[NEW SPELL] Bind Familiar...

Wizards and familiars are an iconic fantasy image, yet for whatever (historical?) reasons there is no spell in either Crypts & Things or Swords & Wizardry for summoning such creatures to a magician's side. This is my attempt to correct that omission for my Tekralh campaign.

 BIND FAMILIAR (1st Level, Grey Magic)

The ceremony for summoning a magician's familiar must begin at midnight on the night of the full moon and takes at least two hours to complete and requires 100gp worth of herbs and incense (chances are this will mean Magician starts with no cash whatsoever, if spell cast before his first adventure). Then sometime during the next 2d12 hours the familiar will make itself known to the spellcaster and the pair will become bonded.

Each attempt to make the spellcasting check (4d6 VS INT+LVL-Spell LVL) take two hours and although it is assumed that this is carried out before the wizard begins his adventures he needs to roll in case of 'magical mishap'.

Once the spell has been cast successfully, the player rolls 3d6 and, if he has any Charisma bonus, declares whether he is adding or subtracting it from the die roll. This declaration must be made before the dice are cast.

All familiars grant their masters additional temporary Hit Points equal to their own Hit Points (as long as it remains within 60ft of the wizard) and, unless stated otherwise, has an Armour Class of 7 [12]. The wizard may see through the eyes of his familiar at will and even send it on 'scouting' missions, but if it goes beyond 60ft he will lose the Hit Point bonus. A typical familiar has Hit Points equal to one average dice.

If the familiar is slain, the magician immediately loses double the familiar's full Hit Points and suffers a permanent loss of one CON point.

The nature of the familiar will also grant an additional bonus to the mage (again only when familiar is within 60ft), determined by the random table below:

Die Roll	Familiar	Bonus Power
3-	Homunculus**	Can ‘sense’ (detect) magic within 60ft (and additional HP)
4	Snake	Gains superior sense of smell – through his tongue
5	Toad	Can breathe underwater for (CON+3) minutes
6	Tarantula	Able to Climb Walls as thief of equal level (ie. +3 to ST)
7	Bat	Can ‘see’ in dark (through echo location, rather than nightvision)
8	Lizard	+1 on Saves vs Fear
9	Rat	+1 CON (consumes half as much rations as normal)
10-11	Black Cat	+1 Luck Point (non-cumulative) per day
12	Parrot	+1 CHA (and +10% Charm vs opposite sex)
13	Crow	Improves AC by 1 against attacks by undead
14	Hawk	+1 to hit on all ranged attacks
15	Rabbit	+1 on Saves vs Magic
16	Hound	Able to track as a Barbarian of equal level
17	Owl	Wizard gains an extra first level spell slot
18+	Dragonette*	Grants 25 per cent magic resistance (and additional HP)

* a dragonette is a two-foot long, flying reptile that resembles a small dragon (HD 2, AC: 2 [17], Atk bite (1d3), breathe fire (range 10ft, 2d4 damage), Move: 6 (fly: 25), Save: 16). There is a 60 per cent chance, checked when first met, that it can speak (the Common Tongue and the Language of Dragons).

** a homunculus is a magical, five or six inch tall creature of clay with tiny wings and a bite that can induce sleep (HD 2, AC: 6 [13], Atk: bite (1d3 + ST vs sleep for 10 x 1d6 minutes), Move: 6 (fly: 20), Save: 16)