I have been reading and playing a fair amount of BASH Fantasy of late, and enjoying the heck out of it! I was a backer in the Kickstarter a while back, and Chris Rutkowsky has been delivering the stretch goal products in timely fashion, like "The Codex of Fantasy Folk" which introduces about 35 fantasy races to BASH as player character possibilities, everything from the traditional elves, dwarves and orcs to more unusual options like Flamekin, Ursines and Dhampir.

One of the stretch goals on the horizon is the Grimoire, a tome of magical might, spellcraft and such. This takes the Powers of BASH Fantasy and fleshes them out into a full-blown magic system for your BASH Fantasy Game.

I can hardly wait.

Actually, it is more honest of me to say that I can't wait - Hence this post.

I have been writing up conversions of Swords of Kos creatures and races for the Upcoming "BASH Fantasy: Men and Monsters of Kos". I also just wrote, and ran on D-Infinity Plays, a short scenario for BASH Fantasy: Swords of Kos called "Sea-Lord of the Sunken Grotto", for which I also wrote up Player Characters. Some of these had magic, which I built from the Powers section of BASH Fantasy. 

And all that preamble brings me to the subject of this post: Familiars.

Familiars are common to a lot of games, and many references to them appear in myth and legend, even in historical sources about witchcraft, shamanism, and wizardry. So, when I was writing up Pumayo in BASH Fantasy terms, I had to work out how a familiar might work in BASH.

What follows is obviously not official. Chances are good that Chris Rutkowsky will write up Familiars in BASH, and no one knows BASH better than Chris. AND he is a terrific game designer, so what he comes up with will be good! But the version i give you here might tide you over in the meantime, or you might just like it!

The premise of this Familiar is that it literally is an extension of the mage to whom it is bonded. It provides the mage, and the player, with a scout, aide, maybe even a new power or two, but not with another character that acts at the same time as the mage. The familiar is essentially inactive in the game - perhaps hidden in a sleeve, or waiting in nearby shadows, until the mage acts through it or the player chooses to activate the familiar in stead of the master.

One of the best features of a familiar is the mage's ability to use its senses and position to perceive the world, even using its powers. This can a useful ability for scouting, surveillance, surreptitious investigation, carrying messages, even thievery depending on the familiar.

I am going back and forth about whether a mage should be allowed to uses her own powers while through the familiar. I like the idea, but it might be a bit too much. Yet it is not enough to qualify for an "Improved Familiar" Advantage. If the mistress CAN use her own powers, they should probably be limited to using the Stats of the familiar, rather than her own.

BASH FANTASY: New Advantage

Familiar: You must have Advantage: Magic to possess a familiar. You own, and are magically bound to, a creature you have summoned, created or bound magically. Design the familiar as you would another character with a Character Point total of 3/4 your own. The familiar may have whatever magical powers, abilities, or skills you wish.

Abilities common to Familiars:

• The familiar confers a +1 Dice Bonus to any perception rolls the master makes.
• Familiars do not have Hit Points, Any damage done to the familiar is compared to your Wound Threshold. If it exceeds your Wound Threshold, you suffer a Wound. You don't suffer the actual damage, but you are Wounded by sufficient damage to your familiar. Such a Wound can be healed in the usual way. 
• Familiars may have a Size equal to or smaller than their master. Size may change temporarily due to spells, or other effects.
• The familiar does not act on its own. The master may act through the familiar, however, perceiving with its senses, using its abilities, but may not use his own powers through the familiar (see note about this above).
• Familiars need no sleep, or food, and have no Energy of their own. Energy expended using the familiar’s abilities comes from the master’s Energy, and is recovered in the usual way.
• Being bonded magical constructs, familiars tend to take after their masters. If familiars have magic, generally it is magic for stealth or perception. For other magics, usually they tend to the same "type" as their master. So if the master is a healer, a familiar might also have restorative magic. If the mistress is a destructive sort, her familiar will probably reflect that in any magic it can cast.

Now, here are a few familiars to give you an idea of what came be done. 

First up, Kidna, the viper familiar of the aforementioned Pumayo, who is a 25 point character:

Pumayo’s Familiar: Kidna, Viper

B 1  A 3   M 1
    +2x3 Defense     Wounds Apply to Pumayo’s Wound Threshold

Powers: [8]

• Size -2 (+2 Dice Bonus to Agility, -10 Brawn Rolls)
• Venomous Bite: +2x3 to hit, Continual Damage (x4 Damage)
• Sense Magic
• Invisibility 1 [Kidna Only, only unmoving, Maintained, Pumayo pays Energy 2]

Skills: Agility: +2x3: Stealth/ Hide, Athletics/ Climb

Total: 18

Kidna is a really nice sneaky familiar with invisibility when she lies still, and a nasty poisonous bite to discourage those who might mean her harm. She is adept for slithering ahead of her master, giving him a grouded view of what is ahead, but she can also climb to a better vantage point.

Baboon Familiar - for a 24 point Mage:

B 2  A 3   M 1
    +1x3 Defense     Wounds Apply to mage’s Wound Threshold

Powers: [4]

• Size -1 (+1 Dice Bonus to Agility, -5 Brawn Rolls)
• Vicious Bite: +1x3 to hit, x4 dmg (Natural Weapon 2)
• Fleet of foot ( Move 12, Jump 3)

Skills: Agility: +1x3: Stealth/ Hide, Athletics/ Climb

Total: 18 Points

The baboon makes for a good companion for a mage-thief, as it can climb and open doors, etc;, even using the mage's lockpicking tools and skill. It is also pretty capable in a fight, and would be a useful protector of its master if that one were in trouble or out of energy.

Man-sized Bronze Eagle Construct Familiar for a 28 points Mage:

B 2 A 3   M 1
    +2x3 Defense     Wounds Apply to mage's Wound Threshold

Soak 20

Powers: [9]

•  Fly 3 [15 Squares]
• Talons: x3 to hit, x4 Damage
• Growing 1: Lift 400 lbs, Reach 1, +5 Brawn rolls, Damage, Soak, -1 Dice Penalty to hit, defend Agility (2 Energy)
• Toughness 2
• Keen Vision (x4 Sight Perception rolls)
• Disadvantage: Slow on the ground - Move 4

Skills: Agility: x3: Athletics/ Fly

Total: 21

This one shows what a more potent mage can do. This is an artificial eagle about 6 feet, sort of like the bronze owl from the old "Jason and the Argonauts" film, but bigger, tougher, and with the ability to grow larger still if the mage has the energy for it. With Growth 1, the eagle could carry a passenger. With a soak of 20, it is pretty hardy, and can take a beating without passing on so much hurt to its master.