The OotS thread

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Is it just me or have the font sizes decreased? I'm finding it harder to read.

Four lines of text was 46 pixels tall in the previous comic but only 42 pixels tall in this one. It's only a 9% difference, but it is there, assuming the text is consistent within each comic (which it appears to be).

[Crazedwraith]

674 is Up

If I keep this post short maybe I can avoid any more horrific typing errors...

[Darmalus]

I think I managed to trade my wizard's familiar in at character creation for an extra 1st level feat. I could never see it as anything other than a liability.

But I do like the reactions they give. Blackwing is easy to forget, even if you are doing a high speed archive crawl.

[Solauren]

My wife and I have exchanged all our wizard familiars for the Eidetic Spellcaster Alternate Class Feature (Dragon Magazine 357, p89). Now they don't need spellbooks either.

[Crazedwraith]

What exactly are the disadvantages of having a minion that can peck out people's eyes for you?

[open_sketchbook]

DMs that decide that your familiar is fed up with you? Last thing you need is it flying off and telling your worst enemy your complete spell list.

[Serafina]

DMs that decide that your familiar is fed up with you? Last thing you need is it flying off and telling your worst enemy your complete spell list.

Thats why you secretly place a spell on the familiar that can kill it (or wipe its memory, if you are of kind nature).

Thats only an option of higher level, but before that, you do not have any notable arch enemies anyway.

Oh, and for high-level wizards? Polymorph or similar spells on your familiar are awesome.#

Regards
Fina

[Imperial Overlord]

Familiar's are easily killed and losing an familiar has unpleasant consequences for a mage. This severely limits their utility and makes many believe they are more trouble than they are worth.

[Darmalus]

IIRC, in AD&D, the mage permanently lost HP when the familiar died (rather than "just" XP in D&D 3.0+), and it was enough HP that this could reduce an unlucky mage to negative HP as high as level 3 or 4, making them dead forever. I just couldn't bring myself to use a familiar after realizing that, the one I had in AD&D spent his entire existence safely stowed in my backpack.

[Andras]

My current DnD character is an Elf Wizard with a Rat familiar. With the 3rd level Elf Wizard Racial Substitution Level, the bonus to fortitude saves doubled to +4. The wizard had the highest fort save in the party for a couple levels. Actually, all the bonuses you get from a familiar are doubled by taking the RSL.

[Darmalus]

My current DnD character is an Elf Wizard with a Rat familiar. With the 3rd level Elf Wizard Racial Substitution Level, the bonus to fortitude saves doubled to +4. The wizard had the highest fort save in the party for a couple levels. Actually, all the bonuses you get from a familiar are doubled by taking the RSL.

Sounds like something from D&D 4, which I have never played. However, if they have managed to finally make familiars a not-complete-waste, good for them.

[lance]

Optimization wise the best use of a familiar was humming bird for initiative, owl for scouting, imbue spell and abusing share spells feature.

[Anguirus]

My current DnD character is an Elf Wizard with a Rat familiar. With the 3rd level Elf Wizard Racial Substitution Level, the bonus to fortitude saves doubled to +4. The wizard had the highest fort save in the party for a couple levels. Actually, all the bonuses you get from a familiar are doubled by taking the RSL.

Sounds like something from D&D 4, which I have never played. However, if they have managed to finally make familiars a not-complete-waste, good for them.

Actually, it sounds nothing like D&D 4E. Racial substitution levels are a nonsensical concept. And there's no such thing as a Fortitude save.

In 4E, no one automatically gets a familiar, it's a feat open to arcane classes. They are spirits rather than physical creatures, and give a passive benefit and an active benefit. In "passive mode" a familiar cannot be attacked (it's hiding on your person). In "active mode" they can be, and if they are killed you lose both benefits until it reconstitutes when you take a short rest. In other words, no one is forced to have one and they can't make you lose XP or HP. (Plus, they can actually be cool things like dragonlings or imps without having to take some other feat.)

[Imperial Overlord]

Optimization wise the best use of a familiar was humming bird for initiative, owl for scouting, imbue spell and abusing share spells feature.

Problem was if something went wrong then your familiar was toast and you were down a bunch of xp. I wasted a PCs owl familiar because he used it to scout and unfortunately found something that could easily squash his familiar and did so. Risk vs. reward ration on familiars sucked in pre 4th edition D&D (I have no idea how they work in 4th).

Warhammer Fantasy, on the other hand, had familiars that absolutely rocked.

[Anguirus]

(I have no idea how they work in 4th)

I just told you. The only drawback to having a familiar is the opportunity cost of not being able to pick another feat. It's not even a big risk to keep them in active mode thanks to no long-term consequences and the fact that you might make an enemy "waste" an attack on it.

The only thing I don't like about familiars is that they have to stay within 10 squares of you (one of the birds can go 40, so it can scout but in a limited manner). I can see why they did that though, it fits with the 4E philosophy of "make the DMs life easier," which in turn is one reason why I like running it so much. There are other ways to scout (send the rogue, or the druid, or the ranger's companion, or use a ritual to scry).

[The Yosemite Bear]

What exactly are the disadvantages of having a minion that can peck out people's eyes for you?

Orc: Oh look, it's another goth whose seen The Crow.....

[The Yosemite Bear]

of course I remember the time we had a party created on Trope jokes, and mine was the very young wizard that not too long ago had been a big bad, but had been transformed into an infant by the tooo kind hero as a karmatic folly for his own magical hubris. It's annoying being the youngest member of the group, and only having partial access to your memories. (eg, wasn't actually learning spells, he was remembering them). best line back then: Do you know who I am, why just twenty years ago people were too frightened to even wisper my name! (extra funny when we just happened to be in Shadowdale one when my character said that, and another person who recognized me from before, told me I got off lucky last time)

[lance]

Optimization wise the best use of a familiar was humming bird for initiative, owl for scouting, imbue spell and abusing share spells feature.

Problem was if something went wrong then your familiar was toast and you were down a bunch of xp. I wasted a PCs owl familiar because he used it to scout and unfortunately found something that could easily squash his familiar and did so. Risk vs. reward ration on familiars sucked in pre 4th edition D&D (I have no idea how they work in 4th).

Warhammer Fantasy, on the other hand, had familiars that absolutely rocked.

True, scouting with your familiar isn't the greatest of ideas, but having a toad or humming bird in a lead box with an air hole is probably going to be pretty save. Then there is the spell sharing shenanigans available at later levels. I might have just been lucky in that when things killed my familiars I noticed that more often than not they would have flat out killed my wizard.

[Serafina]

675 is up

Oooh, i like Haleys new boots (although they are not new).

Boots of Striding (IIRC) are neat.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Oooh, i like Haleys new boots (although they are not new).

Boots of Striding (IIRC) are neat.

Boots of Speed actually; mentioned all the way back in the third comic.

[Crazedwraith]

What stat goes with haggling anyway? Doesn't Elan have high charisma?

[Serafina]

What stat goes with haggling anyway? Doesn't Elan have high charisma?

That's is easily overturned by his...well, intelligence is just the wrong word.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Wisdom, not intellegence is the stat for haggling.

[avatarxprime]

Oooh, i like Haleys new boots (although they are not new).

Boots of Striding (IIRC) are neat.

Boots of Speed actually; mentioned all the way back in the third comic.

Also shown in 608, along with Crystal and Haley's first meeting.

Wisdom, not intellegence is the stat for haggling.

Where should genre savvy go in that? Elan has that in spades and you'd think that would be a form of wisdom.

[Crazedwraith]

In the end it probably doesn't matter that much. Stats, like everything else in OotS are pretty much bitches for the laws of comedy. So if its funny, whether it should actually happen goes out of the window.