FAMILIARS
Sources:
- Libellus Sanguinis II, From White Wolf
What is a Familiar?
Familiars are highly-intelligent spirits summoned by Tremere Mages, whether Elite, Covenant or Telyavelic. Many appear as normal animals, but they may choose to temporarily be almost anything, from lampshades to a filing cabinet. Familiars are summoned by the mage with a specific purpose in mind. All too often, mages view their most important associates as collections of useful abilities.
This bound spirit may take the form of any small animal, such as a cat, raven, mouse, frog or other creature normally associated with magi or witches. Conversely, the familiar may appear as a homunculus or mannikin. Large animals (horses, goats, bears and the like) as well as magical creatures (such as dragons) are not available as familiars. The number of points you put into purchasing your familiar indicates its relative power.
Who Can Have a Familiar?
Only Tremere characters are able to have Familiars, since they are the only Player Characters in Dominions of Darkness that are Mages. Storytellers who are using NPC Mages during roleplay events may also have Familiars. Mortal, non Tremere Familiars can be vastly more powerful and of supernatural origins.
What do Familiars Eat?
Familiars subsist mainly on Quintessence. In Dominions of Darkness, this mainly takes the form of Blood/Energy. Familiars can enjoy Gnosis/Energy and Mana/Energy, or even Mortal Energy - though they may grumble a bit if forced to eat this too often as its taste is rather bland. (Think of it as drinking Slim Fast as opposed to a perfect cut of Prime Rib or a sweet French Pastry.)
Familiars require a minimum of 1 point of Energy when requested to use their abilities or perform services.
Quintessence can also take the form of Tass. While Quintessence is immaterial and made of pure energy, Tass has solidified into a material form. Technically a Vampire's Vitae is Tass. Think of it as Quintessence is like electricity that flows through a pattern of circuits and wires. And Tass is a battery - one that anyone can safely handle. Tass can manifest in various forms in places where Magic takes place. For example,
Familiars in Dominions of Darkness
While Familiars give their Tremere Master advantages via Modifiers, Storytellers have the opportunity to play a Tremere's Familiar, make dice rolls for it, and guide it's actions during roleplay. Many of these alien spirits resemble intelligent animal companions. Familiars are always far more than theyappear to be, however. Storytellers should rememberthat these allies have their own enigmatic goals andmotivations.
At other times, this bound spirit can perform simple tasks and minor guardianship duties for you. It also holds you to the agreements made upon initially binding it to your service, however, so you must adhere to those terms in order to keep its favor (see Summoning a Familiar and Accepting Their Contract below.)
Familiars bond with mages on a magical level and trade their knowledge and abilities in return for upkeep, companionship and other desired rewards. They are in no way subservient to their mage (in fact, they often think of the mage as their familiar), and their non-human perspectives frequently prove to be as valuable to their companions as their more concrete abilities.
Mages should never forget, however, that familiars have radically different world views. They may see nothing wrong, for instance, in randomly singling out a human to be killed for their amusement. Normal ideas of good and evil, of law and morality, do not apply to these otherworldly spirits made flesh.
Mages had best use caution when agreeing to contracts with these beings. They sometimes require extra services or conditions over and above the minimum as rewards for their help. These demands do not always make sense to the mage, but failure to provide them once such is agreed upon breaks the contract as far as the familiar is concerned. On the other hand, mages can find no companions more loyal so long as they fulfill their side of the bargain.
Aside from their ability to perform services and provide information, familiars may have other powers such as to sense danger, or to add modifiers when the Mage is attempting certain magics requiring Occult.
Familiars may take the forms of animals, but depending on their level, can temporarily take other forms as well. As a general rule, most Tremere have familiars that could pass for natural creatures. Familiars do their best work when not calling undue attention to themselves and value the ability to blend in.
Familiars as Advisors
All familiars have access to information not readily available to their patrons. They also view the world from radically different perspectives; they have, after all, traveled other lands and other dimensions, and it shows. For the same reason, familiars are often reservoirs of vast amounts of knowledge not always easily accessible to even the most esoterically versed of mages. Of course, these same familiars might get the heebie-jeebies from opening a refrigerator or watching a TV sit-com. Such is culture shock.
All familiars come up with bizarre, yet helpful information at random and unpredictable intervals. This data is almost always cryptic to both mage and familiar, although for opposite reasons. It is often exceedingly difficult for the familiar to relate its knowledge to the physical world around it. They are truly “strangers in a strange land” and often have difficulties fitting the truths of one realm of experience into the framework of an entirely different one.
Like people barely fluent in a second language, familiars often have problems translating complex, esoteric concepts from one language to the next. Likewise, the familiar’s internal translations are often a bit haphazard. This garbled wisdom comes through to the mage in ways the familiar feels should be utterly comprehensible, but oftentimes are not. Nevertheless, the familiar’s mage can usually complete the translation through her understanding of this realm of existence. I
ndeed, a number of familiars feel this translation service is one of the most useful advantages of taking on a mage. This complex flow of insight is best reflected in off-the-wall roleplaying. When a system is needed, however, occasional Perception + Knowledge rolls couldbe used. The nature of the Ability should be matchedto the situation — either totally appropriate or wildlyinappropriate! To understand these outer reaches ofesoteric knowledge at any time, a puzzled mage’s playershould roll Intelligence + Enigmas with a difficultyranging from moderate to impossible, depending onhow weird the input is. The clarity and usefulness ofthe information dredged up depends on the number ofsuccesses received. The greater the number of successes,the better the information is understood.
Summoning a Familiar and Accepting Their Contract
Keeping Your Familiar Happy
• Your familiar performs minor services but does not risk itself for you.
•• Your familiar acts as an early warning toalert you of the presence of intruders, but does not preventthem from entering your haven.••• Your familiar can perform fairly complicatedtasks and act as a messenger for you. It also attempts to deterhostile creatures from entering your haven, although it doesnot confront them directly.•••• Your familiar has developed a true fondnessfor you despite your unliving state and your lack of standardmagic. It not only acts as an assistant (within the limits ofits form), it may incur minor risks to its own material form inorder to protect you from harm.••••• Your familiar has a very strong bond withyou and serves you as faithfully as any retainer sworn to youby Blood Oath.