Familiar (meta-trait)

:see also Familiar (advantage) from Classic
Familiar [-22] is a meta-trait for Allies in 4e, found on page 21 of Dungeon Fantasy 5: Allies. It is intended to create sapient animal companions. Breakdown is Bestial [-10]; Sense of Duty (Master) [-2]; Speak With Animals (Specialized, Own Family, -60%) [10]; Special Rapport (Master) [5]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25]. Contrast with Animal Ally.
==Background==
It is the namesake of the Drains Familiar and Granted by Familiar limitations.
Pg 20 mentions that Familiars are "An ally built on 62 points" but it's not immediately obvious where that number comes from.
Pricing assuming a 250 point master means "built on 25%" is 62.5, which rounds up to 63 per normal rounding rules
25% allies are the cheapest possible (B37: base cost is a perk at B36 "9 or less" x1 multiplier) so 62 is just the "upper limit" which gives the familiars room to grow from the 30s/40s the templates begin at, without needing to immediately have the characters pay points to keep them as an ally, reduce their FOA or apply limitations
It becomes a 9-point advantage because constantly x4 makes [4] base and has +125% net modifiers.
==Synergistic powers==
"Grants Powers" is part of the ally enhancement so that the master has option to take "Granted by Familiar" discounts on abilities.
*this is NOT used as a discount on Special Rapport: this means the master is ALWAYS aware if they're killed. There are conditions other than death (stun and unconsciousness for example) which can knock out GBF abilities, meaning if it WERE applied, the master would only be aware that something knocked out the rapport, but not WHAT
Special Abilities appears to substitute for actually giving familiars stuff like Affliction or an "Affects Others" movement/transformation ability (or "Force Field" AE+AO defensE) or Dedicated Controls+Must Be Wielded to impart abilities to a master.
*those approaches could still end up cheaper for the master than buying them himself w/ GBF, even if it does increase the point total
==Distinction between high CP allies with their own abilities and low CP allies with Special Powers enhancement==
As a SOCIAL advantage: Ally may or may not transfer w/ mind during things like Possession. If this is ALL you need, then this PURELY determines the abilities.
GBF advantages must also take into account their own type:
*mental are guaranteed to travel to a new body and be unusable while possessed
*physical GBF abilities are guaranteed to stay behind with the body: a possessing force can use them if they ALSO buy your familiar as their ally!
**that might be illegal though if it's only possible for 1 char to be an ally of 1 other char at a time: you would need to negate the social advantage first to take it yourself (such as with Neutralize + Steal Powers)
Another issue is what happens if an Ally is possessed. If they are the user of the abilties they impart to you (Affliction, Affects Others, Can Be Wielded, etc) then if they are possessed, the possessing mind can direct any of those abilities which are physical ones (but not mental ones)
If however all they are is basically a gadget focus of your "Granted By Familiar" they can't be used against you!
*they can't be used though, if possession turns your familiar unconscious.
**it COULD work (via having the familiar's new body present) if the familiar remains conscious because the Possession was a Mind Swap
***if the Mind Swap was permanent this could alter the familiar's CP total which could alter the value of your Ally social advantage
****it's unclear if that should be treated as point loss / point gain, or if the GM should tweak the modifiers to try and keep the value constant
*****for example, if the base value of Ally grows from 25% to 50% (doubled) instead of x4 constantly, the GM could rule the familiar only appears x2 quite often (9 or less) because the new power gave it wanderlust so it wants to explore the world alone without you sometimes
==Mental disadvantages==
*Bestial [-10]
*Sense of Duty (Master) [-2]
==Social disadvantage==
*Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].
==Advantages==
*Speak with Animals (Specialized, Own Family, -60%) [10]
*Special Rapport (Master) [5]
==Lens==
===Telepathic===
Advantages:
*Mindlink (Master) [5];
*Avatar [1]; 
*Telesend (Accessibility, Master only, -80%; Can tell if sending is successful, +10%) [9].
Disadvantage:
*Cannot Speak [-15];
Net value of Lens is 0.
==Animals==
*Bat [37]
*Cat [38]
*Chimp [32]
*Dog [33]
*Hawk [34]
*Macaw [38]
*Owl [31]
*Rabbit [38]
*Viper [33]
===Fantastic Creatures===
*Giant Spider [35]
*Hellhound [31]
*Ice Weasel [33]
*Imp [43]
*Salamander [36]
*Shoulder Dragon [31]
*Sylph [33]
*Talus [34]
*Undine [33]
==See also==
*Master Only
*Telepathic
==Classic Material==
*"The Compleat Familiar" by Anthony Jackson (9/29/2000)
category:Disadvantageous meta-traits