Familiar

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See also: animal companion and eidolon

Seoni and Dragon, her blue-tailed skink familiar.

A familiar is a small animal, or a more exotic creature, bonded to a master and granted mystical abilities such as intelligence by the use of ritual magic, or in certain cases constructed by alchemists. Familiars are predominantly taken by spellcasters such as druids, magi, sorcerers, and wizards, or other magic users such as kineticists and thaumaturges, but adventurers of all classes can learn the means of bonding with a familiar. This is often done by people of certain ancestries with a cultural or magical connection to animals. For example, some gnomes build a rapport with many animals but most often with a burrowing animal, while some kholos draw the attention of tiny hyenas who are vessels for magical spirits. Some ratfolk are close to rats, sprites have traditionally ridden corgi dogs as mounts for millennia, and some kitsune star orbs, not animals but small stones of crystallized magic, become autonomous familiars to aid and defend their masters.

A familiar can communicate empathically with its master by sharing emotions over distances as long as 1 mile.

While most familiars are animals, non-animal familiars include the aeon wyrd, fey dragonet, imp, pipefox, poppet, and spellslime. Attracting the more unusual and powerful familiars requires the master to hone more magical prowess; some familiar masters dedicatedly pursue these studies, and an uncommon few of these specialists prefer a practice of frequently ending their bond with a familiar, forming a bond with a new one, and repeating this cycle of releasing and connecting with new creatures out of either a respect for each party's independence or concepts of change as a natural part of life.

Wizard or arcanist familiars

A wizard's or an arcanist's familiar grants special abilities to its master, but only when the familiar and its master are within one mile of each other. If a familiar is lost or dies, it can be replaced one week later through a specialized ritual that takes eight hours to complete.

Common wizard or arcanist familiars

Hawks are a common choice for a familiar.

The following familiars are commonly found to be used by wizards, arcanists, adepts, and some sorcerers and witches on Golarion.

bat cat hawk lizard monkey (which may also be used by a sea singer bard) owl	rat raven (see Witch familiars) snake, viper (also for a sorcerer with the serpentine bloodline). toad weasel

School familiars

Some specialist wizards may adopt a familiar specific to their chosen school of magic. These school familiars, although looking like a normal familiar, gain powers associated with the master's specialist school.

Witch familiars

The witch Feiya and her fox familiar Daji.

Scorpions are sometimes adopted as familiars.

A witch's familiar is slightly different from a wizard's. By forging strange bonds with unnameable beings, witches gain the service of a mystical adviser, a familiar to both serve her and reveal to her secrets unknown to most mortals. Familiars grant witches bonuses to skills, additional spells, and help with some types of magic. A witch must commune with her familiar each day to prepare her spells. Familiars store all of the spells that a witch knows, and a witch cannot prepare a spell that is not stored by her familiar. A witch can also add additional spells to her familiar through a special ritual. If a witch's familiar is lost or dies, it can be replaced one day later through a special ritual that takes eight hours to complete.

Common witch familiars

Witches of Irrisen are known to favor ravens as familiars.

The following familiars are most associated with witches, but are also often used by wizards and sorcerers.

almiraj centipede crab giant flea (only available for witches)	fox octopus scorpion spider

Patron familiars

Patron familiars are witch familiars that are tied to the same patron as their mistress or master and reinforce the connections to the source of the witch's power. almost identical to a normal witch's familiar, patron familiars have certain special abilities that are associated with their patron power.

Sorcerer familiars

As well as the choice of a familiar similar to a wizard's, sorcerers may choose to take on a familiar that is more sorcerer-related.

Bloodline familiars

Bloodline familiars are restricted to those spellcasters having an inherent magical capability such as sorcerers, but also bloodragers, whose magic is associated with the same bloodline as the familiar. These familiars tend to manifest abilities that resonate with the particular bloodline they share with their master or mistress.

Sorcerer tattoo familiars

Some sorcerers adopt a tattoo as a familiar. The familiar creature can be carried as a tattoo on the sorcerer's skin or released as a normal familiar.

Other class familiars

A stargazer of Pulura with his cat familiar.

Alchemists

Through alchemical discovery, some alchemists can create a tumour on their body which acts like a familiar. A tumour familiar is detachable and can move independently of the alchemist until such a point that it reattaches back to the alchemist's body. When moving on its own, a tumour familiar takes on the form of a common animal.

Druids

A blight druid may call a familiar in a similar fashion to a wizard, as they cannot call an animal companion.

Some druids associated with a domain may gain a familiar associated with their animal domain instead of attracting an animal companion.

Other druids attune themselves to bodiless nature spirits and can bring these spirits into being as creatures called leshies, that act like familiars.

Clerics and rangers

Clerics or rangers of Besmara may choose a familiar instead of a domain or an animal companion, respectively.

Shamans

Shamans often bond with animal servants of the spirits they devote themselves to, which are known as spirit animals, but largely function like familiars.

Other classes

Very rarely members of other classes and prestige classes may qualify for a familiar such as paladins, bards, fighters, and stargazers.

Uncommon familiars

The following familiars are either less commonly chosen, or are common only for specific races or in certain locations: It is quite possible that many other animals, similar to those mentioned here, could also be adopted as a familiar.

Platypus: a more unusual familiar.

Followers of Calistria sometimes have wasp familiars.

archaeopteryx armadillo bat: flying fox bustard, often in Katapesh capybara cat: margay centipede: house centipede chicken crab: king crab crow, frequently used by orc sorcerers dinosaur: compsognathus dolphin: popoto figurine of wondrous power fox fox, bushtail fennec, often in Katapesh goat hedgehog ioun wyrd jerboa, often in Katapesh kakapo koala lich newt mole octopus: blue-ringed octopus otter peacock penguin petrifern petromin pig	platypus pterosaur: rhamphorhynchus pufferfish rabbit raccoon rat: donkey rat red panda scalliwing scorpion: greensting scorpion lashtail scorpion, often in Katapesh skunk sloth slug: leopard slug spider scarlet spider solifugid, often in Katapesh squirrel flying squirrel thrush torble tortoise trilobite, a vermin familiar tuatara rock tuatara turtle snapping turtle wallaby wasp, only for Calistrians

Cold-climate familiars

The following familiars are more appropriate for residents of the colder parts of Golarion:

arctic fox arctic hare arctic tern ermine	lemming penguin ptarmigan puffin snowy owl

Elemental familiars

Sometimes, a familiar is infused with raw elemental power—air, earth, fire, or water—that manifests in an element-appropriate fashion, such as the power of flight for an air-infused familiar; toughened skin for earth-infused; flaming attacks for fire-infused; and the ability to thrive under water for water-infused familiars. All such familiars can speak the elemental language associated with their respective elemental plane.

Nautical and piratical familiars

A dodo and a dwarf caiman.

The following more exotic familiars are mostly associated with pirates and nautical spellcasters, but are not exclusive to them.

dodo dwarf caiman marine iguana giant isopod mongoose osprey	parrot (which may also be used by a sea singer bard) sea krait seal snail kite toucan tullimonstrum

In addition to the normal array of familiars, Besmara allows birds, blue-ringed octopus, king crabs or monkeys.

Vampiric familiars

Some vampires and dhampirs may call a vampiric familiar.

Other familiars

A spellcaster with a possessed hand familiar.

Some spellcasters choose their own hand as a familiar after making a mutually acceptable bargain with some form of spirit, ghost, or outsider to possess their hand. This form of familiar may aid its "master" in a number of ways, for instance, with extra powers of sight through the hand, with aid to fight with a weapon more effectively, or with ability to act on its own to manipulate objects on behalf of the caster. Perhaps somewhat more horrifically, such a familiar can rip from its master's body and act utterly independently before being reattached to the master's arm.

A poppet familiar.

Some constructs can be used as familiars, such as small hand-crafted poppets.

Improved familiars

An imp familiar: an example of an improved familiar.

Some powerful spellcasters may call a greater familiar, more powerful than those listed above, including:

celestial version of a standard familiar, e.g., a celestial hawk entropic version of a standard familiar fiendish version of a standard familiar, e.g., a fiendish viper resolute version of a standard familiar aeon: paracletus agathion: silvanshee almiraj angel: cassisian archon: harbinger asura: tripurasura azata: lyrakien bat: sootwing bat beheaded: especially popular with necromancers and undead wizards, a severed head may be taken as a gruesome familiar bloodseeker brain mole brownie carbuncle, especially sorcerers with a fey bloodline and enchanters cat sith caypup ceru chuspiki clockwork familiar coral capuchin daemon: cacodaemon; this daemon is also the chosen familiar of souldrinkers demon: quasit; this has to be the familiar of a demon-sworn witch devil: imp devil: imp consular div: doru dragon: calligraphy wyrm dragon: faerie dragon dragon: pseudodragon dragon: pseudowyvern dragon: pyrausta dragon: tidepool dragon drake: shadow drake dweomercat cub elemental: small air elemental elemental: small earth elemental elemental: small fire elemental elemental: small water elemental	elemental scamp familiar automaton galluvix genie: jocta genie: zhyen, especially to a daivrat homunculus impundulu, appears as an imp or quasit when called as a familiar and consumes his master's soul when the master dies. Witches may also have impundulu serving as their familiar. inevitable: arbiter isitoq kami: shikigami: or garden kami, sometimes used by Tian casters katroome velstrac: augur mamiwa mandragora mockingfey nehushtan nycar oni: spirit oni pipefox pooka pseudosphinx psyche serpent psychopomp: nosoi protean: voidworm qlippoth: cythnigot giant rat rakshasa: raktavarna ratling sahkil: esipil seru sin seeker skvader smokeshade sprite liminal sprite typhilipede wolpertinger wysp xiao zoog

Named familiars

The following are known to be familiars of spellcasters on Golarion:

Name of Familiar	Type of Familiar	Master
Abaneshi	Raven	Rayhan Xobhadi
Adelia	Rat	Jadrenka
Aripa	Raven	Evgenya Zunaida
Asdorax	Scorpion	Caggrigar
Azrikalis	Quasit	Khasekhem
Bekkin	Pig	Gurragurra
Daji	Fox	Feiya
Dax	Fire scamp	Member of Vos's Strikers
Dragon	Blue-tailed skink	Seoni
Duchess	Imp	Aglorn Desimire
Fleshwort	Homunculus	Auren Vrood
Gimcrak	Quasit	Areelu Vorlesh
Horagnamon	Raven	Vordakai
Hosco	Raven	Maroux
Ivanek	Rat	Nan Hestreka
Kelaxiax	Imp	Tiarise Izoni
Lintwerth	Dust scamp	Imeckus Stroon
Lola	Scops owl	Rhysak Dartmoor
Malkasar	Quasit	Mizzinastre Vexidyre
Lady Marcatella (Marcat)	Cat	Nella Cailean
Mathias	Cat	Vera Jentis
Muco	Owl	Dr. Orontius
Murk	Bat	Hetna Dublesse
Myralka	Air elemental	Nalbia
Nightfang	Cat (black)	Aisa Dublesse
Nyranin	Hawk	Telandia Edasseril
Saffron	Cat	Vreva Jhafae
Skitterfoot	Ratling	Old Megus
Skivver	Cat	Lyrie Akenja
Skullpiercer	Augur velstrac	Gryne Rasik
Skywing	Pseudodragon	Declan Avari
Svoboda	Raven	Queen Elvanna of Irrisen
Syvet	Cat	Queen Yelizaveta of Irrisen
Tickbiter	Raven	Tartuk
Valstoi	Goat	Radosek Pavril
Veskavesh	Viper	Sussessa Amakye
Vexer	Imp	Jamang Kira
Yrogmak	Quasit	Issandra
Zapada	Owl	Nazhena Vasilliovna

Magic Items

There exists a magic item called a periapt of temporary familiar that allows its wearer to summon a familiar for a few minutes and thus gaining all the advantages of having one. This item may not be used, however, by those who already have a proper familiar.

References

Paizo published a major work about familiars in its Pathfinder Player Companion line called Familiar Folio.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.