Familiars, For Magic (not mining)

What is a familiar?

A familiar is a creature that bonds itself through magical or spiritual means to it's "master". It's "other half". This is a mutual bond in which the creature gains physical strength (of it's master) and the master gains spiritual strength (of it's familiar). This is most helpful with all manner of spell-casters, but much less helpful to non-magically inclined people such as warriors.

All familiars are small, and though some have physical forms, others do not. They feed on the strengths (and weaknesses) of their master, and share a bond so intimate with them - that without them, they would die.

When you choose a familiar, you should choose wisely, for once the choice is made, the cost to undo it is devastating to your pet.

What Species can be Familiars?

A familiar (with very few exceptions) cannot be any higher than power level 2. They also cannot be any larger than a red fox (very large house-cat). Familiars have to have a "soul" (cannot be robots... unless they have souls). If your pet's power level is too high, we suggest using a potion of some kind to "power it down" a bit.

Common to Obtain Familiars:
Orbaru
Pupeng
Jibiji
Lola
Izer
Faeron
Slynk
Puff Rayzor
Enileaf
Pachee
Gem Wyrm, Drake, Dragon

How do I start the bond with my familiar?

First, your character must be able to cast a spell.

We assume you will "research" how to learn spells. This can be either a natural ability of your character, or something that is granted by an item. If it is granted by an item, we suggest you not loose that item, or it may sever the bond with your familiar accidentally!

If your character is able to cast a spell, you need to spend at least one skill point in the skill "familiarity". Familiarity will permanently remove one MP from your mana-pool. You cannot get the skill "familiarity" unless you have at least one free MP to spend on it. (See magic for more information on MP.)

Once you acquire the skill "familiarity", you will then choose your familiar, and make the bond with it. Choosing the skill "familiarity" causes the bond in and of itself, so we suggest you have a pet ready to make the bond when you get the skill.

When your familiar makes it's bond with you, it's loyalty automatically drops to zero. Don't worry! It's bond with you now is above loyalty, and loyalty now is just a measure of how close it's bond with you is.

Magical Items (including ribbons) no longer have any effect on the familiar!

How does my familiar learn magic?

Familiars use magic based on loyalty to their master.

They are not limited to what they can know, but rather what they can do, based on their loyalty. They can only cast "spells" (which are more like abilities) from the Familiar Specific Magic. Obviously, if a familiar does not have enough FP (familiar points), it cannot cast the spell.

A familiar restores it's FP when the caster performs the skill "restore familiar", which can only happen to a maximum of once per day.

Every 2 loyalty above that, the familiar gains an additional 1 FP.

The maximum FP that a familiar can have is equal to their master's MP divided in half.

So, even if the familiar's loyalty is 78, if the user's total MP is 12, their familiar's maximum FP will be 6. In contrast, if the user's MP is 105, but the familiar's loyalty is only 7, the familiar's FP will be 3.

How does my familiar boost myself?

Familiars can boost a mage in a number of ways.

The primary way is through spells. Specifically the "Share Power" spell, which allows the caster to cast more spells.

The more a caster puts effort into their familiar, the more help their familiar can be to them. There are many familiar-based skills that a caster can pick up - and many "familiar specific" spells that a caster can learn.

What hindrances does my familiar have?

A familiar must stay with you at all times. It can't "leave your aura" - which is an undetermined amount of space. From what we can tell, it's a space under a mile diameter. The farther your familiar gets from you, the weaker it becomes. If it gets too far from you - it dies.

What does this mean for you? Once you choose a familiar and have bonded to it magically by spending 1 MP permanently (ie. gotten 2 skill ranks or more in Familiarity), it must stay with you in ALL roleplay posts, including beyond unless you're willing for it to die.

If your familiar dies, when you revive it, it looses 3/4s of it's loyalty to you.

A familiar can be trained by another player, but will never gain loyalty to another player. It will only ever gain loyalty to you (after it's bonded with you).


How many familiars can I have?

One.

You may have multiple pets that could qualify as a familiar, but your character can only "bond" to one familiar. If you choose to use a new familiar, your familiar instantly looses ALL of it's loyalty (and bonuses of it), making you need to start all over again. Then again, you'll have a new familiar, so you probably don't care.