1st level Conjuration (Ritual)
This spell enables the caster to attempt to summon a familiar spirit to inhabit the body of a small creature, and to act as his or her aide and companion. Familiars are typically animals such as cats, frogs, ferrets, crows, hawks, snakes, owls, ravens, toads, weasels, or even mice, though more exotic creatures are sometimes (rarely) found in the role, such as imps, quasits, or pseudodragons.
A creature acting as a familiar can benefit a wizard, conveying its sensory powers to its master, conversing with them, and serving as a guard/scout/spy as well. A wizard can have only one familiar at a time, however, and he or she has no control over what sort of creature answers the summoning, if any at all comes. If an appropriate animal is supplied by the caster for use in the ritual, it can improve the chances that the spirit (if it answers the call at all) will inhabit the desired form, but will not guarantee it.
| Random Familiar Summoning Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| D20 Roll | Familiar* | Sensory Powers |
| 1-5 | Cat | Excellent night vision & superior hearing |
| 6-7 | Crow | Excellent vision |
| 8-9 | Hawk | Very superior distance vision |
| 10-11 | Owl | Excellent night vision, superior hearing |
| 12-13 | Toad | Wide-angle vision |
| 14-15 | Weasel | Superior hearing & very superior olfactory power |
| 16-20 | No familiar available within spell range | |
| * The DM can substitute other small animals suitable to the area. This list should be read as exemplary, not definitive. | ||
The familiar will be of normal human intelligence — 3d6 (3-18) INT. It will normally be longer-lived than the normal animal, but familiars are not immortal, and the bodies will eventually wear out.
The wizard receives the heightened senses of his familiar, and to a lesser extent may also reflect their familiar's physical attributes — for example, a wizard with a toad familiar might beome an excellent swimmer, even if they had not previously been able to swim. A cat or weasel might improve their master's agility, and so on.
The most highly prized familiars are those which present themselves as naturally magical creatures such as imps, quasits, phoenixes, or pseudodragons, as these familiars actually increase their master's magical potency while in physical contact (+1 magic-user level). They are also the most difficult familiars to come by, of course, and can also be the most demanding.
Familiars have the same hit points and armour class as their animal prototype, plus 1 hit point per caster level.
The wizard can drop into a trance-like state in which he or she can see, hear, smell etc. through the familiar's senses. While in this state, the wizard has no use of their own senses, and cannot move about or perform any other actions. Any damage taken by one member of the link is also experienced by the other.
If separated from the caster by more than a few hundred feet, the familiar loses 1 hit point each day, and its mortal host body dies if reduced to 0 hit points (see below), whereupon the link is broken and lost.
When the familiar is in physical contact with its wizard, it gains the wizard's saving throws against magical attacks. If a magical attack would normally cause damage, the familiar suffers no damage if the saving throw is successful and half damage if the saving throw is failed.
If the familiar dies, the psychic shock is intense: the wizard must successfully make an immediate 3d6 CON save or drop to 0 hit-points (at which point they are dying and will lose 1hp per round until stabilzed, or they reach -10hp and die). Even if he or she survives this check, the wizard permanently loses 1 point from their Constitution when the familiar dies.
Deliberate mistreatment, failure to feed and care for the familiar, or continuous unreasonable demands have adverse effects on the familiar's relationship with its master. Purposely arranging the death of one's own familiar will almost certainly result in no spirit ever voluntarily acting as a familiar again.
Note that most familiars are not inherently magical, nor does a dispel magic spell send them away.
When the wizard decides to find a familiar, he or she must load a brass brazier with charcoal. When this is burning well, he or she adds 10gp worth of specific incense and herbs per hour that the ritual lasts. The spell incantation is then begun and must be continued until the familiar comes or the casting time is finished after twelve hours. The DM secretly determines all results.
A familiar spirit can be dismissed by means of a similar ritual as that which invokes one, whereupon the creature becomes a normal animal once again.