FAMILIAR/SPIRIT BUILD GUIDE
Concept
Force - Record the number of dots spent by the mage on the familiar/Spirit Companion Background. This is the Force rating. If a character creates a Familiar after the start of the story, cost is 3x Background dots in experience.
Select Attributes
Prioritize the three categories: Physical, Social, and Mental. (5/3/1) (These stats start at 1.)
Select Skills
Prioritize the three categories: Talents, Skills, and Knowledges. (7/5/3) (These stats start at 0 and cannot exceed 3 before Freebies are spent.)
Select Advantages
Charms (5)
Finishing Touches
Record Notes - Provide additional information on freebie expenditures, Backgrounds, Flaws, and Wonders.
Write Character History - Chronicle the events that have shaped your character's existence up until and including when they met the mage, they are pacted to.
* Willpower and Essence can never exceed 6 on a new application.
XP Costs - Familiars are not improved by raising the background rating; once you buy it that is where it is set. Instead, the mage's XP can be used to improve the familiar, using the following chart:
Familiar Types
Familiars come in several basic types, based on both the type of spirit and the type of host body for it.
Animal
Native to the material world: dogs, cats, spiders, tigers, bears, birds, etc. Usually, a nature spirit in a body matching its type, but occasionally an astral spirit of some concept may be put into an appropriate animal as well. Animal familiars all come with the Charms Luck and Night Vision.
Bygone/Fae
Creatures of Legend and the fantastic. These beings no longer exist (or never existed) in our reality: dragons, imps, faeries, jackalopes, etc. Bygones can be any type of spirit with an appropriate form, and materialize in their own forms instead of possessing another. All Bygone/Fae familiars start with the Bad Luck Curse (1) and Hide Charms. A familiar of this type will mark the pacted as a servant of the Wyld.
Construct
Creatures that receive life or animation from the mage's imagination (magical) or ingenuity (mechanical): homunculi, automatons, etc. Constructs cannot heal, they must be repaired. However, they are immune to poison and disease and automatically gain the Illuminate and Resilience Charms. This familiar will mark the pacted as a servant of the Wyrd.
Elemental
Creatures composed of one of the natural elements: sylphs (air), pygmies (earth), undines (water) or salamanders (fire). Eather does not have an associated creature and manifests as a simple sphere of white light. An elemental could be either a middle umbral or astral elemental, and both have their own quirks. Elementals have the Aggravated Damage Charm at no cost.
Undead/Umbral
Animated corpses: zombies and skeletons. They are immune to poison and disease and automatically gain the Armor vs. Lethal Damage Charm at no cost. They can buy the Armor vs. Aggravated Damage Charm at 2pts, and additional Resilience levels at 2pts each. They can also reduce their beginning one-dot Presence rating to zero and add the dot to any other Attribute. Undead are inhabited by ghosts, shadows of death, or similar. They can only be taken by a user of Necromancy and their presence in most settings will mark the pacted user as a servant of the Wyrm.
- Familiar/Spirit Name
- Familiar/Spirit Type
- Essence
- Archetypes
- Bonded Mage
Force - Record the number of dots spent by the mage on the familiar/Spirit Companion Background. This is the Force rating. If a character creates a Familiar after the start of the story, cost is 3x Background dots in experience.
Select Attributes
Prioritize the three categories: Physical, Social, and Mental. (5/3/1) (These stats start at 1.)
Select Skills
Prioritize the three categories: Talents, Skills, and Knowledges. (7/5/3) (These stats start at 0 and cannot exceed 3 before Freebies are spent.)
Select Advantages
Charms (5)
Finishing Touches
- Record Starting Essence (5), Willpower (5), Health (Stamina + Force)
- Select Flaws - This is an optional step. Flaws grant several Freebies equal to their listed point value. A character cannot gain more than 7 points from Flaws.
- Spend Freebie Points (2* Force (Familiars), 5 * Force (Spirits))
Area Freebie Cost Charms 1 point per dot Essence* 1 point per dot Attributes 5 points per dot Willpower* 1 point per dot Abilities 2 points per dot Backgrounds 1 point per dot
Record Notes - Provide additional information on freebie expenditures, Backgrounds, Flaws, and Wonders.
Write Character History - Chronicle the events that have shaped your character's existence up until and including when they met the mage, they are pacted to.
* Willpower and Essence can never exceed 6 on a new application.
XP Costs - Familiars are not improved by raising the background rating; once you buy it that is where it is set. Instead, the mage's XP can be used to improve the familiar, using the following chart:
| Area | Experience Cost |
| Attribute | current x 4 |
| Ability | current x 2 |
| New Ability | 3 |
| Willpower | current x 1 |
| Essence | current x 2 |
| Familiar Charm | Rating x 3 |
Familiar Types
Familiars come in several basic types, based on both the type of spirit and the type of host body for it.
Animal
Native to the material world: dogs, cats, spiders, tigers, bears, birds, etc. Usually, a nature spirit in a body matching its type, but occasionally an astral spirit of some concept may be put into an appropriate animal as well. Animal familiars all come with the Charms Luck and Night Vision.
Bygone/Fae
Creatures of Legend and the fantastic. These beings no longer exist (or never existed) in our reality: dragons, imps, faeries, jackalopes, etc. Bygones can be any type of spirit with an appropriate form, and materialize in their own forms instead of possessing another. All Bygone/Fae familiars start with the Bad Luck Curse (1) and Hide Charms. A familiar of this type will mark the pacted as a servant of the Wyld.
Construct
Creatures that receive life or animation from the mage's imagination (magical) or ingenuity (mechanical): homunculi, automatons, etc. Constructs cannot heal, they must be repaired. However, they are immune to poison and disease and automatically gain the Illuminate and Resilience Charms. This familiar will mark the pacted as a servant of the Wyrd.
Elemental
Creatures composed of one of the natural elements: sylphs (air), pygmies (earth), undines (water) or salamanders (fire). Eather does not have an associated creature and manifests as a simple sphere of white light. An elemental could be either a middle umbral or astral elemental, and both have their own quirks. Elementals have the Aggravated Damage Charm at no cost.
Undead/Umbral
Animated corpses: zombies and skeletons. They are immune to poison and disease and automatically gain the Armor vs. Lethal Damage Charm at no cost. They can buy the Armor vs. Aggravated Damage Charm at 2pts, and additional Resilience levels at 2pts each. They can also reduce their beginning one-dot Presence rating to zero and add the dot to any other Attribute. Undead are inhabited by ghosts, shadows of death, or similar. They can only be taken by a user of Necromancy and their presence in most settings will mark the pacted user as a servant of the Wyrm.
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