Show me your Familiars

[DoktorNiemand]

My ST is finally getting over the idea of "Familiars being too powerful for their cost" and I will be creating one soon.
So, inspired by the Twilight Menagerie thread on the Chronicles of Darkness forum and the great contributions from Reighnhell, I have come to ask you to post the Familiars you played/watched being played in yours games.
Thanks in advance.

[HerbertIsBestBert]

Modus Operandi, Rank 1 Goetic familiar, an "esoteric" obsessed with petty theft.
Highly amicable relationship with his Mage, who summoned his familiar at the behest of his Master to learn more about harnessing his flaws.
Likes stealing things, finds this very hard due to his lack of manifestations. Somewhat unhappy at his current state, but doesn't want to go back into the Mage's head.

"Groggy", Rank 1 Spirit familiar, formed one St. Patrick's day in the Mage's pub.
Very amicable, so long as he's kept fed on the essence of the drunks the pub attracts. His 'Emotional Aura' takes the form of a truly awful hangover.
Takes the form of a large, floating cloud that softly pulses purple

The Ninth Life, Rank 2 Spirit familiar, a spirit formed when an incredibly lucky cat died, after avoiding death 8 times.
Highly protective of its Mage, started off at Rank 1 but grew as it expanded its "luck" influence, and become representative of luck and cats in general.
Ban states it cannot take offensive action until another has stopped "playing". But when it can, it's usually quite sadistic as it maims and toys with its prey before eating it.

Simon McCormick, Rank 2 Ghost Familiar.
The best friend of his Mage in life, he died without feeling he had properly protected his sister, or his best friend. He later forged the familiar bond so that he could better perform his task.
His unfinished busienss will be complete when he has seen them both to such a state where they no longer need his help.
A difficult proposition, given his best friend is a Guardian.

[Teatime]

Truly, you are the best of Berts.

[Fourgigsofdurnk]

Anima, Rank 2 Goetic Familiar
The familiar of a Goeticist NPC named Animus in the game I run. In order to help him advance in the Silver Ladder, he took the part of him that he felt was holding him back - his "desire to do what feels right in the moment without regard for the consequence" - and externalized it as his familiar, who takes the appearance of an identical (but female) twin.

The party thought she was so much cooler than him until they took her with them when they went out drinking the night before Convocation, and discovered her Ban was "unable to resist pushing someone toward indulging their immediate desires" using her Influences. Needless to say the next morning wasn't pretty...

[Prometheus]

Going through this thread, I realized that the archetypical situation when a goeticist binds his own Vice to himself as a familiar cannot really work as a typical 2E spell, because Astral Realms describes Vice Goetia as being Rank 3. However, this gave me an idea: In Grimoire of Grimoires, there is a book called Key of Brass and Flame. I guess that it could be called an Artifact going by 2E rules. Anyway, when I was going through the book the first time, I remember being annoyed because one could simply create the spells in the grimoire using rules for Creative Thaumaturgy and the "Artifact" didn't end up having much of a punch.

Fast forward to the 2E, when fluff from most of the 1E books is still valid, I thought that given the rules for goetia and familiars in 2E, the Key of Brass and Flame could end up having much more appeal than it originally had. The simple solution is that the Artifact can create a unique familiar bond between the Vice Goetia and the mage. If the book could allow for binding of the Rank 3 Vice goetia, plus allow it to naturally materialize and be a loyal and useful powerful servant while possibly not mauling the soul of the mage (the impulse to "sin" isn't lost after drawing the goetia out of the soul), the Artifact would suddenly have far more appeal than in 1E.

Unfortunately, this seems to work only for the Vice Goetia and not for other entities, like Virtues.

Although now as I'm finishing writing this, I wonder if a Boon of the correct Supernal creature could create a Rank 3 bond under certain circumstances...

[Satchel]

Going through this thread, I realized that the archetypical situation when a goeticist binds his own Vice to himself as a familiar cannot really work as a typical 2E spell, because Astral Realms describes Vice Goetia as being Rank 3.

It describes them as having Influence 3 — 1e Mage has also included a Rank 1 entity with Influence 4.

[Prometheus]

It describes them as having Influence 3 — 1e Mage has also included a Rank 1 entity with Influence 4.

Ah, I thought that an Influence can't reach (especially not in 2E) higher than the Rank.

[Satchel]

Ah, I thought that an Influence can't reach (especially not in 2E) higher than the Rank.

1e was a little less stringent about that and also had Manifestations pulling from the same pool a Numina. "Your strongest Goetic demon has overriding control of its conceptual base" doesn't require Control when Numina like Implant Mission are abilities available in the core — even in 1e one of the same goetic demons was Rank 2 and had a Numen specifically relating to its focus, and given that Goetia in 2e don't have Manifestations and can't get extra Influence dots, particularized Numina are all the more likely to be part of a powerful goetia's makeup.

[Zombiecakes]

Benevolent Jest, A Rank 2 Magath of Mischief and Knowledge, bound to my PC to save itself from Uratha wrath. Works surprisingly well as a bodyguard and the primary constituent of my PC's own Spirit Court. Has a Ban where it demands I prank someone once a month or it loses its powers for one Lunar cycle, and its Bane is from its original nature: the ashes of books.

[Fourgigsofdurnk]

Going through this thread, I realized that the archetypical situation when a goeticist binds his own Vice to himself as a familiar cannot really work as a typical 2E spell, because Astral Realms describes Vice Goetia as being Rank 3. However, this gave me an idea: In Grimoire of Grimoires, there is a book called Key of Brass and Flame. I guess that it could be called an Artifact going by 2E rules. Anyway, when I was going through the book the first time, I remember being annoyed because one could simply create the spells in the grimoire using rules for Creative Thaumaturgy and the "Artifact" didn't end up having much of a punch.

Fast forward to the 2E, when fluff from most of the 1E books is still valid, I thought that given the rules for goetia and familiars in 2E, the Key of Brass and Flame could end up having much more appeal than it originally had. The simple solution is that the Artifact can create a unique familiar bond between the Vice Goetia and the mage. If the book could allow for binding of the Rank 3 Vice goetia, plus allow it to naturally materialize and be a loyal and useful powerful servant while possibly not mauling the soul of the mage (the impulse to "sin" isn't lost after drawing the goetia out of the soul), the Artifact would suddenly have far more appeal than in 1E.

Unfortunately, this seems to work only for the Vice Goetia and not for other entities, like Virtues.

Although now as I'm finishing writing this, I wonder if a Boon of the correct Supernal creature could create a Rank 3 bond under certain circumstances...

Yea, I'm wondering how they're going to officially change the Clavicarius and Bene Ashmedai in 2e now that you don't have to be so specialized to practice Goetic magic (and that Goetic magic seems to be implicitly more common/accepted than in 1e, where it was a Wisdom sin to even attempt!)

I wrote up a 2e rework of the Bene Ashmedai for a game I'm running that actually lets them break that rule as their final Attainment - it mimics the Familiar spell except it works on Spirits (and Goetia with Mind 5) up to Rank 4, and you can only have a number of Spirits and/or Goetia bound using with combined Rank equal to your Spirit dots (so you could have a Rank 4 Goetia and a rank 1 Spirit, but not 2 rank 3 beings, etc.) You also couldn't spend XP on merit dots to make it last longer than the Attainment duration.

I could see a 2e Key of Brass and Flame allowing for something similar - Familiar, but breaking the Rank restriction as long as you have the Key in your possession.

[21C Hermit]

An idea; larval Horrors from Beast are Rank 2, yes? I wonder what happens when you bind an entity that can replace resonant souls with itself and transform both the ‘victim’ and itself as a familiar.....

[Prometheus]

Yea, I'm wondering how they're going to officially change the Clavicarius and Bene Ashmedai in 2e now that you don't have to be so specialized to practice Goetic magic (and that Goetic magic seems to be implicitly more common/accepted than in 1e, where it was a Wisdom sin to even attempt!)

I wrote up a 2e rework of the Bene Ashmedai for a game I'm running that actually lets them break that rule as their final Attainment - it mimics the Familiar spell except it works on Spirits (and Goetia with Mind 5) up to Rank 4, and you can only have a number of Spirits and/or Goetia bound using with combined Rank equal to your Spirit dots (so you could have a Rank 4 Goetia and a rank 1 Spirit, but not 2 rank 3 beings, etc.) You also couldn't spend XP on merit dots to make it last longer than the Attainment duration.

I could see a 2e Key of Brass and Flame allowing for something similar - Familiar, but breaking the Rank restriction as long as you have the Key in your possession.

Based on the lore, I think you can't have the Key in your possession, by SoS rules it's basically an Astral Grimoire located in the Temenos, but I can see what you mean. At least it might allow you to get a unique Mind Arcanum Attainment. Remember, the Lesser and Greater Utility Attainments mentioned in 2E aren't the only ones in existence. This and other abilities, like getting more Willpower from indulging your Vice by surviving and getting exceptional success while reading the Le Livre Rouge (another grimoire featured in the same book, Grimoire of Grimoires is awesome) could be amazing special Attainments earned by fulfilling unique conditions. Game rules allow for exactly these kinds of shenanigans.

[DoktorNiemand]

For those of you who played with Spirit Familiars: how important were the Familiar´s relationship with it´s choir? And how much of an impact did the Spirit´s agenda have in play?

[Fourgigsofdurnk]

Based on the lore, I think you can't have the Key in your possession, by SoS rules it's basically an Astral Grimoire located in the Temenos, but I can see what you mean. At least it might allow you to get a unique Mind Arcanum Attainment. Remember, the Lesser and Greater Utility Attainments mentioned in 2E aren't the only ones in existence. This and other abilities, like getting more Willpower from indulging your Vice by surviving and getting exceptional success while reading the Le Livre Rouge (another grimoire featured in the same book, Grimoire of Grimoires is awesome) could be amazing special Attainments earned by fulfilling unique conditions. Game rules allow for exactly these kinds of shenanigans.

That is an interesting point.

Although you can, technically, have the Key "in your possession"; just move it into your Onerios!

[Madman777]

Stephanie Hork. Rank 2 Ghost:
Stephanie was a music teacher. Her students loved her, and by all accounts she was an excellent educator and a wonderful musician. Her life should have been all rainbows and accolades, sadly she was a victim of a local Left hand mage who went by the shadow name of Torn. Torn was a Mastigos who bound Spirits, and Goetia to his whims. Pretty normal behavior for an asshole Mastigos, but Torn was special. Torn was the go to Mage in his concillium for Familiars he would make them to order. Want a Goetia of Hydrophobia? Done. Need a Spirit of Sexual Fulfillment? Easy. But Torn didn't just find these beings and bind them He made them. He'd get some poor soul on a leash using Mind, and Spirit magic and develop the beings he needed. So when a rather ambitious member of the Adamantine Arrow needed a Spirit of Betrayal with a bit of a taste for mind games Torn was happy to oblige. So Torn made a Tinder and swiped right on Stephanie. The two hit it off Stephanie had never been happier eventually they moved in together, and then without warning Torn tortured her to death. Using Mind to make damn sure she felt every last bit of pain and betrayal. He got his Spirit, and Stephanie died in utter anguish. Stephanie's Ghost Haunted the school where she worked, and had Torn as an additional anchor. Eventually a Moros figured out what was going on and when it was revealed that Torn had killed a Sleeper. He was executed on the spot. The Moros then offered Stephanie a choice. He could help her move on, or he could give her a new job helping him help others. Stephanie agreed to help and became his assistant as he likes to call her. Stephanie's Ban is simple when she sees a child in pain or distress she has to help usually by offering a silent assurance that everything will be ok. Stephanie's Bane is that when she hears the sound of any instrument she played or any voice singing that she had a hand in teaching (this includes her own via recording) she loses all willpower. and suffers from an appropriate condition. Stephanie has the Ghost Sign Numina, and the Awe Numina. Her influences are Music 2 and Loss 1.