One of the common things I do in my articles is to challenge the “status quo” of the game’s rules, to turn the tropes that they represent on their head, to experiment with doing things differently, and,by doing so, improve the game.

And in terms of mechanics… that’s a side thing. Most of the time I don’t discuss the “nitty gritty” of them because at day’s end it doesn’t matter. People aren’t playing RPGs because of mechanical aspects, though it can be a part of why they play (or don’t play) a particular system. It’s story and character and world and a sense of adventure. Try one thing mechanically; if it doesn’t work, try something else, until you get the balance, “feel” you’re looking for.

This is annoying for two reasons. Firstly, it’s turned my familiar into a resource that needs to be managed, especially at low levels. I don’t want to summon my familiar because that’s a use of magic missle or burning hands gone. It also means that summoning my familiar could land me in a situation where I can’t cast the one needed spell. I know it’s only a 1st level spell but that slot is important right up until about sixth level.
It also means I can’t summon or dismiss my familiar when it’s reasonable. I *have* to have it with me while I’m around. If I want my familiar in case the realpolitik goes south and I have to fend off the guards/assassins I need this spiny, evil looking quasit sitting around.

Most fluff can easily be redone – for example locking people into one specific familiar – but to properly do the mechanics I’d need to create an entire system.

I personally believe that the familiar should be a class feature for druids/wizards/warlocks and you can get a weaker version of one as a feat if you’re playing another class and still want it.

I will have to mull that over to see whether or not I can actually come up with a full article on that topic on this site, but I may discuss that on my own personal blog.

I think the idea where the character with all the combat powers is the familiar while the PC who does the adventuring and social interactions is worth exploring more.

Thanks for the comment and encouragement. I may be doing more articles like this in the future. Stay tuned!

As a consequence, familiars and companion animals tend to be very fragile. Playing a Beastmaster Ranger, my companion animal was frequently dying due to massive damage. That made it hard to form an attachment to the animal as a character. (Wizard familiars and Paladin steeds are spirits rather than beasts, so their personality can endure a “death” and resummoning. I think one of the Unearthed Arcana variant Rangers also had a “spirit” animal companion, rather than a flesh-and-blood animal companion.)

Overall, I really like these ideas. Whether you’re using a system where familiar animals are strong or weak, it helps turn a familiar from a tool into a character.