Familiar Rules
Spell Points
When your Familiar is within close proximity (I'm still thinking about just HOW close that has to be ...), you gain +1 Spell Point per level! Woo woo!! If your Familiar is ever killed, you will LOSE -1 Spell Point for every two levels -- this will last for a year & a day, or until a Restoration spell is cast on you.
Familiar's Stats
HD are equal to your level (to determine Attacks & such), hit points are half of your total, damage is normal for creature type, saves are same as you. INT. is base 6, increasing by 1 for every 2 levels you advance. AC increases by +1 for every 2 levels you advance.
General Familiar Special Abilities
Instead of making these available at different levels, I'm going to make them ALL available from 1st ... with a few restrictions, though. Some of these abilities will be automatic, others will require Spell Points.
1) Alertness - no Spell Point requirement. When the Familiar is within arm's reach, you have a heightened Alertness (bonus vs. surprise, DM's positive discretion in other reactionary situations - this could turn out to be damn helpfull).
2) Improved Evasion - this is a special saving throw bonus for your Familiar, no Spell Point requirement. If the Familiar is subjected to an attack that normally allows a saving throw for half damage, the Familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.
3) Share Spells - no Spell Point requirement. At your option, any spell you cast on yourself will also affect the Familiar. The Familiar must be within 5 feet at the time of casting. If the spell has a duration other than instantaneous, the spell will stop affecting the Familiar if it moves farther than 5 feet away. The spell effect will NOT be restored even if the Familiar then returns to the 5 ft. zone. This only works for spells YOU cast yourself, on yourself - if someone casts a healing spell on you, it doesn't affect the Familiar.
3) Empathetic Link - no initial Spell Point Requirement. You have an empathetic link with the Familiar out to a distance of up to one mile. You CANNOT see through the Familiar's eyes, but the two of you can "communicate" telepathically. INT of the Familiar will be a factor here, as well as the fact that this is EMPATHY (not like Sending in Elfquest, for example) -- you can read each other's feelings, which will become more distinct as the Familiar's INT increases. A desire for the Familiar to return or perform some action is OK, as is a message from the Familiar relating fear, danger, or safety. We'll work this one out together as we go.
For up to a mile, this special ability requires no Spell Points. For distances greater than a mile, I will tell you that your Familiar feels "far away," or some degree thereof. If you feel so inclined, you can spend 1 Spell Point to probe for your Familiar beyond the normal range. If the Familiar is STILL out of range, no contact will be made but the Spell Point will still be expended. You can continue trying this until you either finally contact your Familiar, or run out of Spell Points. If I tell you something like "Your Familiar feels far away," it will probably require an additional 1 or 2 Spell Points. If I say "Your Familiar feels very, very far away," then you can count on it costing perhaps 2, 3 or 4 Spell Points. Again, this is something we'll work out together as we go along.
When deciding to expend Spell Points and push your range, you must spend the Spell Point BEFORE you know whether it's going to be successfull or not. The Spell Points you spend are cumulative, though - if you fail to make contact the first time, I'm not going to make you start again from scratch. Spend more Spell Points, and you can keep pushing your range further out.
If your concentration is broken when trying to push your range in this manner, then you DO have to start again from scratch. Empathetic Link is like casting a spell, so you can't be doing anything else when you try this (this is waived if the Familiar is within sight when you try).
If the Familiar is NOT within line of sight when attempting this, you must roll vs. your Chance to Know - if fail, no connection is made and the Spell Points are lost. You only need to check once.
4) Touch - Cost is 1 Spell Point, in addition to whatever it costs to cast the spell in the first place. The Familiar can cast "touch" spells for you, like Shocking Grasp. You must be in contact with the Familiar when you initially cast the spell, and from that point the Familiar can go off and cast the spell instead of you. The spell will remain "charged" for as long as you are concentrating. This concentration is not total, though - you can move around, run, ride a horse, stuff like that - but you cannot cast other spells. If you are attacked, the connection with the Familiar will be broken. There is no range for this - the Familiar can go as far away to cast the spell as you like.
5) Speak With Master - This is one special ability which WILL depend on level. Beginning at 5th level, the Familiar will be able to "speak" with its Master. This ability is actually an extention of the Empathy ability, only the Familiar's INT will have increased enough to make basic communication possible. Because the ability is Empathy-based, the Familiar will speak whatever language it normally does but the Master will be able to understand. ONLY the Master will able to understand the Familiar, unless the hearer already knows the natural language of the Familiar (such as Druids, for example). There is no Spell Point cost for this - it's an innate ability as the Master gradually becomes more "familiar" with the Familiar.
6) Speak With Animals/Creatures of Familiar's Type - I've changed this so it's the Master communicating with similar animals/creatures instead of the Familiar. As I see it, your Familiar can already communicate with its own kind. This ability, too, will be based on level since it seems time spent with your Familiar would be the only natural way to acquire it. At 7th level, then, a Master may communicate with any similar animals/creatures of the Familiar's type. What those animals/creatures are actually able to talk about might be a different story ...
7) Scry - This is the "see through the Familiar's eyes" ability. Spell Point cost is special. The first time you use this ability in a day, the cost is 1 Spell Point. The 2nd time is 2 Spell Points, 3rd time is 3 Spell Points, & so on. Unlike the way Spell Points refresh with the rising of the Moon, this penalty only resets after a full-night's sleep (in the case where you only rest for half a night, then the Spell Point cost will come down by half). It requires a special trance-like state which is rather difficult to maintain, which cannot be done in conjunction with ANY other activity.
At title level (Wizard), you may cast spells through the Familiar in this fashion, as if the Familar was YOU. Not all spells will be appropriate for this (summoning spells spring to mind). Spell Cost is DOUBLE for whatever the spell normally costs, plus the initial cost to Scry. For example, casting Fireball through your Familiar on your first Scry attempt of the day would cost 7 Spell Points (3 for Fireball, 6 cause it's doubled, plus 1 for Scrying).
No, you cannot use your Familiar to cast Find Familiar ...
Like the Empathy ability, you must roll your Chance to Know when attempting this.
