That's brilliant! Thanks!

Thats sick - I am stealing that one

Ur brilliant

I had a similar thought but using a necklace so it could potentially be attached to a target, just in case you need to say "Screw you in particular".

An imp is an all-around fantastic familiar any way you slice it - it certainly will be my familiar of choice when I get around to making a Pact of the Chain warlock.

The DM has one job. Make the game fun. If they don't even do that...

I know.. how do these people even have tables...

@@Jonestein13 well, you storm out on enough tables, you become the DM, then you repeat the cycle of abuse. :)

he might have confused the guidance in the DMG on alternates as applying to all familiars

can he even do that? i know its because the dm and they can but what is the point of even including a familiar if you cant use them?

That's exactly how I've used it before. Not sure why that doesn't work. Only down side is it requires concentration to ready a spell.....so, you can't be concentrating on anything else.

@@thedude0000 It also takes your reaction, so no Shield or other spells can be used if you still want to be able to use that readied action on your familiar's initiative, but this is definitely the best way to ensure you can use that spell though your familiar

@Sean Fisher Absolutely. Sending a familiar in to scout a BBEGs lair sounds like a great idea. Unless...

@Sean Fisher If I recall correctly they technically show up as magical as well if somebody is using something like detect magic. It will also show up to abilities that locate fae creatures. which most familiars actually are. But if they are fiend or fae they will show up to those instead.

@Quandry1 I’m not sure if they do actually. Oddly enough, Find Familiar has a casting time of Instantaneous. This means the magic ends as soon as the spell finishes and it can’t be dispelled. Because of this the familiar may appear like a regular creature, as far as Detect Magic is concerned.

@Sean Fisher I see nothing in the spell description that alludes to it showing a magical creature's type (especially the colour part). Detect magic shows the schools of magic, so unless there's an official ruling outside of the PHB, i'd take the wording to mean that, at most, the detect magic spell might be able to determine an aura of conjuration magic around the familiar since it is a conjuration magic spell that summoned it. Boston Barham's post has a point too and I can easily see it being ruled that way, but when I DM I will likely rule that the creature gives off a faint aura of conjuration magic. I'll do this because whilst the spell officially ends as soon as the creature has been summoned, the creature is still magically bound to the caster and returns back from where it was summoned from after the duration so it must have some sort of magic affecting it to return it back (or to hold itself in the material plane).

​@Sean Fisher Re-read what you wrote: you specifically said you remember detect magic saying about the colour. Your last little sentence that it might be something else is what I was building upon i.e. that it definitely isn't detect magic. Since you are keen to try to belittle me with your response I'll stop beating about the bush: If another spell indicates extraplanar creatures with a traffic light colour coding system then i'm all ears but you'd still be wrong with your initial statement which could be misleading to people coming here for useful information. It's to do with phrasing: if you'd began your statement with "This might have been homebrew or unofficial but I heard that x" or even pose it as a question rather than "This does x.... It might not though" then it would be less misleading. As it was you stated it as if it were fact then tried to cover yourself with a disclaimer at the end. The closest thing I can see is Detect Evil and Good, which would detect a familiar due to them being fey, fiend or celestial but it still doesn't colour code them RAW so what you were "sure of" is still incorrect from what I can tell.

not qute the Spirtes Sleep effect specificly says the target goes unconcous on a 5 or lower on the saving throw and otherwise just becomes poisoned. This Does work for the Pseudo dragon as its sleep effect is tied to the actual saving throw of the poisen which investment of the chain master changes.

Well this is a video that came out before tasha's

Archmage MC was going to say some same thing, look at those nests birds build, dex is a thing there.

I honestly think this is encroaching the benefits of the pact of the chain. An owl giving a potion?? I've gone to renaissance fairs and watched the falconry. They aren't that smart lol.

@@jrg305 It's not actually an owl tho. It is a spirit that takes on an animal form

@@toxux4618 yeah but the way this video is assuming your flyby owl familiar is pretty much as good as a Hallmark defining warlock class ability, I dunno. Y'all's tables seem to let a lot go by. If I was a pact of the chain warlock at a table with a wizard basically doing everything I am, I'd leave.

@@jrg305 the imp being invisible is a huge improvement over the owl. The owl will go down after being targeted by one attack most of the time. The imp/quasit/sprite might not even be able to be targeted in most combats. I've played wizard and warlock with pact of the chain before and I gotta say that I'm CONSTANTLY wishing my familiar could turn invisible when I'm wizard, and constantly feeling awesome that my familiar can be invisible when I'm warlock. Of course this is balanced out by wizards being more awesome than warlocks when it comes to spell casting haha, but when it comes to the familiar? It's not encroaching at all if the owl can deliever a healing potion...cuz it's getting plucked out of the sky by some random minion's ranged attack that same round the second the owl does that. It's a heroic self sacrifice for the wizard's familiar. But it's a basic action for the warlock familiar.

I'm definitely going to try this lol

Which is better for a ring of spell storing: letting your familiar cast Find Steed or letting your steed cast Find Familiar?

I suggested this to my players at 1st level, a couple of them finally tried it at 9th level, and suddenly everyone wants it.

Newbie question - are you attuned to the ring, or do you mean you cast the spell into the ring that another party member is attuned to? Also did the guy in the video mean that the familiar can wear a magical item, such as the ring of spell-storing, to cast a stored spell on it's turn? Wouldn't the familiar need to attune to that ring? I'm very confused now, sorry!

@@onslaught5012 The only one who needs to be attuned to the ring is the one who will be doing the final casting of the spell so in this case you can have your party member attuned to the ring, you cast find familiar into it, then they cast find familiar out of it to get their own familiar (casting through the ring treats the one attuned as if they cast it). RAW familiars can attune to items that they are capable of wielding, as such, there is strategy to be had in giving a ring of spell storing (that is already filled with concentration spells you don't want to be using during combat) to your familiar (who would then take the time to attune to the ring) and having them cast concentration spells for you so that you don't have to use your concentration on the spells. I hope this makes sense, if not feel free to ask for more information. No need to be sorry, we were all new at one point or another and are all learning new things every day.

@@legithopecrew thank you so much. I'll see what my DM will allow...

Maybe he could post his notes with the video.

@@cmikewilson I love that idea.

Out of combat, that'll work (although you'll probably be slow), once combat has begun you're pretty SOL though unless you want to waste all your actions looking through the owl's eyes during the fight.

This is definitely allowable. However, as another user mentioned, seeing through your familiar's eyes takes an action, and only lasts until your next turn. Additionally, familiars don't have many hit points and can be easily taken out by an attack or area effect. As such, keep that lantern handy!

im 2 years late to the party but since the other two commenters poo'd on your familiar googles party in combat I would like to raise the point of: just have it perch on your shoulder in combat, then have a shoulder mounted flame (weapon) thrower. since they are always with you if have anyone near you they can help you escape need be, otherwise have a nice area of deterrent so people don't get to close

@@a_guy_in_orange7230 thanks. I didn't think of that

don't forget blinding powder, invisible imp flies over an enemy and dumps a pouch of powdered glass on its head, you've just ruined that guys day.

Pact of the chain and pact of the time can both do similar things in different ways. If take pact of the tome, could take viscous mockery and give disadvantage, or your familiar attack can do the same. Guidance gives + to ability check, well familiar have proficiencies and the help action while invisible. I think getting advantage is similar to cantrip access all the time in power.

@@jrg305 yeah 😀 exactly what I ment

very cool.

I would argue it the most useful spell in the entire game It remains useful until level 20 It’s a ritual Nearly every character can get it with feats

My illusionist uses malleable illisions as it's action to create a dragon (or other awesome creature) illusion over my familiar using a major image spell cast at 6th level then bonus action cast dragon's breath on the familiar. Now my illusion can breath fire that burns. 😈

I’ve been using this trick for a while. It’s my favorite combo!

I can see a downside to using up both my concentration and my reaction on delivering shocking grasp...

@@TreantmonksTemple I agree, just providing a way that it can be done... also works for any touch spell.

That's true, I forget you can choose any ritual class regardless of your ability score that met the prereq

@@TreantmonksTemple Actually, The feat RAW doesn't say you have to have the 13 in INT to go for Wizard ritual caster or in WIS to go for Cleric... it just says 13 INT or WIS, then pick the spell caster class you want to ritually cast. RAW you can have 4 INT and 13 WIS and take the feat and say you want to ritual cast Wizard. or 4 WIS and 13 INT and then pick Druid rituals... (and Druid rituals can be as fun as Find Familiar)

F Huber he just he forgot that

What's weird to me is that you can pick the Bard, Warlock, or Sorcerer lists (though I don't imagine why you'd pick those last two) but Charisma doesn't function for the feat.

Your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast it--that's an ability the familiar has--but RAW it changes nothing else as far as what casting the spell entails for you the caster.

Yes, we often play with that houserule at my table, and it does fix the issue entirely. To be honest, I'm not sure why the designers chose to have the familiar go on a different turn, as it slows down gameplay and I'm not sure what it adds.

@@TreantmonksTemple probably for strategic possibiliy or roleplaying reasons. Designers can't predict every strategy that will arise from their design and having control of another creature with it's own initiative sounds way more strategically beneficial than one that can only act on your own turn, turns out that wasn't really the case. Either that or they wanted your familiar to really feel like another fully sentient partymember. Kinda like how Pikachu isn't just a tool for Ash in Pokemon, they're genuinly friends with different personalities who love each other

Treantmonk's Temple it’s to make the beast master ranger better

Arcane Trickster if you can handle putting a 13 in Wisdom (or 12 if you go Wood Elf) could get massive mileage out of a 2 level dip in Trickery Domain cleric. Taking Find Familiar for AT with an Owl Familiar and grabbing Elven Accuracy is AMAZING. Throw in Booming Blade and you're gonna go far. If you can, get ahold of a Bag of Devouring. Mage Hand is THE safest way to remove objects you place in it (use copper coins to test what time every day the objects in it disappear and just remove things before they disappear.) Excellent way to play keep away, hide a dead body, and in general make more use of a Bag of Devouring than any other class. Fun fact, there is no size limit in 5e on creatures that can be sucked into a Bag of Devouring. If you manage to get even a claw or tip of the tail into the bag of holding, it can suck them into it and immediately destroy them if they fail the DC 15 strength save.

Dragon Breath the owl and then cast a cantrip.

readying your action to cast a spell requires your concentration which has 2 primary drawbacks, 1: You can't concentrate on another spell, and 2: if your concentration is broken you lose the action. The second issue is that your reaction is used to complete the readied action, that means no shield spells or absorb elements or other defensive reactions. This is a problem in itself, but it is compiled by the issue that it means you are more likely to take damage, which means your concentration is more likely to be interrupted. Still, this solution is better than nothing, but it does not compare with simply completing your action on your turn.

Yes! A Metamagic guide would be great.

Elias Luna I’m glad somebody asked this so I don’t have to!

You could, but it's not really practical. Holding a spell uses up your reaction and your concentration.

Treantmonk's Temple it definitely isn’t practical or supremely useful but in your example of shocking grasp cantrip every turn, chances are if that is their strategy, they are very low level and don’t have a lot to use their concentration on or are out of spell slots. So you ready shocking grasp with the trigger of enemy is within range of the familiar or the familiar moves into position next to an enemy. Is it wise? No. A worse choice than using a ranged cantrip? Definitely. But I think you misrepresent it a little in your video as “unworkable” unless the minion just chills next to your target and hope they don’t move. Having your familiar stay next to enemies or having the chance to completely whiff your spell are barely even options if you are trying to do this strategy. (Again it should be probably assumed at extremely low levels)

​Not necessarily worse than a ranged cantrip. You don't need line of sight. Total cover won't help. And you cost the target their reaction. Sounds better than firebolt to me. However, I don't think you could cast a spell through your familiar and then disengage. "Your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell." If a familiar casts a spell it takes the Cast a Spell action, so it does not have an action left to use on Disengage. I just wouldn't worry about disengage. Your familiar is a renewable resource.

@@edsiefker1301 It says your familiar casts it using their reaction. Not their action. Also, owls have flyby which acts like disengage.

I don't know ....but welcome!

Well, don't forget, you have to accommodate both band size AND cup size

And while I said they aren't the best familiars (Tressym is arguable), each has a use: Almaraj - It's a Bunnycorn. It wins pure kawaii cuteness. And it can be a decent ground scout. Flying Monkey - Combination Ariel Scout and pack mule (it's big enough to carry a Haversack). If I run a nautical game, my Wizard BBEG is going to have a Flying Monkey as his familiar Tressym: So to get this out of the way, it is the smartest familiar by far (11 Int), works well as a flying scout, and has 3 other benefits: it is immune to poison, it can detect poison, and it can see invisibility up to 60'. That is huge. Enjoy never getting ambushed by invisible enemies again.

My issue with doing that is that there are so many conflicting rules and statements for designers on what spells are applicable for sharing.

Yes, the unfortunate thing is holding your action for a spell uses your concentration, which hurts.

Does your DM use the variant flanking rules from the DMG? If so, then yes.

Also, what's wrong with readying the Familiar's move action to flyby while you cast the spell?

Because using a readied action uses the familiar's reaction, leaving them no reaction to deliver the spell with.

I missed that part. It really seems to punish the act of readying an action if it takes another action to do it...things like this really solidify my and others' lack of confidence in this edition. I want to like it, but sometimes it feels like certain rules have been included as a generic FU to the players choices. True Strike is another example.

I dont think so

the best use of Dragons Breathe is whatever stops enemies from regenerating

Technically by RAW the Familiar can’t end its turn in the same space as the caster, but the mounting rules is a possible work-around. Once the Familiar use half its movement to mount the caster, it also seems reasonable that it can then maneuver to gain the benefits of either Total Cover or at least 3/4 Cover by moving under your armor or onto your back, depending on Familiar type. This is how my table runs it anyway.

You are reading it correctly.

Interesting. No, I can't say that I have. Then I stand corrected.

Well, for one thing it will use up your action every round. There's nothing in the rules about this, but I would imagine it would also be disorienting.

It takes an action to use the familiars senses. Which makes using that information difficult.