Thus Spake Zargrabowski/MultipleFamiliars
g_c_grabowski - 10/09/2003 00:40:56 - raindog@white-wolf.com
Familiars you get with Charms are Familiars. Sidereals can have multiple Familiars. If you start with one, and get another, then you will have two. If you are not a Sidereal, you will have to kill fluffy to get a new one (or maybe just send ole Ben off into the woods, but Iwould tend to be iffy on this; just because he's got a family doesn't make him not your familiar). If you are a Sidereal, then you can get up to your max. They spend XP to get the Charm and use it, please try to let people with the Familiar-making Charms benefit from them.
Geoffrey C. Grabowski\\ Exalted Developer, WWGS\\ raindog@white-wolf.com
g_c_grabowski - 10/09/2003 09:51:05 - raindog@white-wolf.com
>>>With Sidereals, what "max" are you referring to?<<<
The one in the book. Sidereals can have a number of Familiars equal to their Essence.
>>>What exactly bonds an animal to an Exalt in the first place? If you can have the Familiar background without the Charm "Spirit-Tied Pet", then what tied the beast to you? <<<
People and animals in the world of Exalted sometimes develop magically close relationships and can ultimately end up with the animal aping anthropy and communicating telephatically with you. I don't think it happens too much to people below heroic mortal level.
>>>Why do you need to use the Charm later?<<<
Because without the Charm it's a matter of chance.
>>>What if whatever would've allowed the creature to bond in the beginning is used/happens?<<<
The Storyteller says "you now have a familiar".
>>>Also, why would Sidereals be allowed more familiars than Solars? Solars are the "pinnacle of Exalted power", right?<<<
Yes, I'm nerfing Solars by giving Sidereals yet another thing to spend their already-less-efficient experience on.
>>>More to the point, the Charm "Spirit-Tied Pet" is a prerequisite for "Beastial Traits Technique", but if you've already bought the Familiar Background, you have to spend at least 8 XP on a Charm that you don't really need.<<<
You don't need it to have this animal companion you've got, no. But to magically exploit the familiar link you have to understand what's really going on, even if only at an intutive level.
>>>One last question: would you allow a character to use "Beastial Traits Technique" on a familiar that was bonded purely by the Background and not "Spirit-Tied Pet"? <<<
Sure. A familiar is a familiar, you just have to understand the nature of the process before you can exploit it.
Geoffrey C. Grabowski\\ Exalted Developer, WWGS\\ raindog@white-wolf.com
