Hello magic casters of all shapes and sizes! Welcome to my spellbook and thank you so much for checking out the 25th episode of our find familiar series. Today we’re gonna be taking a look at another one of the volo’s guide to monsters, so these are optional familiars by the way run and past your dm if you want to pick on them.
We’re gonna be looking at the pseudo beholder the dnd 5e gazer familiar ladies and gentlemen. It’s a pretty good one in all honesty it’s the best familiar we’ve covered so far if you ask me and it’s really good for those more random characters out there. That being said, let’s take a look at its stats. You may also like to read expanded familiar list 5e.
DnD 5E Gazer Familiar Stats
- Gazer Familiar: Tiny aberration, neutral evil
- Armor Class: 13; Hit Points: 13 (3d4 + 6); Speed: 0 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)
- STR: 3 (-4)
- DEX: 17 (+3)
- CON: 14 (+2)
- INT: 3 (-4)
- WIS: 10 (+0)
- CHA: 7 (-2)
- Saving Throws: WIS +2
- Skills: Perception +4, Stealth +5
- Condition Immunities: Prone
- Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14
- Languages —
- Challenge: 1/2 (100 XP)
So you’re gonna notice AC of 13 which puts it up on the higher end of the AC spectrum, 13 health points, my goodness very cool stuff! calculated by 3d4 plus six. I actually roll those on suit you but pretty good regardless let me tell you. You may also like to read this 5e elemental familiar.
It has a fly speed of 30 feet and it does hover so it’s never on the ground. Looking at its stats you’ll notice strength is -4, it does have a three there though it actually isn’t that bad, it’s also fairly intelligent relative to the other familiars. It has a +3 to dexterity and +2 to con though which are probably the best areas. Also check out what are the 53 familiars?.
When you look at its skills +4 to perception which is ridiculously good, plus five to stealth which is also awesome. It has darkvision up to 60 feet and a passive perception of 14 which is unreal and it also has a +2 to wisdom saving throw this is the only familiar that actually has an advantage on or has a modifier attached to a saving throw. And it is immune to being sent prone mostly to do with the fact that firstly it hovers passively and secondly it’s never really on the ground anyways taking a look at its other traits here.
- Aggressive: As a bonus action, the gazer can move up to its speed toward a hostile creature that it can see.
- Mimicry: The gazer can mimic simple sounds of speech it has heard, in any language. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check.
- Familiar: The gazer can serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master, provided that the mater is at least a 3rd-level spellcaster. While the two are bonded, the master can sense what the gazer senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. If its master causes it physical harm, the gazer will end its service as a familiar, breaking the telepathic bond.
It has the aggressive trait which as a bonus action, you can move up to its speed towards a hostile creature that i can see. It kind of sort of like dashing as a bonus action but it can only aimed at a hostile creature that i can see pretty cool! Also check out this do familiars need to sleep 5e.
It can also go through mimicry which is really good and we already know what it does basically you imitate a simple sound or speech and the target must make a dc10 insight check to see whether or not it’s an imitation. It also has the familiar tag attached to it which is super great stuff.
Forming a telepathic bond and basically the only requirement for the gazer is that its master has to be able to cast at least 3rd level spells which is really really good stuff honestly, i really like that it’s folded into the character that way, i think that makes a lot of sense so good job on that on the wizards.
- Actions: Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.
- Eye Rays: The gazer shoots two of the following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one or two targets it can see within 60 feet of it:
Looking at it’s actions now…you’ll notice it has a bite and eye rays. So the bite is pretty standard +5 to hit and it deals one piercing damage. Not super great in any real regard. Where it really counts is its eye rays though and man these are cool. So you shoot two of the following they’re randomnly determined and yeah to choose two targets you can see within 60 feet. In any case you may also like to read do you get a feat at level 1 5e.
So looking at these eye rays here…there’s four of them:
- Dazing Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the start of the gazer’s next turn. While the target is charmed in this way, its speed is halved, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls. Which is pretty cool!
- 2. Fear Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the start of the gazer’s next turn. Which is really cool!
- 3. Frost Ray. This is the only one that does damage, The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 10 (3d6) cold damage. Naturally i’d actually roll those so you can get but that’s about it.
- 4. Telekinetic Ray. If the target is a creature that is Medium or smaller, it must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving throw or be moved up to 30 feet directly away from the gazer. Very cool! You can also target objects and if you decide to do so and you roll telekinetic ray
- If the target is an object weighing 10 pounds or less that isn’t being worn or carried, the gazer moves it up to 30 feet in any direction. The gazer can also exert fine control on objects with this ray, such as manipulating a simple tool or opening a container.
By raw all these are randomnly determined. I would however make the case that if you had enough time to prepare like let’s say 10 minutes something like that like it ritual. You could actually pick whichever one he wanted to use. That would be my ruling on it personally by raw it doesn’t say that but it would make logical sense. Also read can druids have familiars.
That being said guys, that’s gonna be the gazer dnd 5e. I think it’s really great honestly, is it particularly overwhelming? yeah maybe i might only a lot of the warlocks to have it or give it to some kind of a quest reward or a certain level thing, i understand it says third level spells are higher but it’s pretty quick to get to those third level spells and this would essentially add four new spells to your spell list.
So i mean as a DM play however you want as a player character make whatever case you want but personally i think a quest reward is probably the best way to get the gazer 5e on i would only make it on one time thing so if it dies no more gazer forever kind of like that a little bit harsh but i think it’s fair. Also check out this find familiar 5e uses.
Conclusion
That being said guys, thank you so much for checking out today i really do appreciate it. If you have any comments, questions, concerns, uses or interesting ideas for the gazer please let me know down beneath. That being said, i hope you all have a great day and as always happy casting.