 7. Mindsight is a nice trick but at that level I can have a familiar that can polymorph at will (imp, quasit), serve as a nice mount (hippogriff, winter wolf, howler), serve as a tank (salt mephits), or have some nice SLAs and immunities (coure eladrin, musteval guardinal).

Make the pseudodragon a CL 5 improved familar and it gets a blue ranking.

Emy

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« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2008, 11:10:45 AM »
Not that the pseudodragon is bad familiar but there are better choices at CL 7. Mindsight is a nice trick but at that level I can have a familiar that can polymorph at will (imp, quasit), serve as a nice mount (hippogriff, winter wolf, howler), serve as a tank (salt mephits), or have some nice SLAs and immunities (coure eladrin, musteval guardinal).

Make the pseudodragon a CL 5 improved familar and it gets a blue ranking.

An Imp's or Quasit's Alternate Form is certainly not polymorph at will.

I agree with the rest though. :)

edit: ... except the bit about it not currently being blue, of course. While it would be nice to get it earlier (due to its relative combat ability), it does still have a good ability that isn't an option for other familiars.
« Last Edit: December 25, 2008, 11:52:01 AM by Emy »

woodenbandman

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #9 on: December 25, 2008, 11:43:27 AM »
It's good if you leave the wizard class, because it doesn't need HP to hide in your square.

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #10 on: December 25, 2008, 05:20:38 PM »
Isn't the Beguiler even more awesome, with it's Constant True Seeing?
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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #11 on: December 25, 2008, 06:10:47 PM »

Beguiler the magical animal thing right? Can you get it as a familiar  :love?
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Emy

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #12 on: December 25, 2008, 06:13:53 PM »

Beguiler the magical animal thing right? Can you get it as a familiar  :love?

At the same level as the Pseudodragon no less. Pikachu! I choose you!

Isn't the Beguiler even more awesome, with it's Constant True Seeing?

Well, it depends on the situation. To use an ill-fitting metaphor, the Beguiler would be night-vision goggles compared to the Pseudodragon's radar.

For example, when encountering a pit trap covered by an illusory floor, the Beguiler would spot it, whereas the Pseudodragon would be useless. An invisible opponent? Either would pinpoint it easily enough, though the Beguiler wouldn't have to deal with concealment if delivering a touch spell to the enemy. An enemy using mundane stealth? Located automatically by the Pseudodragon, but it could sneak past the Beguiler's vision. Someone around a corner or through a wall? Mindsight reaches through solid objects, unlike Blindsense or True Seeing. A mindless automaton just around a corner, programmed to attack the first thing that comes within range? Would catch either of them by surprise.

So it really depends on what you want to do with it. Beguilers also have some other advantages, such as speech (magic item activation!), +8 hide (while dry only), the ability to wield a manufactured weapon in addition to their natural weapons, and the multiattack feat as a racial bonus.

It's a shame their LA +0 is cohort only. They'd be a great PC race.

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #13 on: December 26, 2008, 01:41:37 PM »
Wait, what how does totemist 2 gain telepathy... maybe i missed that chakra and what do you mean "lose casting" (unrelated: Nice name ninja-rabbit)
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Emy

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #14 on: December 26, 2008, 03:04:19 PM »
Wait, what how does totemist 2 gain telepathy... maybe i missed that chakra and what do you mean "lose casting" (unrelated: Nice name ninja-rabbit)

By "lose casting" I mean that an arcanist would have to take levels in Totemist, which wouldn't progress spellcasting.

Shedu Crown + Chakra Bind (Crown)

It's mind-affecting though. As far as I can tell, other forms of telepathy aren't mind-affecting, strangely enough. There's also a chance that it wouldn't work despite allowing you to do pretty much the exact same thing as telepathy, it doesn't actually say "gives you telepathy".

Hope this helps.

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #15 on: December 26, 2008, 08:01:35 PM »
I'm a big fan of abilities that let you understand the battlefield quicker and better than your opponent.  This seems like a pretty good method of getting that, though I'd recommend Permanent Rary's Telepathic Bond to make sure your familiar can tell you what's coming.

If you wanted, you could perhaps use a spellstitched familiar with lifesight...

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #16 on: December 26, 2008, 08:04:20 PM »
There's always Being A Druid and taking the Blindsight Wild Feat.

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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #17 on: December 26, 2008, 08:46:38 PM »
Bats get blindsense, and don't cost anything :D
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Re: Useful Familiars: "Bleep bleep! Target detected."
« Reply #18 on: December 27, 2008, 12:38:45 AM »
A druid wildshaped into a bat, however, does not.
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