J.E. Sawyer
Lead Designer
Familiars are summoned creatures. You can summon or unsummon them freely unless the familiar has been killed. They do not try to engage in combat, and usually just follow behind the master. While out, they grant a bonus that is roughly the equivalent of a feat. As the master advances, so do the familiars. They gain more hit points, better saving throws, and so on. They also gain evasion and spell resistance. During character creation, they can be named and tinted. Some creatures have multiple tint maps.
Familiars cannot be directly controlled. They are intended to essentially be small buff totems and cool looking pets.
If a familiar is killed, the master suffers -2 to Con for 8 hours and cannot summon the familiar again until he or she has rested. Masters are encouraged to unsummon familiars when the going gets tough. Our current list of familiars follows:
Bat: Master gains +3 to Listen checks.
Cat: Master gains +2 to Move Silently and Hide checks.
Rat: Master gains +2 to Fortitude saves.
Rabbit: Master gains +1 bonus to all saves.
Weasel: Master gains +2 to Reflex saves.
Spider: Master gains +3 to Bluff checks.
Pig: Master gains +3 to Diplomacy checks.
Beetle: Master gains +1 hit point per level.
Animal companions also cannot be controlled, but they are essentially aggressive tanks. They also become more powerful as the master advances. Currently, the only penalty the master suffers from the animal companion's death is that they cannot summon the companion again until they have rested. This may need to be adjusted. We are currently supporting the following animal companions with the listed special abilities.
Badger: Rage
Wolf: Knockdown attacks
Brown Bear: Most powerful attacks
Boar: Highest health
Giant Spider: Poisonous attacks
Animal companions can be named, but cannot be tinted.
Rather small list of them though... =/
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