Familiar yet Different

[Pevishan]

I am creating a new world (Called Talisman), losely based on the Death Gate Cycle. The bare bones are at my site, pevishan.tankpolice.net, and I was thinking of having all familiars summoned in one of the "elemenal" worlds be tiny elementals (as the Elemental Familiar spell on the WotC site.

Would this be too unbalancing??

 

[las]

No I dont think so I allow them as a reguler familers and they do ok. But its only one area Dramore a wizard nashen that has elementls left and right.

 

[Cabral]

No, I don't think it sounds too powerful, but it's borderline. If you're worried about it, require the Improved Familiar feat to summon familiars or push familiar summoning back one level (and make the abilities based on summoner's level -1)

Also check out the Elemental template in Manual of the Planes. A normal familiar modified by that template should be an Improved Familiar, I think

 

[Duganson]

Hello everybody!
A good rule of thumb for Familiars is to keep them at CR 1/2 or less, though I cannot remember the CR for a small elemental I think it is 1. Remeber that the celestial/ fiendish/ axiomatic/ anarchic/ and elemental templates applied to a familiar jack it up to Improved Familiar status with a minumum level of 3.
I would suggest making the familiar in your command a power attainable for sor and wiz at level 2, then compensating the power to 'catch up' with a normal 2nd level familiar.
Also do not give the character any bonuses for the attainment of the familiar, or make them skill only.

Thysl in Silver

 

[Gilrion]

I don't think it too unbalancing. If you feel it is, push it back a few levels as Cabral suggests. Check out the WotC website, there's a spell there called "Elemental Familiar" or somesuch; might give you a clue about the powerlevel, or even just conversion of stats.

If you want good ideas for familiars, check out His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. Wonderful books