Find Familiar is a level 1 Arcane spell from the Conjuration school, exclusive to the Enhanced Edition game, that summons a Familiar as a permanent companion.
Description[]
| “ | This spell enables the caster to attempt to summon a familiar to act as his/her aide and companion. Familiars are typically small creatures. A creature acting as a familiar can benefit a wizard, conveying its sensory powers to its master, conversing with him/her, and serving as a guard/scout/spy as well. A wizard can have only one familiar at a time, and he/she has no control over what sort of creature answers the summoning, if any come at all.
Note: Only one party member may have a familiar.
The creature is always more intelligent than others of its type (typically by 2 or 3 Intelligence points), and its bond with the wizard confers upon it an exceptionally long life. The wizard has an empathic link with the familiar and can issue it mental commands. The caster receives half the familiar's total Hit Points (rounded down) as bonus Hit Points. However, the caster must take care to treat his/her familiar well, for if the familiar should die, the caster loses the bonus Hit Points and half the familiar's Hit Points again as damage. Also when a familiar dies, the caster loses 1 point of Constitution PERMANENTLY. Example: A Mage has 12 Hit Points and casts Find Familiar. The imp summoned has 9 Hit Points, so the caster gets a bonus of 4 Hit Points. The caster now has 16 Hit Points. If the familiar dies, the caster loses those 4 Hit Points (putting him/her back at 12), loses 1 point of Constitution permanently (which may cause additional Hit Point loss), and takes 4 damage. |
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Effects[]
This spell grants the caster a permanent companion creature which can accompany the party on foot, providing melee and defensive capabilities as well as possible thieving skills or spells. The caster also receives half of his summoned familiar's total Hit Points (rounded down) added to his own total HP. The familiar can be recalled into the caster's inventory for safe keeping. If the familiar dies, the caster will lose both the bonus hit points acquired, as well as 1 point of Constitution permanently. Familiars are limited to only one party member in a group. The creature summoned by this spell depends on the alignment of the caster:
Lawful Good, Neutral Good: Pseudo Dragon[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 0 (Best of all)
- Magic Resistance: 35%
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 19 THAC0 for 1d3 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Can cast Blur once per day. Regenerates 1 HP/round. Immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
Chaotic Good: Fairy Dragon[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 6
- Magic Resistance: 25%
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 19 THAC0 for 1d2 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Can cast Mirror Image once per day. Has 100% resistance to fire and 125% resistance to electricity. Immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
Lawful Neutral: Ferret[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 2
- Magic Resistance: 35%
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 19 THAC0 for 1d3 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Has 20% in Find Traps, 50% in Pick Pockets, and 25% in Hide in Shadows/Move Silently. Can cast Blur once per day. Immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
True Neutral: Rabbit[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 3
- Magic Resistance: 45% (Best of all)
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 15 THAC0 (Best of all, along with Dust Mephit) for 1d2 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Has 40% in Find Traps and 20% in Move Silently/Hide In Shadows. Has 125% resistance to fire and 75% resistance to cold, electricity, and acid. Immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
Chaotic Neutral: Cat[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 2
- Magic Resistance: 35%
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 19 THAC0 for 1d3 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Has 15% in Pick Pockets and 65% in Move Silently/Hide In Shadows. Can cast Blur once per day. Immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
Lawful Evil: Imp[]
- Hit Points: 9 (Worst of all)
- Armor Class: 4
- Magic Resistance: 15%
- Combat: 1 attack per round (Worst of all) at 21 THAC0 (Worst of all) for 1d6 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Has 100% resistance to fire, cold, and electricity. Can cast Polymorph Self (Very Powerful at lower levels) once per day. Regenerates 1 HP/round.
Neutral Evil: Dust Mephit[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 8
- Magic Resistance: 10%
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 15 THAC0 (Best of all, along with Rabbit) for 1d2 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Has 100% resistance to fire and 35% resistance to slashing, piercing, and missile damage. Can cast Glass Dust twice per day. Regenerates 1 HP/round. Immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
Chaotic Evil: Quasit[]
- Hit Points: 12
- Armor Class: 4
- Magic Resistance: 15%
- Combat: 2 attacks per round at 19 THAC0 for 1d6 slashing damage
- Special Abilities: Has 100% resistance to fire, cold, and electricity and 35% resistance to slashing, piercing, and missile. Can cast Horror once per day. Regenerates 1 HP/round.
Acquisition[]
Starting Spells[]
- As a level 1 spell, Mages and Sorcerers are able to select this spell as one of their starting spells during character generation
Level up[]
- At levels 3, 5, and 7, Sorcerers are able to select an additional level 1 arcane spell to add to their known spells
Scrolls[]
- Sold by Orrick the Gray, in the Tower of Orrick the Gray, Kuldahar
- Sold by Kieran Nye, in the Whistling Gallows, Lonelywood
Notes[]
- All familiars except the Imp and the Quasit are immune to level drain, sleep, and petrification.
- Familiars that Regenerate 1 HP/round are: the Pseudo-Dragon, Imp, Dust Mephit, and Quasit.
- Only one party member may have a familiar.
- Baldur's Gate restricts this further and allows a familiar only for the protagonist, even with a full party of custom created members in e.g. multiplayer mode or The Black Pits.
- Creatures killed by the familiar are not counted in the kill statistics of its owner's information page.
- In the orc cave outside of Easthaven, if a familiar is the first party member to "see" the missing cargo, the party misses out on the bonus XP from Hrothgar.
- In Heart of Fury mode, familiars have the same boosted AC and HP as enemies, but are not subject to the double incoming damage that party members receive, making them excellent tanks at lower levels.
External links[]
- Find Familiar article on the Baldur's Gate Wiki, a wiki for the Baldur's Gate games.
- Find familiar article on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms