Product– Familiar Folio
System– Pathfinder
Producer– Paizo Publishing
Price– $12.99 here http://paizo.com/products/btpy9au2?Pathfinder-Player-Companion-Familiar-Folio
TL; DR– Useful if you already like familiars. 88%
Basics-Every great wizard has a familiar, why can’t you! Familiar Folio is a Pathfinder Player Companion book discussing familiars, how to add them to new characters, and how to improve them. Like every other book in the companion line, it adds new feats, archetypes, items, spells, and other options for players and their familiar’s alike.
Mechanics or Crunch-This book is amazing, if you already like familiars. This book won’t really win you over if you didn’t already have a character concept for familiars. Every option added in this book is great, but familiars tend to work just like alchemy in Pathfinder, great if you love them, bad if you don’t. After seeing what’s here, I can say that if I played a character who wanted a familiar, I’d absolutely want what’s here. However, if I played someone who had the options of not having one vs having one, I don’t think this book would win me over to the familiar side, even with a mascot (familiar). 4.25/5
Theme or Fluff- This book discusses some of the story aspects of familiars, but it doesn’t really go out of its way to add them in deeper. The book covers topics like how to roleplay with them, and it does have a bit of how different locations in Golarion would use familiars and the types in those locations. But, it’s not much beyond that. This is primarily a crunch heavy book. 4/5
Execution-This was put out by Paizo. For anything you can say about Paizo, the unarguable truth is they know how to make a book well. It’s got great art, great layout, and was a pleasure to read. 5/5
Summary-The simple question to this book is, “Will you use or want a familiar?” If you said yes, then you get this book. If not, then don’t. Like I said with alchemy, familiars are extremely divisive. You love your familiar, then you will love this book. If you couldn’t care less about your wizard friend’s odd toad in his pocket, then you don’t want this book. What this book is is well written, a bit light on story, but overall well put together. Just decide if you want a tag along before you begin. 88%
