| From: | Brian Moore <mooreb@*****.FAC.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Questions on Familiars |
| Date: | Mon, 24 Nov 1997 16:26:49 -0500 |
advice or info from the list. That includes personal experience,
web references, or opinions. Reply to the list if you want to
discuss it, or reply to me directly if not. I'll summarize once I
get back from vacation (gone 11-26 through 12-2).
Background:
I have a character who is interested in conjuring a familiar.
He is an elven hermetic mage, specializing in healing magic and
enchanting. He is a level 1 Initiate, and will be using this as
his ordeal to become level 2. As he is an enchanter, he plans on
creating an homonculus of a puma, and having his familiar Inhabit
the homonculus.
Note: * is a question, MO is My Opinion, DA is Devil's Advocate
General Familiar questions:
*) Can a familiar speak? If so, what language(s)?
MO) Yes, the familiar gets one language skill free (creator's
native language), others must be purchased.
*) The Grimoire specifies that for a familiar to learn a spell,
its creator must "learn a spell for his familiar". The magician
pays the karma, but only the familiar can cast the spell.
I don't recall the formula for time required to learn a spell...
Does the creator use his stats and skills to determine the learning
time? Can he count himself as a teacher if he already knows the
spell?
MO) Yes, he uses his own stats, and he can count as a teacher.
*) Can a Familiar use temporary karma for rerolls?
DA) No, as a GM controlled entity it only has a threat rating.
DA) Yes, it uses its creator's temp karma.
DA) Yes, but only group temp karma from its creator's group(s).
DA) Yes, if given extra temp karma by its creator. It has a
Temp Karma Pool limited by 1 + Total Karma/10.
Inhabiting familiar questions:
INFO from The Grimoire: An Inhabiting Familiar gets physical stats
equal to the normal critter plus the Force rating of the familiar.
Mental stats are equal to the creator at the time of creation. The
familiar gets immunity to disease and pathogens. If the familiar
dies, it can be re-conjured into a new body, or the Inhabiting power
can be removed.
*) Does Reaction get adjusted by the Force rating?
MO) Yes, because Quickness increases. The same applies to
normal critters with adjusted stats.
DA) Perhaps Int should be taken into account. All normal
critters have Reaction = Quickness (+/- 1), as instinct.
A familiar should have Reaction = (Int + Quick) / 2.
*) Does Attack Power get adjusted by the Force rating?
MO) Depends. Probably yes on Strength or Quick based attacks.
The same applies to normal critters with adjusted stats.
DA) No, it may be logical, but the rules don't say so.
*) Does an Inhabiting familiar age?
MO) Yes, and it can die from old age. Of course it can be put
into a new body as per standard procedures.
*) Does an inhabiting familiar get a normal attack for free? Normal
critters get an attack with skill dice = Reaction.
MO) Yes. Unknown whether to use adjusted or unadjusted Reaction.
DA) No. The creator must give the Familiar Unarmed Combat skill
(and pay for it with Karma). Otherwise the Familiar has to
default to a stat.
DA) The creator must learn the special skill "attack as (critter)"
and pay the karma to give it to the familiar.
*) Does an Inhabiting Familiar get a Threat Rating like normal
critters (what value?) or a Combat Pool like characters?
DA) The GM controls it, so it has an unknown Threat Rating.
*) Does an Inhabiting Familiar get appropriate critter senses?
MO) Of course.
Homonculus questions:
INFO from The Grimoire: "More impressively," a magician may get
a spirit focus to act as the body for an Inhabiting Familiar. The
Familiar gets impact and ballistic armor based on the material used.
*) Does the magician have to bond the spirit focus at all? To
himself or the spirit?
MO) The magician bonds the focus to himself (spending karma), but
the bond is transferred to the Familiar during the ritual.
*) What rating does the spirit focus have to be?
MO) Spirit focus rating = initial Familiar Force
DA) Spirit Focus Rating = initial familiar Complexity (karma/5)
*) Does the Spirit Focus help in any of the rituals?
MO) No. It is just a body for the Familiar.
*) Is a homonculus a normal critter with armor, or a living statue?
MO) It is a living statue. But it acts like a normal critter.
*) What personality/instincts does a Homonculus have?
MO) Whatever the creator gives it. Generally, it has the instincts
and personality associated with the critter it is shaped after.
*) Does a homonculus still need to eat, excrete, sleep, age?
MO) It may sleep, but it doesn't eat, excrete, or age.
*) Does a homonculus heal naturally?
MO) No. It has to be magically healed or physically repaired.
*) Does a Homonculus get a normal critter attack as above?
MO) Yes. If it can move and perceive as a normal critter (all
learned responses or instincts), it can attack as well.
DA) No, it lacks the instincts since it wasn't "merged" with a
real critter. But it can still move and perceive.
*) Can the spirit focus body be a combination, with other focuses
that the familiar can use?
MO) No. Too powerful.
DA) Yes. An Inhabiting Familiar with the Sorcery Power should
be able to use a built-in Power Focus, Spell Locks, or Specific
or Category Spell Focuses. Any homonculus can use Weapon Focus
claws or teeth.
*) Can the spirit focus body be targeted astrally, to break the focus
and ground spells?
MO) No, it becomes part of the aura of the familiar and cannot be
separately targeted.
DA) Yes, and breaking it returns the Familiar to his home plane.
*) Can the spirit focus body anchor spells?
MO) Only if normal critters can (I forget).
--
Brian Moore, mooreb@***.com | I wrote up a nice script to truncate all News&
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