Witch Familiars — Companions, Guides and Spellkeepers
A Witch’s familiar is more than a pet: it can be a companion, messenger, guide, magical intermediary or keeper of occult knowledge. What the familiar does mechanically depends on the rules edition.
Familiars by Edition
| 5.5e / 2024 | The Witch always has Find Familiar prepared and can cast it as a Ritual. Once per Long Rest the Witch can ignore its Material component; Familiar Conduit arrives at Witch level 13. |
|---|---|
| Pathfinder 1e | The familiar is the Witch’s spell repository. It stores learned spells and is required for normal daily spell preparation. |
| D&D 3.x Legacy | Use the detailed familiar rules and familiar-benefit table preserved below. |
The Witch and familiar are one of fantasy’s most enduring pairings: the black cat at the hearth, the raven on the shoulder, the toad beneath the cauldron or a stranger creature that seems to understand far more than an ordinary animal should.
Choose a Familiar
Start with personality rather than optimisation. Ask what the familiar notices, what it dislikes, whether it serves the Witch, the patron or both, and what would make it refuse an instruction. A familiar should feel like a recurring character rather than a bonus that lives in a pocket.
- Cat: watchful, independent and ideal for a Witch who values stealth or domestic magic.
- Raven or crow: curious, vocal and suited to omens, secrets and scavenged knowledge.
- Owl or hawk: a natural scout with strong visual identity.
- Toad, lizard or snake: quiet companions suited to cauldrons, herbs, caves and patient ritual work.
- Unusual familiar: where the edition and Games Master allow it, a patron may send a fey, spirit or stranger creature instead.
Legacy source
The detailed d20 rules below preserve familiar material from Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks.
The familiar as a named witch-companion developed through later folklore, but stories of animals carrying magical, prophetic or spiritual significance are far older.
The Familiar as a Character
In the legacy rules, a familiar is a magical and unusually intelligent version of a small creature. At the table it should be treated as a companion and magical partner, not merely a servant. Its exact creature type and statistics depend on edition.
Different covens explain familiars differently. One may regard them as ordinary animals touched by patron magic; another as reincarnated helpers, spirit messengers or outsiders wearing animal shapes. Those beliefs are setting material, not universal creature biology. Use the rules of the chosen edition for statistics and multiclass interaction.
To call a familiar the witch needs to meditate and perform special rituals that cannot be interrupted. Typically these will occur only during special times of the year and if the ritual is interrupted then the witch will have to wait till the next occurrence. Examples would be mid summer, a blue moon or an eclipse. The witch will need to burn fine incense (100 GP value) and leave small tokens of food to entice the familiar to come. Familiars as tough as a witch’s are difficult to locate; if her familiar dies a witch must wait till the next holy season/sabbat to find another
Naming and Playing the Familiar
Familiar names can be serious, ridiculous, inherited or private: puns, old family names, nonsense words, patron references or titles earned during play all work. Give the familiar one desire, one irritation and one habit so it remains recognisable even when it is not mechanically important.
A witch’s familiar is capable of human speech, has high Intelligence and considerable cleverness. Such familiars may not appear noticeably different from others of their own kind.
A familiar is much more than a pet or a servant for the witch. A familiar is a guide for the witch and a conduit for the witch to speak to both the natural and supernatural worlds. The familiar should be seen as a partner for the witch. It should also be noted that a familiar will consider itself as equal to the witch, or would even consider the witch as its familiar. Familiars all have personalities and should be played as such. The other players should treat the familiar like another party member. Granted one that may not add much to the combat round, but a valued member all the same.
Once the familiar has joined up with its witch, the GM must think about the effect the newcomer will have on the other animals in the party. If the witch has a ferret and another character keeps guard dogs or a hungry falcon, trouble could easily erupt unless everyone is very careful. The witch player needs to consider all of the pros and cons before calling a familiar. The witch decides what kind of familiar she wants to call. However the geography of the area will play a role. Also the GM can choose to override this choice.
| Witch’s Familiars | |
| Familiar* | Additional Powers to the Witch |
| Badger | +2 to Constitution score |
| Bat | +2 to any Intuit Direction checks |
| Beaver | Double normal speed when swimming |
| Cat | +2 bonus to Move Silently checks |
| Dog Small | Surprised only on a roll of 1 on a d6. |
| Crow | +2 bonus to Reflex saves |
| Dog medium | Surprised only on a roll of 1 on a d6. |
| Eagle | +2 to any Spot checks |
| Fox | +2 to Intelligence score |
| Hawk | +2 to any Spot checks |
| Lizard | +2 to Dexterity score |
| Lynx | +2 bonus to Reflex saves |
| Mouse | +2 to Dexterity score |
| Porcupine | Improved AC, +2 bonus |
| Rabbit | Surprised only on a roll of 1 on a d6. |
| Raccoon | Surprised only on a roll of 1 on a d6. |
| Rat | +2 bonus to Fortitude saves. |
| Raven | +2 bonus to Reflex saves. |
| Snake | +2 bonus to Fortitude saves. |
| Squirrel | +3 to Climb Checks |
| Swan | +2 to Charisma score |
| Toad | +2 to Constitution score |
| Turtle | Improved AC, +2 bonus |
| Weasel | +2 bonus to Reflex saves. |
| Wolf | +2 bonus to Fortitude saves |
- * The GM may substitute other small animals suitable to the area
- ** The witch must wait till the next holy day to try again.
Multiple Familiars
Witches are often depicted as having multiple familiars. Often these animals are no more than pets, albeit intelligent ones. A witch with the access to the Extra Familiar feat can have multiple familiars. The mechanics of gaining and loosing these familiars are detailed with the feat.
Often the witch will limit her familiars to no more than three or so, most stick with only one. Covens, Traditions and Game Masters can place limits on how many familiars a witch may have at one time.
Improved Familiars
Some players may want to consider the use of special familiars, such as outsiders, fey, constructs or small elementals. Familiars of this type are known as Improved Familiars
Improved Familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: If the creature’s type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).
| Improved Familiars by Alignment | ||
| Familiar | Alignment | Witch Level |
| Stirge | Neutral | 5th |
| Imp | Lawful evil | 7th |
| Quasit | Chaotic evil | 7th |
The list in the table above presents only a few possible improved familiars. Almost any creature of the same general size and power as those on the list makes a suitable familiar. Nor is the master’s alignment the only possible categorization. For instance, improved familiars could be assigned by the master’s creature type or subtype, as shown below.
| Improved Familiars by Type | ||
| Familiar | Type/Subtype | Witch Level |
| Celestial hawk 1 | Good | 3rd |
| Fiendish Tiny viper snake 2 | Evil | 3rd |
| Aitvaras | Evil | 5th |
| Air elemental, | Small Air | 5th |
| Earth elemental, | Small Earth | 5th |
| Fire elemental, | Small Fire | 5th |
| Water elemental, | Small Water | 5th |
| Homunculus 3 | undead | 7th |
| 1 Or other celestial animal from the standard familiar list. | ||
| 2 Or other fiendish animal from the standard familiar list. | ||
| 3 The witch must first create the homunculus, substituting ichor or another part of the master’s body for blood if necessary. |
| Author’s Note: While these could easily be adapted to use for the witch, I would suggest avoiding them except for Malefic witches. The familiar types presented there have the potential of giving the witch game-unbalancing power. Familiars for witches have always been described as natural animals; this work tries to continue that tradition. |
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