Familiar

A cat makes a classic, iconic familiar to a spellcaster.

Dreamlands cats rarely take familiars for themselves; more frequently, a Dreamlands cat exercises the unique ability to become the familiar of an allied spellcaster.

This grants them benefits typically available to familiars that would otherwise not be attainable by player characters.

Bonded Spellcaster (Ex)

The Dreamlands cat selects an allied shaman, sorcerer, witch, wizard, or other spellcaster who can accept a familiar and who agrees to take on the Dreamlands cat as her familiar. Once this choice is made, the Dreamlands cat becomes a familiar sorcerer. That bonded spellcaster cannot take feats or options to improve her familiar beyond the normal baseline abilities her class grants to familiars. Typically, a Dreamlands cat selects another player character spellcaster to bond with in the same adventuring party.

With the GM’s permission, a Dreamlands cat familiar sorcerer can gain an NPC bonded spellcaster as a cohort with the Leadership feat. Alternatively, the GM might permit a Dreamlands cat sorcerer of at least 5th level to gain the Improved Familiar feat, but only to obtain a NPC bonded spellcaster of his sorcerer level – 3. The bonded spellcaster enjoys the normal benefits gained by having a cat familiar except as described below.

A familiar sorcerer gains his own Hit Dice, hit points, attacks, saving throws, and skills as normal for a sorcerer (he does not use the rules for determining these values for a familiar). A familiar sorcerer’s Intelligence is determined normally and is not dependent upon or modified by his bonded spellcaster’s class level. The familiar sorcerer gains the following abilities in place of those of a typical familiar. Unlike most class features, these are gained as soon as either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is a high enough level.

Share Spells: At 1st level, the familiar sorcerer and his bonded spellcaster may share spells with each other in the same manner as a familiar and its master.

Empathic Link (Su)

The familiar sorcerer and his bonded spellcaster gain this ability normally.

Deliver Touch Spells: If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 3rd level, the familiar sorcerer can deliver touch spells for the bonded spellcaster.

Evasion (Ex)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 3rd level, the familiar sorcerer gains evasion as the rogue ability.

Natural Armor (Ex)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 5th level, the familiar spellcaster’s natural armor improves by 1. It improves by another +1 at 13th level and 19th level.

Speak with Master (Ex)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 5th level, they gain this ability normally.

Speak with Animals of Its Kind (Ex)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 7th level, the familiar sorcerer can communicate with all cat-like creatures, including monsters that have feline features (including creatures as diverse as dire lions, lamias, and rakshasas) regardless of language barriers.

Improved Evasion (Ex)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 9th level, the familiar sorcerer gains improved evasion.

Spell Resistance (Ex)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 11th level, the familiar sorcerer gains spell resistance equal to the higher-level character’s level + 5.

Scrying (Sp)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 13th level, the bonded spellcaster may scry on her familiar (as if casting the scrying spell) once per day, and the familiar sorcerer may do the same on his bonded spellcaster once per day.

Linked Minds (Su)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 15th level, they can communicate telepathically via their empathic bond.

If one fails a Will saving throw and the other is within range of their empathic link, the other can make a Will save against the effect. On a success, the other’s saving throw succeeds. Each can use this ability to protect the other once per day.

Synergistic Intellect (Sp)

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is at least 17th level, the familiar sorcerer gains a +2 inherent bonus to Intelligence.

Magical Conduit

If either the familiar sorcerer or the bonded spellcaster is 20th level, each can use the other as the point of origin to determine range for any spell. Each can teleport to the other’s space once per day as a standard action across any distance, even across planar boundaries.

If the familiar sorcerer’s bonded spellcaster is a shaman or witch, the familiar sorcerer still functions as a bonded shaman’s (or witch’s) source of spells, but cannot access any spells himself to cast them with the exception of shaman spirit magic spells. If the bonded spellcaster is a shaman, the familiar sorcerer adds all of the bonded shaman’s spirit magic spells to the sorcerer spell list and to his own spells known as soon as both the familiar sorcerer and the bonded shaman are high enough level to cast the spirit magic spell.

If the bonded spellcaster is slain, the familiar sorcerer loses all benefits of this archetype (and does not gain the normal bloodline benefits) until his bonded spellcaster is restored to life or he finds a new spellcaster to bond with.

This ability replaces bloodline (including the bloodline skill, arcana, powers, spells, and feats the sorcerer would normally gain as the result of having a bloodline).

Symbiotic Spellcasting (Su)

As long as the familiar sorcerer and the bonded spellcaster are adjacent or sharing the same space, the familiar sorcerer can take advantage of minute, reflexive motions in his bonded spellcaster to satisfy the requirements of somatic spell components. If the bonded spellcaster carries material components or focus components on her person, the familiar sorcerer can use those components as well. Material components are consumed as the familiar sorcerer casts his spell. In order to use a focus component, the bonded spellcaster must be carrying that focus component in a hand.

This ability replaces Eschew Materials.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos, © 2017, Petersen Games; Authors: Sandy Petersen, Arthur Petersen, Ian Starcher.

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