An overwhelming number of mages use the pixie familiar because of its lockpicking and trap removing I am suggesting at change in the familiar system that instead summoned familliars grant passive or active benefits that allow for more variance in choice. for example instead of a familiar that picks locks, one that adds a bonus to your open lock/ disarm trap that scale with level. something that still requires player investment beyond a familliar only ever taken out to open a box. This i feel would be more lore appropriate as familliars bolstered their masters own abilities and developed their own unique abilities (such as the improved invisibility granted by the pixie) the utility of a familiar should scale in more dramatic ways with their mage, moving possession to higher levels, and more deeply depicting the bond between mage and familliar, that even dismissing them should cause a negetive reaction for the mage, becoming more dramatic as they level up.
this i feel would add a greater variety to familliars for varying builds, and would cause varying use of familliars beyond just popping one out to open a chest, then leaving it behind for the next chest (perhaps adding in a distance debuff).
to break it down a bit better
1: Making familiar use more diverse, adding passive effects that allow for a more diverse use of familliars/ Making Familiars mimic skill choices to remove picking one above all the others
2: making familiar bonding scale in more dramatic ways as they level, greater benefits, moving posession to a later level feat, and adding more negetive effects to dismissal/ dearth of the familliar
3: Giving familliars a cooldown like animal companions, and tribal warriors.
Familliar Rework
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