You seem... Familiar

[ARedthorn]

OW173 briefly references familiars- enough to show they exist, but not enough to define them on ANY useful level.

They came up in a recent session (the one I'm playing in, not running), and I'm wondering what they are.

In particular- my character (evocator on par with any wizard, but no thaumaturgy- works for Monoc, which I'm treating as the supernatural Blackwater) has a little sister who, it turns out, also has the gift. Unfortunately, I found out when I found out that she'd bound someone else (human, may or may not be true mortal, another player) to her as a familiar.

2 laws for the price of one! Yay! (2nd and 4th, I think- since she definitely called him against his will to her side, and I'm pretty sure he's been physically altered beyond normal human). He was built as a True Mortal, but with enough Refresh to spare to afford losing them- and gave the GM permission to do so.

Here's the thing- I took one look at the spell with my Sight, and knew the spell immediately (got a +8 on my Lore check for it)... and we both need to look into it.

Ideas (both for the normal kind of spell, and for the human-variant)?

[wyvern]

I made a thread on this topic a while back; perhaps something in it will be of some use.

For the familiar, I'd consider treating this as a form of sponsored magic - possibly one of the -3 versions that only works if you're right near the source.  Alternatively, a few physical abilities and a (hopefully slightly less evil) version of the Demonic Co-Pilot power might work as well.  Possibly also with a Human Form limitation of the +2 variety, if the character can't personally choose when those powers are available.

I'd also work out exactly how that familiar bond got formed - it's possible that it's not a (technical) Law violation, if the character agreed to it at the time.  (Note that, as with bargains with fae, I wouldn't require that the character knew what exactly he was agreeing to.)  Of course, that won't matter much to the Wardens, but it could be a pretty big deal for the future mentality of your character's sister.

For the NPC... hm.  Actually, a sponsored magic seems about right here, too - it grants some ability to call on the familiar's strength to bolster your own, but also includes some responsibilities to said familiar.  Plus ability to work magic that affects the familiar at the speed of evocation.

[Sanctaphrax]

More linkage:

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,17753.0.html
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,22888.0.html