Familiars and Animal Companions

This article complies with version 0.94 of Runarcana RPG

Familars and Animal Companions

With the clear exception of adventurers who need or like to act alone, the vast majority seek companions to help carry the burden of their missions, either to help a cause or conquered sympathy, or by paths that crossed with common goals. Strength is often in numbers.

Although groups of humanoid adventurers are more common, it is not uncommon for adventurers to have other different companies, a few have companies such as familiars linked to their family or even conquered through pacts and deals, or even animals whose essence manages to connect to that of the adventurers.

More than creatures for a function, familiars and animal companions gain synergy with their partners, going through difficulties together and achieving an ever greater ability to act as a team.

The Familiars

Summoning creatures is typically a magical act that creates a simulacrum of an existing creature through the caster's magical power. The mystery of Invocation deals with utilizing the operator's magical energy in conjunction with spiritual energy, creating temporary forms that can be animated through the imprint of the operator's own vitality into these magical manifestations. Every invocation is a simulacrum of something existing, or the modification of it through the manipulation of this magical energy.

However, summoning a familiar is a different invocation, familiars are magical creatures, whether celestial, infernal or fey, and can originate from the Material, Spiritual and even Celestial Realm. These creatures approach spellcasters by resonance with their actions, causing an infernal familiar to rarely approach a good spellcaster or even a celestial familiar to approach an evil spellcaster. This is mainly determined by the conjurer's actions, as they reflect on his character, something that family members can quickly become aware of. Finally, fae familiars can approach anyone, greatly reflecting their oscillating, chaotic and completely unpredictable character.

Summoning a familiar is a step full of benefits and risks. Although the summoning can be done simply, as a mere cantrip, a conjurer is able to imbue arcane energy during the summoning, making the manifestation of this familiar much more powerful than that of a mere cantrip. Such an act has its risks, a familiar that has mana, or ki, imbued in its existence takes on an enhanced physical form, which grants it additional capabilities but also additional risks.

A familiar that is imbued with magical energy while it can accomplish much more, it also becomes susceptible to much more, at the risk of even true death. When true death afflicts a familiar, its summoner is marked by a taint caused by that death. This taint prevents other familiars from being summoned, leaving the summoner to find a way to compensate for such a loss among familiars of the same origin. Such a compensation can be something extremely complicated and without danger, but it can also be a deadly mission given based on familiar, fey, celestial or fiend type temperament. Thus, although there are benefits, they are linked to greater responsibility.

Characteristics of Familiars

Familiars are magical creatures, whether they are celestial, infernal or fey, and can originate from the Material, Spiritual and even Celestial Realms. When a spellcaster summons a familiar, he is making a pact with that creature, in exchange for its mana, or ki, the familiar does its caster's will.

• Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls his own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar cannot normally attack, but it can perform other actions as usual.

• When a familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving no physical body behind. It reappears after you cast this spell again.

• While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you gain a benefit based on the familiar's form, see the Familiar Link table for more information.

• While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. In addition, as an action, you can see through the familiar's eyes and hear through its ears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses the familiar possesses. During this period, you will be Blind and Deaf to your own senses.

• As an action, you can temporarily dismiss your familiar. It disappears into a dimensional bag where it awaits your summons. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action, while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.

• You cannot have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause your existing familiar to adopt a new form. Choose one of the ways from the list above. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.

• Finally, when you cast a spell with range of touch, your familiar can transmit the spell as if it cast it. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you and must use its reaction to transmit the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, the familiar makes the necessary attack roll.

• The final death of a Familiar can happen due to some effects with a taint, causing new familiars not to accept the summon. A spellcaster bearing the taint of a familiar's true death must regain the creatures' trust before he can summon a familiar again. When the spellcaster with the taint casts the spell, he expends all resources as normal, but the spell has no effect.

Familiar Link

Shape	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3
Spider	Half your speed becomes climbing speed	Your speed becomes climbing speed	You become immune to the Poisoned and Intoxicated condition
Dog	Proficiency with Perception to sniff	Pack Tactic once per long rest.	Pack Tactics a number of times equal to half your proficiency bonus per long rest.
Seahorse	You gain resistance to one type of physical damage.	You gain immunity to one type of physical damage.	You gain immunity to one type of magical physical damage
Snake	Proficiency with Persuasion	You make saving throws against mind control effects with advantage	You cannot be surprised in combat.
Owl	You gain 60 feet of darkvision	You gain 120 feet of darkvision	Your darkvision is not affected by magical darkness.
Crow	Proficiency with Sleight of Hand	A number of times equal to half your long rest Proficiency bonus, you can gain a Specialty with any skill for up to one hour	You can reroll an unsuccessful roll and take the new result a number of times equal to half your proficiency bonus per long rest.
Weasel	Dexterity Saving Throw Enhancement	You gain resistance to one type of magical physical damage.	You gain immunity to one type of magical physical damage and resistance to two types of magical elemental damage.
Hawk	Proficiency with Perception to see in the light	You add half your proficiency bonus to ranged attacks	You can cast true seeing upon yourself a number of times equal to half your proficiency bonus.
Cat	Proficiency with Stealth on land	Your speed increases by 20 feet.	You can use Evasion a number of times equal to half your long rest proficiency bonus.
Lizard	The caster recovers 1 hit point per hour	The caster regains 1 hit point every 30 minutes or at the start of his turn when in combat.	The caster regains his Constitution modifier in hit points every 10 minutes or at the start of his turn when in combat.
Bat	Proficiency with Perception to listen	You can activate blindsight within 30 feet for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus a number of times equal to half your long rest proficiency bonus.	Blindsight, when activated, reaches 60 feet.
Fish	Half of your speed becomes swim speed.	Your speed becomes your swim speed.	While underwater, you become resistant to all magical physical damage.
Octopus	Proficiency with Stealth underwater	Once per long rest while underwater, you can cast invisibility on yourself as a reaction to being attacked with no mana or ki expenditure.	You can cast invisibility on yourself as a reaction to being attacked without expending mana or ki a number of times equal to half your proficiency bonus per long rest.
Mouse	Improvement in Constitution Saving Throws	Improvement in Dexterity and Strength Saving Throws	Improvement in Wisdom and Intelligence Saving Throws
Frog	Your jump distance and height are doubled.	Your jump distance and height double again. You gain resistance to bludgeoning damage.	You ignore falling damage and gain resistance to one type of magical physical damage.
* If you already have a speed and receive it through a benefit, you instead receive 5 times your proficiency bonus in additional feet at that speed. At Tier 2 this bonus is doubled. * Improved Saving Throws causes the caster to add half his proficiency bonus to saving throws made with the specified attribute. * When a familiar grants proficiency with a skill, if the caster already has it, it gains proficiency. * Pack Tactics. When you cast a spell against a target, you can activate an effect forcing the target to make a Wisdom saving throw equal to your spell save DC. On a failed save, the target is restrained and your allies have advantage against the target until the start of your next turn.

Final Death

A familiar can meet true death or final death in a few ways, including (but not limited to) the following: Death from exhaustion, death from effects such as the disintegrate spell, death from true damage.

Conjuration at Higher Levels

The cantrip summon familiar can be performed normally as a cantrip or at higher levels as a spell, consuming mana points, or ki, which amplify the power of the summoning when performed at higher levels. The familiar's maximum casting level is equal to the maximum spell level the caster is capable of casting. For each spellcasting level above trick, 1 mana point, or ki, is required, and when you cast a familiar using mana points, or ki, the familiar receives some benefits based on the level of the conjuration made. The mana or ki cost of this spell can only be reduced through uses of the Heritage - Summon Aid. A familiar must feed normally like the creature whose form it was cast from, and in addition to that, it requires a point of mana or ki at the end of each long rest granted by its summoner. If it doesn't gain that point of mana or ki, the familiar gains a level of Exhaustion that can be recovered by spending a point of its summoner's mana or ki. Accumulating levels of Exhaustion in this way can cause a familiar's Final Death.

Familiar Enhancements

Spell Level	AC	CR	Intelligence	Characteristics
1	+1	0	7	Attack 1, Vital Improvement, Mindlink
2	-	1/4	8	Saving Throw, Energetic Emanation, Speech
3	+2	1/2	9	Energy Projection
4		1	10	Attack 2, Physical Enhancement, Familiar Link Tier 2
5	+3	2	11	Mystical Enhancement
6		3	12	Physical Improvement
7	+4	4	13	Attack 3, Mystic Enhancement, Saving Throw
8		5	14	Familiar Magic, Familiar Link Tier 3
9	+5	6	15	Physical Enhancement, Mystic Enhancement

Animal Companion

The Hunters of the Beast Friend's Enclave specialize in synergy with those animals that are found, recruited, trained, and which inevitably end up creating a bond far greater than that of a simple pet. Sharing the pains and victories, feeling through each other's senses, much more than that is possible when these two essences intertwine.

It is not uncommon that many of these Hunters prefer animal company to the company of humanoid creatures, this may be reflected precisely because the connection between the two is so strong that thoughts and feelings are shared, causing a supernatural harmony to exist.

When an animal companion is found by a Best Friend and the connection established between the two goes beyond the one he has with other creatures, as if they were a single soul divided into two bodies, this allows both to train each other, knowing their abilities. capabilities and their limits, often managing to cover these limits by working together.

Just as a Hunter evolves in its characteristics when receiving new levels, part of this is reflected in its animal companion, as it participates in adventures and shares part of its essence with the hunter.

Features of Animal Companions

An Animal Companion sheet is based on an animal in the form of a Large beast or smaller that has a maximum Challenge Rating of 1. The beast has the statistics of a normal member of its species, with changes due to the bond with the hunter and also characteristics that are obtained through the evolution of the hunter.

In addition to the beast base traits, the animal companion gains the following traits or modifications;

• Your animal companion uses your proficiency bonus instead of its own.

• Your animal companion gains proficiency in two matching skills of your choice and all saving throws.

• Your animal companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls its own initiative, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes and so on. If you are Incapacitated or absent, your animal companion acts on its own.

• The Companion gains Runes at the same progression as a normal character based on their Hunter's character level. Check out the Rune Progression table in Chapter 5: Customization.

• The creature's Wisdom becomes that from the Wisdom column of the Animal Companion's Enhancements table, or its own if that is greater. Check out the Animal Companion Upgrades table.

• It gains a bonus to its Intelligence equal to the value in the Intelligence column of the Animal Companion Enhancements table.

• Its Armor Class receives a bonus based on the AC column of the Animal Companion Enhancements table.

• Your Animal Companion receives traits based on your character level.

• When traveling for an hour or more, you and your animal companion can move stealthily at a normal pace.

• Whenever you gain the Enhancement class feature, your animal companion can also increase one ability score of your choice by +2, or two +1 scores. Your animal companion cannot increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise. Alternatively, your animal companion can obtain an Enhancement that makes sense to him with the GM's permission.

As the Hunter reaches new levels, part of this is reflected in training with the Animal Companion, which receives characteristics according to this level advancement, as shown in the Animal Companion Improvements table.

Animal Companion Enhancements

Hunter Level	AC	Intelligence	Wisdom	Characteristics
3	+1	+1	7	Vital Improvement
4	-	-	8	Physical Improvement
6	+2	+2	9	Multi-Attack 1
8		-	10	Combat Enhancement - Damage
10	+3	+3	11	Physical Improvement
12	-	-	12	Multi-Attack 2
14	+4	+4	13	Combat Enhancement - Critical
16		-	14	Physical Improvement
18	+5	+5	15	Multi-Attack 3
19	-	-	16	Combat Enhancement - Damage
20	+6	+6	18	Combat Enhancement - Critical

Death of an Animal Companion

If your animal companion is killed, you can spend 8 hours of work and 25 gp worth of rare herbs and exquisite foods to awaken your companion's spirit and create a new body for it, returning it to life. You can return an animal companion to life this way, even if it doesn't have any body parts. If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current animal companion, your current companion will leave you and be replaced by the restored companion.

Familiars and Animal Companion Improvements

Below are descriptions of the characteristics of familiars and animal companions:

• Combat Enhancement. The familiar gains a benefit between increased damage die, which causes its attack to increase by 1 on the damage scale or take 1 additional damage-type die from your choice, or crit range decrease, specified next to the trait.

• Physical Enhancement. The familiar receives +2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution, increasing its AC, the damage of its attacks and its hit points. Each increase in Constitution modifier increases the familiar's hit point maximum by 4 points per spellcasting level.

• Mystic Enhancement. The familiar gains +1 to its casting DCs and +2 to Charisma.

• Vital Enhancement. The familiar benefits from its caster's magical ability, receiving half of its caster's maximum hit points added to its hit points. Additionally, a familiar's hit points can be restored with an action, recovering 1 hit point for every 2 mana points, or 1 ki point, spent.

• Attack. A familiar can attack on its turn a number of times equal to the value described. When a familiar gains the ability to attack, it does so with its caster's proficiency bonus plus the appropriate Attribute modifier (Dexterity or Strength) for the creature's attack type. The familiar's attacks deal the normal damage of the creature's attacks, plus its caster's proficiency bonus.
  • Animal companions that already have the multi-attack trait receive each attack as an increment to the number of attacks they already make.

• AC. The familiar gains additional Armor Class per Natural Armor.

• Energy Emanation. When the familiar is summoned, you must choose an energy emanation from the following: acid, electric, energy, ice, fire, necrotic, psychic, radiant, dark, thunder, or poisonous. When a familiar deals damage, you can choose whether the damage dealt is normal damage or the energy emanation damage type.

• Mindlink. The range of mindlink, telepathic communication, and sharing of senses increases by 10 feet for each casting level of the spell.

• Speech. The familiar can speak and hear languages known to its caster.

• Familiar Spell. Choose a spell of up to 4th level that you know of that has no material components. Your familiar can cast it once per long rest without spending mana or ki points as a spellcaster of the same level as the summoner and using the summoner's or its own attributes.

• Multi Attack. The creature can now attack more than once in its attack action. If it already has this feature, it can make an additional attack.

• Energy Projection. The familiar is capable of using an area attack using an attack action. It can perform this projection a number of times equal to half his caster's proficiency bonus per long rest. The attack has a 15-foot cone, creatures in that area must make a DC 8 + Caster's Spellcasting modifier + Caster's proficiency bonus Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, an affected creature takes 2d6 damage equal to the Energy Emanation's damage type, or half as much on a successful one. A 6th-level spell has its damage increased to 4d6 and a 9th-level spell has its damage increased to 6d6.

• Saving Throw. The familiar gains proficiency with a saving throw which its caster is proficient.

Familiar
(Celestial, Fey or Infernal) Tiny
Armor Class: 13 Health points: 9 (3d4+3)
STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CAR
8 (-1)	16 (+3)	11 (0)	3 (-4)	14 (+2)	7 (-2)
Skills:Stealth +5, Perception +4 Senses: Passive Perception 14, darkvision 30 feet Challenge Rate: 0 (0 or 10 XP)
* Each familiar form has certain characteristics attached to that form which can be seen in the list below..
Actions
Bite. Familiar Strike: Melee attack +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) simple physical damage (related to the familiar's form).
Runes
ND0 - Runic Pulse CR1 - Rune. Elemental Attack CR3 - Mastery. Damage CR5- Mastery. Usage

Family Statistics

A familiar is a creature of celestial, fey, or nether essence, conjured through the spell Summon Familiar. The creature follows the rules explained in Chapter 10: Magic - Familiars and Animal Companions and its characteristics are those of the following table.

Spider

Speed. 20 feet walk, 20 feet climb

Spider Climbing. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on the ceiling, without the need to make an attribute test.

Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walking. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webs.

Dog

Travel. 40 feet walk

Heightened Hearing and Smell. The dog has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Packing Tactics. The dog has advantage on attack rolls against a target if at least one of its allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally is not Incapacitated.

Sea Horse

Movement. 0 feet walk, 20 feet swim

Waterbreath. The seahorse can only breathe underwater.

Snake

Speed. 30 feet walk, 30 feet swim

Owl

Speed. 5 feet walking, 60 flying

Flyover. The owl does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it flies out of reach of an opponent.

Acute Hearing and Vision. The owl has advantage on Perception checks that rely on hearing or sight.

Crow

Speed. 10 walk, 50 fly

Mimicry. The crow can imitate simple sounds it has heard, such as someone whispering, a child crying or an animal chirping. The creature hearing the sound can discover the imitation by succeeding on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw + the caster's proficiency bonus.

Weasel

Speed. 30 foot walk

Accurate Hearing and Smell. The weasel has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.

Hawk

Speed. 10 feet of walking 60 feet of flying

Accurate Vision. The hawk has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on its eyesight.

Cat

Speed. 40 feet of walking 30 feet of climbing

Acute Smell. The cat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Lizard

Speed. 20 feet walk, 20 feet climb

Bat

Speed. 5 feet of walking, 30 feet of flying

Echolocation. The bat cannot use its blindsight while it is deaf.

Acute Hearing. The bat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that depend on hearing.

Fish

Speed. 0 feet walk, 40 feet swim

Waterbreath. Fish can only breathe underwater.

Octopus

Speed. 5 feet of walking and 20 feet of swimming swimming

Hold Your Breath. While out of the water, the octopus can hold its breath for 30 minutes.

Submerged Camouflage. The octopus has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while underwater.

Tentacle. Melee Natural Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit 1d4 bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 10). Until this grab ends, the octopus cannot use its tentacles on another target.

Ink Cloud (Recharges after a short or long rest). The octopus squirts an inkjet, if underwater the inkjet turns into a 5-foot radius ink cloud that extends in all directions around the octopus. The area is heavily obscured for 1 minute, however a significantly strong water current may disperse the ink. After squirting the jet of ink, the octopus can use the Dash action as a bonus action.

Mouse

Speed. 20 foot walk

Accurate Smell. The rat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on Smell.

Frog

Speed. 20 feet walk, 20 feet swim

Amphibious. The frog can breathe both air and water.

Standing Jump. The frog's long jump is up to 10 feet and the high jump is up to 5 feet, with or without a starting move.