My Expanded Familiar List: Familiars for Everyone

In Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, and going back several editions, certain classes get animal familiars to supplement their powers. In previous editions, arcane spellcasters get familiars, paladins get mounts, and druids get companions. Characters who get familiars often regard their pets as incredibly important, going to great lengths to protect them from harm. I have seen characters without familiars get envious of the animal friends of other characters, and I see no reason for this envy to exist. Every character can have a familiar if they're adequately balanced. So let's look at some animals to assist every class, but first, my initial foray into providing every player with a familiar. 

Years ago, when I was running Listen Check, we had an interesting party composition. Rupert was a wizard, Soren was a ranger, and Dewey was a monk. The rules dictated that Rupert got a familiar--he had a sturdy earth elemental named Dybar. Soren, as a ranger, got access to a hawk named Augustus. Dewey had no familiar as a monk. But in the course of the story, things got complicated. Rupert tamed a ghost cat and named his Taxing Cattington, a reference to me mispronouncing "Tax Accountant" in the days prior to the episode the cat appeared. Then, Soren's dealings with a mysterious divine entity led to Augustus' increasing in power--suddenly, he could fly at unheard-of speeds and see through solid objects. Dewey still had no familiar, but Rupert had two and Augustus was at least as powerful as two standard familiars. So I had the same divine entity who increased Augustus' powers give Dewey a strange egg. The egg cracked, and inside was an amorphous being who soon proved he could shapeshift. Dewey named him Abbackes, and soon the shapeshifter was creating waves in the story of his own. The note from the divine entity, later revealed to be an incarnation of Fharlanghn, explained that Dewey too had a claim to a familiar, something I believe as a GM. It didn't break the game; rather, it increased the players' fun as they interacted with their powerful familiars. 

So how can we give every class a familiar without breaking the game? By adjusting the abilities of the familiars to suit their class. Basically, we take standard familiars and make them the domain of classes which are not given familiars. Then, we take the classes that normally get familiars and boost them a bit. Now, the classes that get familiars still have a boost over the other classes, but everyone gets the fun (and emotional outlet) of having a familiar. I've also taken the liberty of choosing familiars that suit each class, so barbarians have a different selection from bards, who are both very different for monks, and so forth. Further, I have changed the ability bonuses of each familiar so that the choice of familiar characterizes the character as well. Read on for the list for each class.

Barbarian

• Hedgehog: Grants +1 AC in melee. 
• Badger: Deals 2 damage when the player character takes melee damage.
• Viper: +4 to Constitution Saving Throws against Poison.
• Hawk: +2 Perception during the day.
• Vulture: Can unleash a vomit attack once per day which deals 1d6 poison damage for 6 rounds. 

Bard

• Owl: +2 Perception during the night.
• Raven: Grants +1 language spoken to character.
• Cat: +2 Stealth.
• Rat: +4 to Constitution Saving Throws against Disease.
• Dove: Gains the ability to cast "Calm Emotions" once per day. 

Cleric

• Moose: +2 Nature, can act as mount.
• Dog: +4 Survival checks when tracking.
• Owl: +2 Perception during the night.
• Badger: Deals 2 damage when the player character takes melee damage.
• Hedgehog: Grants +1 AC in melee. 

Druid

• Wolf: +1 to attack in melee.
• Eagle: +4 Survival checks when hunting.
• Horse: Doubles character's moving speed, can act as mount.
• Bear: +4 to Intimidation.
• Deer/Elk: +2 to Stealth, +10 feet per turn to character speed. 

Fighter

• Tortoise: Can choose to take half of all damage done by one strike once per day. 
• Vulture: Can unleash a vomit attack once per day which deals 1d6 poison damage for 6 rounds. 
• Hedgehog: Grants +1 AC in melee. 
• Dog: +4 Survival checks when tracking.
• Badger: Deals 2 damage when the player character takes melee damage.

Monk

• Mouse: Gains the ability to be completely silent for one minute once per day. 
• Dove: Gains the ability to cast "Calm Emotions" once per day. 
• Owl: +2 Perception during the night.
• Cat: +2 Stealth.
• Viper: +4 to Constitution Saving Throws against Poison.

Paladin

• Celestial Eagle: 1.5x damage versus evil creatures, can act as mount.
• Lion/Tiger: +2 Stealth, can act as mount.
• Moose: +2 Nature, can act as mount.
• Horse: Doubles character's moving speed, can act as mount.
• Dire Wolf: +1 to attack in melee, can act as mount. 

Ranger

• Trained Wolf: +1 to attack in melee, +2 to Survival.
• Deer/Elk: +2 to Stealth, +10 feet per turn to character speed. 
• Weasel: +2 to Intimidation, +2 to Stealth.
• Eagle: +4 Survival checks when hunting.
• Trained Hawk: Can disarm opponents in combat with a DC 14 melee touch attack, +2 Perception during the day.

Rogue

• Cat: +2 Stealth.
• Owl: +2 Perception during the night.
• Viper: +4 to Constitution Saving Throws against Poison.
• Mouse: Gains the ability to be completely silent for one minute once per day. 
• Rat: +4 to Constitution Saving Throws against Disease.

Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard

• Any of the above listed familiars, with the familiar granted an additional 10 hit points.
• Bat: +2 Acrobatics, grants darkvision.
• Chameleon: Grants the ability to cast "Disguise Self" once per day at will. 
• Monkey: +1 Intelligence, +2 Sleight of Hand. 
• Bumblebee: +1 Dexterity, +2 Medicine
• Parrot: +1 Charisma, +2 Acrobatics.
• Rabbit: +2 Initiative, +1 Stealth.
• Pig: +1 Wisdom, only needs to rest for four hours a day rather than eight. 
• Toad: +5 hit points, +2 Constitution Saving Throws. 
• Spider: +2 Athletics, +4 to Constitution Saving Throws against Poison
• Elemental (Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Air, etc): +2 Arcana, Character only takes half damage from the elemental's type.

As you can see, the classes that have historically gotten familiars have stronger familiars: druids, paladins, rangers, and arcane spellcasters each have slightly larger boosts than the more martial classes. Meanwhile, the martial classes get access to familiars with combat boosts. That leaves the more skills-based classes like rogue, monk, and bard to access skill-based bonuses, while the historically familiar-bestowed classes each get bigger benefits than everyone else. The monkey familiar for arcane spellcasters is more impressive than the cat for stealthier classes; likewise, the differences between wolf (Druid) and Trained Wolf (Ranger) and Dire Wolf (Paladin) tweaks the abilities of the wolf to make them suit the class more effectively. If you run into problems with these familiars, remember that you can tweak their abilities as you go; there's no reason you can't adjust to the challenges familiars sometimes present. Just keep your players' animal companions present in the game (unlike so many games where the players forget they have familiars at all), and feel free to offer puzzles and challenges that rely on the empowered familiars. It will allow your players to use their prized familiars more often and in creative new ways. 

That's all for now. Good luck spicing up your game with these expanded familiar rules. Coming soon: random events for traveling characters, how to deal with a party split, and how to incorporate music into your campaign. Until next time, happy gaming!

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