# Alternatives for a sorcerer's familiar?



## NewJeffCT (Jul 11, 2008)

Our party sorcerer is pretty new to D&D overall and he did not select a familiar at 1st level.

Since the party is up to level 7 now, I would prefer not to have him get your regular run-of-the-mill bat, cat, snake or whatnot.

He is C/G in alignment - is there a C/G equivalent to the imp, or something along those lines maybe?

Any other ideas?

Thanks


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## Alzrius (Jul 11, 2008)

If he wants a better familiar than what's listed normally, he's probably going to have to take the Improved Familiar feat.


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## Kristian Serrano (Jul 11, 2008)

As an alternative, PHII has the Metamagic Specialist alternative class ability that sorcerers can take instead of a familiar. This ability allows the sorcerer to spontaneously apply a metamagic feat without increasing the casting time. It's a no brainer in my opinion.


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## Alzrius (Jul 11, 2008)

Another alternative, from _Unearthed Arcana_, is that he gains an animal companion rather than a familiar (as a druid equal to half his sorcerer level).


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## rgard (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Jeff,

As Alzrius noted: for better than a bat, cat etc, you would need the improved familiar feat.

Here are a couple of other options:

1.  Loner flaw.  Drawing on  UA's flaw system, Loner was listed as a flaw in one of the Dragon Class Acts articles.  If you take a flaw you get a feat in exchange.

2.  And yes again, there is another Class Acts article that had a couple of feat like abilities (take one) in lieu of having a familiar.

3.  Again from Dragon Magazine...there is a series of Staff feats to take in lieu of a familiar.



I'll find the Dragon Mag numbers and post them later.

Thanks,
Rich


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## NewJeffCT (Jul 11, 2008)

rgard said:


> Hi Jeff,
> 
> As Alzrius noted: for better than a bat, cat etc, you would need the improved familiar feat.
> 
> ...




Thanks, even though the guy is a sorcerer with an 18CHA, he is generally a pretty quiet player... so "loner" might be an idea.


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## rgard (Jul 11, 2008)

NewJeffCT said:


> Thanks, even though the guy is a sorcerer with an 18CHA, he is generally a pretty quiet player... so "loner" might be an idea.




Just re-read my post.  I wasn't clear (even though I think you got the idea) about the loner flaw.

Taking the loner flaw means you can't get a familiar.  You lose that class feature, but get a feat for having taken the flaw.

Thanks,
Rich


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## Alzrius (Jul 11, 2008)

NewJeffCT said:


> Thanks, even though the guy is a sorcerer with an 18CHA, he is generally a pretty quiet player... so "loner" might be an idea.




The Loner flaw is found in _Dragon_ #327.

I also looked through the index I wrote of Class Acts from various _Dragon_ issues, and found some things that relate to this:

*#357 - Arcane: Transversed Arcana* – Six variant class features (aligned spellcaster, beleaguered spellcaster, disciple of Boccob, eidetic spellcaster, impromptu spellcaster, school mastery) are given for various classes; all require giving up a familiar.

*#348 - Arcane: Unfamiliar Territory* – Two variant class features are given for sorcerers that want to give up their familiar: arcane reabsorbtion and focus caster.

*#332 - Sorcerer: Claim Your Birthright* – A new class feature, Draconic Ray, is given, which can be taken in lieu of a familiar. The effects differ depending on what kind of dragon was your ancestor.


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## rgard (Jul 12, 2008)

The staff in lieu of familiar is from Dragon 338 "Staffs of the Magi".  It may be written for wizards and sorcerers, but I'm not certain as my stuff is 3200 miles away right now.

Thanks,
Rich


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## StreamOfTheSky (Jul 12, 2008)

Most of the variants listed can be found on www.crystalkeep.com

Just choose d20 and 3.5, and the base classes .pdf has class feature variants, including focus caster, draconic ray, and more.


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## Runestar (Jul 12, 2008)

How exactly is the loner flaw worded? Is it possible to still swap out your acquire familiar ability for the metamagic specialist feature after taking the loner flaw (assuming it merely prevents you from acquiring a familiar, rather than making you lose access to said ability altogether)?


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## rgard (Jul 12, 2008)

Runestar said:


> How exactly is the loner flaw worded? Is it possible to still swap out your acquire familiar ability for the metamagic specialist feature after taking the loner flaw (assuming it merely prevents you from acquiring a familiar, rather than making you lose access to said ability altogether)?




The pc loses the ability.  You would be double dipping, getting the metamagic specialist bonus and the feat for the flaw.

You can read about flaws in the SRD.


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## Runestar (Jul 12, 2008)

Hmm...then I will probably go for metamagic spec then. Being able to spontaneously sculpt attack spells without having to increase the casting time is just too useful to give up.


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