Goodman Games

Hey All,

Wanted to pick 'yalls brains on the feasibility of this:
Say a thief finds/purchases a find familiar scroll and passes his spell check.
Does he then have a familiar just like a wizard would?

Me, I'd say no.

Pg. 141

a minimum spellburn of 10 points is required to cast this spell.

Pg. 36

Cast spell from scroll: Provided a spell is written on a scroll,
a thief can attempt to read the scroll and cast the magical
spell. The spell check DC is as standard, but the thief rolls
the indicated type of die to attempt to beat that DC. The
thief does not apply Intelligence or Personality modifiers to
his roll, nor may he attempt spellburn.

I hear you on the spellburn, but would
burning a minimum of 10 luck = comparable to minimum 10 spellburn?

micahmoore wrote:I hear you on the spellburn, but would
burning a minimum of 10 luck = comparable to minimum 10 spellburn?

Ultimately, it's up to you: "Fear no rule" (p314). However, if you are trying to literally follow what is written then the answer seems likely to be "no," based on the reasons Rick quoted.

No, spellburn represents a physical sacrifice of some sort (flesh, blood, lifeforce). Burning luck, while mechanically similar, is really something else entirely and I'd judge against that. But that's just me.

Pesky wrote:Ultimately, it's up to you: "Fear no rule" (p314)

Yep!

Maybe a " dual class" character? He was apprenticed to a Wizard & learned some cantrips or such & is able to gain a familiar.

Or...

He can serve a Patron's interests in order to gain a familiar. This familiar would be a representative of the Patron, and make sure he serves his interests.

I like everyone's answers.

I'd add to that, that if a PC thief really wanted a familiar, I'd probably insinuate that he could obtain some kind of bond with an animal through some kind of ritual or simply some training, somewhat akin to the find familiar spell except not requiring an actual spell check. I was watching the 1992 Aladdin movie yesterday with my kids (still good, Robin Williams as the genie is da man! And the parrot, too funny), and Aladdin's monkey is kind of the thief's familiar, except he doesn't provide familiar-type powers.

I think I'd look more towards that kind of relationship. Look towards an animal that could enhance the thief's strengths, as opposed to a familiar that is designed to enhance the wizard's. E.g. the animal can distract others while the thief picks their pockets, the animal can perhaps pick pockets himself (monkey), the animal might be stealthy, might provide a bonus to stealth to the thief, might distract an opponent to allow the thief to backstab, might sniff out traps, might sniff out opponents, and so on. A highly trained and highly skilled pet, in other words, instead of a familiar.

Blood Axe wrote:He can serve a Patron's interests in order to gain a familiar. This familiar would be a representative of the Patron, and make sure he serves his interests.

A deeper Story is always a good answer.

GnomeBoy wrote:

Blood Axe wrote:He can serve a Patron's interests in order to gain a familiar. This familiar would be a representative of the Patron, and make sure he serves his interests.

A deeper Story is always a good answer.

Agreed. I think that often storyline gets lost in monster hacking adventures, but the story is the think that will unify the campaign and motivate characters in the long run.

In an OD&D game I played a cleric who opened a magic book that summoned a familiar from a random table. 2d6, I think I rolled 11, and in flies a pseudodragon, probably the best familiar in AD&D/OD&D. Heh.

That extra 2d8 hps, plus all the other powers, really helped out at level 1.

I dig all the feedback guys, thanks!
Some great ideas in here.

I had this exact issue come up with the thief in our game. She got her hands on a spell and passed the check, so we decided that she had gained the attention of the nature god in our game who sent her a companion suitable to her interests.