The 10 pictures that were used to model this episode are as follows...



suggested by mercutio531



suggested by clintmemo



suggested by ZeikeCopperEyes



suggested by Mightybec



suggested by SandPunk



suggested by harborpirate



suggested by GothiUllr



suggested by Ferc Eater



suggested by Steelegrave



suggested by Zzarchov

Downloading now.

I gotta say it. Owls are birds.

And I see nothing wrong with using the familiar as a scout by default. It's a perfectly valid tactic. It just has risks like getting shot down by hordes of goblins. Logic applies. If you want to send a piece of yourself ahead as a scout? It's a perfectly valid and rational choice, but it's not risk-free.

And my weirdest familiar ever wasn't too terribly outlandish. I had a witch with an animated for a familiar, and I actually used its ability to speak with others of its kind to interrogate another broom in a murder investigation.

My DM disallowed my Kender paladin getting a dire skunk mount.

First I get it for 1 as a prime number, now this!

Though fair enough. My taxonomy was somewhat misstated. I meant an owl as opposed to a raven/hawk/eagle/etc.

As for his use of the familiar, I didn't object to his tactic, per se. It was just his total disregard for the creature. It was his "easy" or "lazy" button instead of a valued team member. When in doubt, just send in the familiar!

I have to say: Bravo gentlemen.

I thought the hosts did an excellent job of keying off of the pictures to speak on RPG related topics, and for the most part transitioning between them as well. Since I was involved in the forum posts that created this episode I'm probably biased, but I thought it turned out pretty well.

I'd be very curious to hear the opinion of someone who listened to the episode but hadn't seen the forum post that created it.

At the very least, it was another fun podcasting experiment by the FtB crew.

One of my players has a pseudo-dragon familiar and regularly pushes the boundaries of acceptable use of his 'special friend'. He tries to get around it by always asking the familiar if she wants to do the dangerous thing he's just suggested, so that I get to decide whether she thinks it an acceptable risk. There have been many occasions when the familiar has gone into a sulk or strop until sufficiently pampered to make amends.

I love the idea of a familiar having a "familiars point of view". I think it might have been Chad that brought that up, and I think its just brilliant.

i.e. an Owl familiar thinks like an owl.

So, when the owl flies back and tells the party about whats going on, it tells the party things an owl would want to know. Even if the person with the familiar has a perfect telepathic connection to the owl, the owl still only comprehends as an owl.

"So's I were flying over da army, eh? And I sees very shiny armors, very shiny yes. A bit blinding it was, a sea of shineys and pointeys. And there was good plumes, yeah? Many plumes, many good plumes for a nest. And there was this big black thing, yeah? Big and black it was, but then I spotted a mouse. Juicy juicy mouse, all lost and alone-like. Mmmm, scared it was; mmmm, tasty it was. Did yer want some? I gots a few bits left, not the tasty bits though, I eated those already."

I want to play a familiar now.

Jurassic Park the book is much better than the the movie. The movie removed all the math geek portions.

Pat goes on a rant - Go Pat!

There is a great Robot Chicken sketch of a chicken version of Law and Order.
CHUNG CHUNG bok bok bok bukok! cluk cluk cluk CHUNG CHUNG

So a bumper stick is the automotive equivalent of a tramp stamp?

25 years ago, we used familiars in our 1st edition D&D campaign as scouts. The DMs killed every one of them in short order. (Weasels all killed in "random" cave-ins). I don't think anyone in our group has used a familiar since then.

According to IMDB, Tim Burton IS directing Alice in Wonderland.