QUESTIONS ABOUT FAMILIAR LINKS!?

[MrDisturbed]

I am looking at playing a beastmaster (2nd ed conversion) and it aroused several questions for me and other members of the group I play with. Lets say I chose a bear to be my familiar, will the bear still have to hibernate during the winter? What if I saved a tiger from a gladiatorial ring and formed a familiar link with it, would he be aggressive towards everyone other than me? do I have to worry about him feasting on a gnome if I leave him unsupervised for a second?

[drewkitty ~..~]

1st) this your own conversion of the 1st ed YS BM to PF 2nd ed?

2nd. going by the yin Sloth 1st ed book
2a) yes, the bear will want to hibernate.
2b) sort of yes, it depends a lot on how the play (or GM) runs the familiar.
2b.1) when you 1st get the "ex-fighting pit" familiar yes you will need to be in constant companion till the familiar calms down.

[Nekira Sudacne]

I am looking at playing a beastmaster (2nd ed conversion) and it aroused several questions for me and other members of the group I play with. Lets say I chose a bear to be my familiar, will the bear still have to hibernate during the winter? What if I saved a tiger from a gladiatorial ring and formed a familiar link with it, would he be aggressive towards everyone other than me? do I have to worry about him feasting on a gnome if I leave him unsupervised for a second?

1: becoming your familiar will not change the creatures core biology. it's intstincts will tell it to hibernate. You can use your bond to force it to remain awake but you would need to feed it more, and it would be fairly grumpy until springtime.
2: yes, it would be. I suggest using the level 9 spell Tame Beast to bring it under control, as it allows you to tame such dangerous wild animals in a few hours time. Purchasing a scroll would be a wise investment if you lack the actual spell.
3: Familiars are bound to obey direct orders, even those that go aginst instinct. If you order it "Don't eat any gnomes", it won't--as soon as you explain to him what a gnome is. he may decide to feast on the dwarf though. if you tell him "Don't eat any people" (after carefully explaining the difference between people and other animals) he may settle for eating someone's horse or dog instead. Again, here, Tame Beast is a spell that lets you pack months worth of training into a few quick hours.

[drewkitty ~..~]

NS
Beast Master are described more as "friends" then "dominated", as would a familiar made through the 'Familiar Link" spell.
So After a Time, yes the BM would be able to prevent the example tiger to not eat people even when the BM is not present. But the Example Tiger would need it's 'friend' there to prevent such happening the times directly following it's acquisition as a 'friend'/familiar.

Yes, the Tame Beast spell would beneficial in the view point to people around the BM and their Familiar. But it would also run counter to the BM class concept PoV.

[Nekira Sudacne]

I don't really see Tame Beast as dominating an animal, it jsut lets you cram months of hard training into a few hours. you still have to actually work with/train them, it just happens faster.