I have been throwing ideas around for characters who are Familiars, Or characters that are Familiars.
To prevent some of the annoying bits with familiars, like they only turn up when needed for something, like in Order of the stick before the current arc, I want all familiars to have personality, or at least the same level as a extra should they be an extra's familiar.
The bases I want to cover in my setting.
1. Familiars are intelligent, if still tied to the fact that they are animals.
Familiars start out as dim as a doornail, but after the ritual that binds them to their owner is finished, over the next few weeks the familiar will reach a similar level of intelligence as it's owner.
So if I was going by 3.5 type attributes, WIS, INT, and CHA, would rise to at most the master's reflected stat, perhaps WIS and CHA lowered to reflect the animal's nature.
2. Familiars are a battery and conduct for magic.
Besides the expected small bonus to it's owner, a Familiar allows a mage to run around wielding significantly more energy then they could without their Familiar, allowing greater feats of magic, as well being able to use magic through their familiar like normal.
Both the master and the familiar hold their own supply of magical energy inside them, a mature familiar can use their own supply of magic to do things. But togather, the master and familiar can dish out far more powerful spells, (mostly in the evocation sense.) because the output is doubled.
3. Familiars can only be small animals.
Unless say, you have some insane level of resources to drug a large bear and getting the whole ritual done while preventing it from starving while doing so.
Besides the familiars view their master as equals, (at least early on.) and should the larger animals play as if their master is a equal, it could lead to accidental mauling. As well Familiars tend to misbehave before they mature, and it is much easier to handle familiars that you can physically pickup with one hand.
4. Familiars become a super power version of that same animal.
Of course we got the dire versions, but not in that sense, more of the animal becoming magically better, endurance and the ability to claw you of course.
As the animal is infused with magic from it's master, it matures, and it becomes very hard to kill, and tend to be significantly supernaturally better at it's own species focus. For example a Ferret familiar can find a rat to eat, and catch it far easier than a normal ferret. As well the normal small sized animals after maturing become next to impervious to falling to their deaths, they just shake it off... their masters not so much.
5. Familiars mature
As a familiar exists, it ages on a different scale, it no longer ages as a animal, but as a immortal magical beast... of cat sized doom.
Immediately after the ritual to bond to the familiar is not any different from the mage that did the ritual, how ever its behavior is practically super glued to the mage. As the Familiar matures they can spend more and more time away from their master, and in the end become independent.
The Speed of maturing is time as well magical ability based, and they tend to mature faster under tense experiences. At the very least, the Familiar improves with the Mage.
Maturity effects a vast group of things, mostly meaning they can survive should their master go say die, and they become increasingly magical in their own right.
6. Familiars reflect on their owner, and the opposite.
The tendancys of both sides of the bonds reflect unto each other.
Like for Example, my character Kloe, and her familiar Alex.
Alex likes Shinies of course, and is a bit hyper active.
Kloe likes to learn odd bits of things, and hyper focuses on things.
Now after the bond matures.
Alex in addition from before also actually picks up random information.
And now Kloe has problems focusing on things. (And she has a passing interest in shinees.... meheheh...)
Positive and negative reflect on each other.
7. Familiars and their masters share their senses.
Both sides can always find each other, unless extreme measures are taken.
Before maturing the mage may be overwelmed by the familiars senses.
Later on after filtering that over load, it just takes a bit of focus to see through each others eyes.
Extreme emotions are felt on each side, until the the familiar matures, when the familiar get's its own personality, and full on emotions.
If they are together in the same place, they can direct each other too threats, and all that.
8. Blah blah and blah.
Yeah, internet is going to die again, next time I guess I will write up on what I see the familiar bonding ritual is, I want to make it decently interesting.
