Editing Familiar (section)

===4th Edition===
4th edition, as always, changed things up enormously. They started by completely removing the familiar at first, pointing out how familiars had traditionally not been very well regarded; they were mostly ignored by players and considered more of a detriment than an advantage, since they were so frail and inflicted significant drawbacks on the player if they died. Familiars didn't resurface until the ''Arcane Power'' sourcebook, where taking a familiar became a Feat available to any Arcane class. Now, your familiar can switch between a passive move, in which they are sharing the player's space and immune to attack, or an active mode, in which they can move independently and use a special power depending on the familiar. For example, spiders can be used to haul small objects to different places with their webbing, whilst ravens can become living videophones for you. Plus, if your familiar gets killed, it automatically comes back to life good as new the next time you complete a rest. Those who were willing to give 4e a chance generally approved of the way familiars were handled in this edition, as they finally shook off the "more detriment than value" stigma they'd picked up way back in AD&D.

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'''4th Edition Familiars'''
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;Arcane Power
* Bat
* Book Imp
* Bond Demon
* Cat
* Crafter Homunculus
* Dragonling
* Falcon
* Owl
* Rat
* Raven
* Serpent
* Spider

;Heroes of the Feywild
* Bat
* Cat
* Coure Attendant
* Falcon
* Fiddling Grig
* Owl
* Rat
* Raven
* Serpent
* Spider
* Sprite

;Heroes of the Elemental Chaos
* Arctine
* Automaton
* Chaos Phage
* Crysmalite
* Flame Serpent
* Hordeling
* Magmin
* Mud Wretch
* Nereid
* Pech
* Storm Talon
* Sylph

;Get Familiar (Dragon #374)
::Heroic Tier
* Arcane Eye
* Badger
* Canine Construct
* Disembodied Hand
* Fire Lizard
* Lightning Lizard
* Ooze
* Parrot
* Rootling
* Scout Homunculus
* Skull
* Toad
* Weasel
::Paragon Tier
* Air Mephit
* Arcane Wisp
* Beholderkin
* Blackspawn Darkling
* Bluespawn Nimblespark
* Earth Mephit
* Fire Mephit
* Grayspawn Shortfang
* Greenspawn Banespike
* Ice Mephit
* Rakshasa Claw
* Redspawn Spitfire
* Stone Fowl
* Whitespawn Snowstepper
::Epic Tier
* Blazing Skull
* Chaos Shard
* Gibbering Pet
* Shadow Incarnate

;Familiars of Eberron (Dragon #377)
::Heroic Tier
* Bantam Fastieth
* Bloodthorn Vine Barb
* Clockwork Scorpion
* Dragonmark Reflection
* Floating Weapon
* Gadfly
* Magpie
* Marmoset
* Octopus
* Saddle Squire
* Soarwood Wings
* Summoner Homunculus
* Tome Caddy
* Warforged Faceplate
::Paragon Tier
* Ambush Vine Shoot
* Crawling Clot
* Dimensional Pet
* Living Infusion
* Minor Foulspawn
* Smith's Hammer
* Tinker Feyling
::Epic Tier
* Lingering Nightmare
* Silver Lamp

;Familiar Power: Wizard (Dragon #382)
* Specter
* Least Air Elemental
* Tiny Gelatinous Cube
* Least Earth Elemental

;Winning Races: Eladrin, Beyond the Spiral Tower (Dragon #390)
* Fiddling Grig
* Coure Attendant

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