Find Familiar
Find familiar was a conjuration ritual that bound a spirit to a warlock or wizard in the form of a familiar.
Find familiar was a conjuration ritual that bound a spirit to a warlock or wizard in the form of a familiar.
Effects
Familiars summoned in this way were spirits of either celestial, fey or fiendish nature, depending on the caster's choice, that took the form of an animal, also of the caster's choice. Subsequent castings of the ritual changed the form the spirit took to that of another animal. Typical choices included bats, cats, crabs, frogs, hawks, lizards, octopi, owls, snakes, fish, rats, ravens, sea horses, spiders, and weasels, although warlocks could be granted other forms by their patrons, such as imps, pseudodragons, quasits, or sprites.[2] Other, less common choices included almiraj,[8] flying monkeys.[9] tressym,[10] cranium rats, crawling claws, and gazers.[11]
Familiars thus summoned had the usual link with their masters, such as a telepathic link over some distance, which included the ability for the caster to see through the creature's eyes, the ability to relay touch-based spells and the ability to be temporarily or permanently dismissed. Only one familiar could be bound to a spellcaster at any given time.
If a familiar summoned by this spell were killed, it could reappear by a subsequent casting of the ritual.
When cast on Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, the result was invariably an imp.
Effect
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
Additional animal form choices may be available at the DM's discretion.
Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.
When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again. As an action, you can temporarily dismiss the familiar to a pocket dimension. 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. Whenever the familiar drops to 0 hit points or disappears into the pocket dimension, it leaves behind in its space anything it was wearing or carrying.
While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.
You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.
Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll.
Discovery
History
The spell was attributed to the Netherese arcanist Zahn in −925 DR and was originally called Zahn's familiar.Classes: Wizard Subclasses: Arcane Trickster Rogue, Eldritch Knight Fighter Tags: Summoning
Find Familiar
Conjuration 1st Level
Material Components
The spell needed verbal, somatic and material components. The materials needed were high-quality charcoal, incense and herbs that needed to be burned in a brazier made of brass as part of the ritual.
Material Component: 10gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier
Gestures & Ritual
Verbal Component: Reperio Medeis Spiritus
Related School
Conjuration
Effect Duration
Instantaneous
Effect Casting Time
1 hour
Range
10 feet
Level
1