Pathfinder is a popular role-playing game that allows players to create and control unique characters within a fantasy world. One intriguing character class in Pathfinder is the witch, who is capable of wielding powerful spells and commanding a familiar. A witch's familiar is a magical creature that serves as a loyal companion and assistant to the witch. It is believed that these familiars are derived from an ancient pact between witches and mysterious entities, granting the witches access to various magical powers and heightened abilities. The mechanics of the witch familiar in the Pathfinder game system offer players a diverse range of options. The familiar can come in various forms, such as a black cat, toad, raven, or even a hedgehog.

Can the witches familiar cast spells?

Hi people,
I have read the witches entry in the APG and I am somewhat confused.

According to the witches description the familiar knows spells and hexes and as a minion you can use an action to command the familiar.
So is the familiar able to cast spells with those actions or is do I just misinterpret his actual role as the witches spell book?

Thanks in advance

Hi people,

I have read the witches entry in the APG and I am somewhat confused.

According to the witches description the familiar knows spells and hexes and as a minion you can use an action to command the familiar.
So is the familiar able to cast spells with those actions or is do I just misinterpret his actual role as the witches spell book?

Thanks in advance

The familiar is essentially the Witches spell book, and does not itself typically cast spells.

A familiar may be able to cast spells eventually via a Familiar Ability, but thats completely unrelated.

There are ways to do this. There is a familiar power that lets you load a spell into your pet for it to cast and I believe there is a feat that lets you channel spells through your familiar as the point of origin.

Spellcasting (Advanced Player's Guide pg. 146): Choose a spell in your repertoire or that you prepared today that is at least 5 levels lower than your highest-level spell slot. Your familiar can Cast that Spell once per day using your magical tradition, spell attack modifier, and spell DC. If the spell has a drawback that affects the caster, both you and your familiar are affected. You must be able to cast 6th-level spells using spell slots to select this ability.

That is the familiar ability it is pretty high level though to pick it. I was looking for the feat but i was not seeing it may have been mistaken on that still on first read through of book.

Doh found it it is part of the familiar master archetype.

PFS StandardFamiliar Conduit Single ActionFeat 4
ArchetypeConjurationMetamagic
Source Advanced Player's Guide pg. 174
Archetype Familiar Master
Prerequisites Familiar Master Dedication, able to cast spells
Requirements You have line of effect to your familiar.
Under your tutelage, your familiar has grown attuned to the hidden currents of the world and can serve as a conduit for your magic. If the next action you use is to Cast a Spell that has a range, the spell uses the familiar as its origin point.

Okay, thanks a lot dear people.

Ppl probably most wondering about:

Lesson of Death: You gain the curse of death hex, and your familiar learns raise dead.

Unfortunately no. As raise dead is level 6 spell, and maximum level of spell familiar is capable cast on it's own would be level-5

Independence of a Witch's Familiar

\$\begingroup\$ Welcome to the site! Take the tour! This question is very similar to this question, but I've not marked it as a duplicate because I think there might be a misunderstanding about how a witch's familiar works. (Hint: Most don't cast spells.) Feel free to edit the question further. Anyway, thank you for participating and have fun! \$\endgroup\$

\$\begingroup\$ @ThomasJacobs I wouldn't say that's a duplicate. This question is about whether familiars have volition; The other assumes they have volition and asks whether they can use it to disobey. Those are closely related questions, but not duplicates. \$\endgroup\$

\$\begingroup\$ What can the cat do? - We cannot answer this without more information. What level is this witch? This matters to know the familiar's Intelligence score. I see little reason for a cat familiar to not attempt to escape and stealth away from the group. \$\endgroup\$

\$\begingroup\$ @GMJoe If you don't believe the question's a duplicate, then, please, vote to reopen! (Note that I didn't vote this a dupe; it's rare when I suggest a duplicate and vote when my own question or answer's involved.) Further, the asker may also be interested in this question. \$\endgroup\$

\$\begingroup\$ @ShadowKras (No, but that's what the site does. ;-) That is, the hold reason puts only the hold reason voted for by the majority of voters. Attempts have been made to get hold reason to show individual users' reasons instead, but that functionality is currently absent.) \$\endgroup\$

The familiar can come in various forms, such as a black cat, toad, raven, or even a hedgehog. Each familiar possesses its own unique abilities and can assist the witch in different ways. The familiar can be used as an additional spellcaster, aiding the witch in casting spells by delivering touch spells on her behalf or granting the witch additional spell slots.

1 Answer 1

Could un-attended cat familiar cast prestigiate to open a door to go outside?

No, a witch familiar works as a bridge between the dark forces that grants her powers and whispers to her secrets from beyond. In game terms, the familiar works as her spellbook and as her Familiar. As such, the familiar cannot cast spells, as the familiar is not a spellcaster.

Some Advanced Familiars are exception to this, and might have spellcasting abilities, but they use their own abilities and not the spells stored inside the familiar. A sprite familiar has Dancing Lights as spell-like ability for example, while an imp familiar can become invisible at-will. On the other hand, a ratling familiar could conjure spells from a scroll freely, among their own spell-like abilities.

The party encounters an NPC witch's familiar while the witch is away. They first ask it questions using speak with animals, then attack it. What can the cat do?

It can do a lot of things. Firstly, the familiar can do anything that a cat could do, from attacking back to running away or hissing at them. Secondly, her cat is also a familiar, and has all the abilities that do not depend on her master (like deliver touch spells). Depending on her master's level, she could communicate her anger from this transgression to her master mentally (available at 1st level), or even rally all cats in the vicinity against the party on an epic battle against a cat army (available at 7th level), with the proper Diplomacy checks.

What options are available and what the familiar could do is really on the GM's hands. A 1st level witch's familiar has 6 Intelligence (much higher than an animal's INT of 1-2), which goes higher as the witch increases in level. We have a few examples of the capacity of similarly intelligent creatures:

• 6–7: Dull-witted or slow, often misuses and mispronounces words;
• 8–9: Has trouble following trains of thought, forgets most unimportant things;
• 10–11: Knows what they need to know to get by;
• 12–13: Picks up new ideas quickly and learns easily, knows a bit more than is necessary, fairly logical;
• 14–15: Can solve most problems without even trying very hard, able to do math or solve logic puzzles mentally with reasonable accuracy;

With this, the GM should have a general idea of could a certain creature do based on their Intelligence score when not being assisted by their master.

A party of witches get knocked out and imprisoned separately from their familiars. It is up to the familiars to escape, and rescue their masters — can we roleplay the familiars like this?

That actually sounds like a pretty good idea for an adventure if that scenario happens to the players and not their enemies.

Anyway, the familiar has an Empathic Link with her master for up to 1 mile away, they know what kind of emotions each other is feeling. They cannot communicate words mentally, but they can use emotions to pass information to each other. Like seen on these examples on tips about plot hooks with familiars:

Remember that a familiar has an empathic link to its master, and its animal instincts can lead to plot hooks. For example, a toad familiar might project feelings of hunger whenever a member of a fly-demon cult is nearby, a bat familiar might express curiosity about the words a weird hermit is muttering under his breath, and a rat familiar might feel fear when a dangerous assassin walks into the room. A more powerful familiar can speak with other animals of its kind, and if left to roam, it could pick up interesting news about a town or an army camp.

If this location where the witches were taken to is known to them, like the inquisitor's dungeon, they could express their dread towards the place and the familiar could take the hint and figure out where they are, or ask help from those who could know and possibly help them.

The master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does.

A cat familiar, if intelligent enough and able to speak with animals of her kind (cats) could Gather Information around town to discover where people in chains are taken to (prisons) or ask where a certain looking witch was taken to based on her physical description. An even more intelligent familiar, like an Imp, could simply fly around town while invisible listening to gossips about where the inquisitors have taken the witches before they are sent to their trials and executed.

What each familiar can do depends on how intelligent it is and how her master has trained them to communicate their emotions, and most importantly, what the GM believes that will make up a better story.

What happens when a witch takes the Improved Familiar feat?

The Improved Familiar feat was designed before the Witch existed, and mainly for Wizard. I have a Witch that has more than 10 lvl1 spells and more than 3 spells of lvl 2 and 3, and I'm wondering if the Improved Familiar feat is really a good idea at this point. My question about this revolves around the fact that a witch's familiar is the one that knows the witch's spells, and not the witch herself. I already know that, as for the wizard, taking this feat means you don't have to pay the ritual money to change familiars, but nowhere have I found anything clear and definite about the spells. Does the new familiar know all of the spells of the basic one? Do you consider it to be a normal replacement familiar (2 spells of each lvl)? Something in between?

\$\begingroup\$ This forum thread talks a bit about the issue and provides some ideas, but there are no definite answers in it \$\endgroup\$

\$\begingroup\$ There are several threads on the Paizo message board about this topic (although that one pops up first). If you've completed the research and found no good answer, that is the answer, and you should post it. (Answering your own questions is a totally legit thing, by the way.) \$\endgroup\$

This makes the witch a formidable spellcaster, capable of launching powerful magical attacks. Aside from spellcasting, the familiar also provides various other benefits to the witch. It can act as a scout, sneaking into areas unnoticed or observing from afar. The familiar can communicate telepathically with the witch, allowing for covert exchanges of information or strategies. In dangerous situations, the familiar can even put its own life on the line to protect its witch. Pathfinder provides players with a vast array of options to customize their witch familiar. Through the selection of specific feats or archetypes, a witch can enhance her familiar's abilities, increase its combat prowess, or grant it unique magical powers. In conclusion, the witch familiar in Pathfinder adds an extra layer of depth to the gameplay experience. It not only provides a personalized companion for the witch but also offers strategic advantages, spellcasting support, and various utility options. The Pathfinder witch familiar is a valuable asset that can greatly enhance a witch's capabilities and contribute to the overall success of the character within the game..

Reviews for "The Pathfinder Witch Familiar: A Versatile and Essential Asset"

- Sarah - 2 stars - I was really excited to play as a witch in Pathfinder, but I found the familiar mechanic to be quite disappointing. The familiar felt more like a burden than a helpful companion. It was constantly getting killed in combat and I had to spend precious actions to constantly re-summon it. In addition, the familiar's abilities were lackluster and didn't provide much benefit in combat or out of it. Overall, I felt like the Pathfinder witch familiar was a missed opportunity for a fun and engaging gameplay mechanic.

- John - 1 star - I have to say, I was extremely underwhelmed by the Pathfinder witch familiar. The options for familiars are extremely limited and most of them don't offer much in terms of unique abilities. It feels like a wasted opportunity for a class feature that could have been so much more interesting and versatile. The familiar also has low hit points, making it extremely vulnerable in combat. Overall, I was disappointed with the lack of depth and customization options for the witch familiar in Pathfinder.

- Jessica - 2 stars - As a player who enjoys having a familiar as a sidekick, I was really looking forward to playing a witch in Pathfinder. However, I found the familiar to be quite underwhelming and not as useful as I had hoped. The limited options for familiars and their lack of unique abilities made them feel like just another expendable minion rather than a valuable asset. Additionally, the mechanics for re-summoning the familiar were clunky and took away from the overall enjoyment of playing a witch. I hope that future updates or expansions for the game will improve the Pathfinder witch familiar, as it has a lot of potential to be a fun and engaging class feature.

Summoning and Bonding with the Ideal Pathfinder Witch Familiar