Grundy the Grumpy Ghost, a ('G'formerly) a ghost, finds a Ring of Spell Storing with fivechaotic evil 1st level wizard makes use of the nearby ritual spell Find Familiar spells stored withincarved in a stone wall. He casts some of theseAs a ghost he cannot cast such spells through, so he takes control of three (3) different lawful and good hosts at different times. Through them he summons three 'celestial' familiars for: Anna the Adamant ('A') who already has a familiar. Anna, Barnie the Brave ('A''B') has lots, and, Cynthia the Cleric ('C'). There are plenty of material components nearby and somehow herthey all suck at saving throws are terrible.
**Questions: Who gets aHe casts this spell from each host. After the first three casts, 'A' dies and is brought back via miraculous magicks (Familiarrevivification, raised, resurrected &/or reincarnated through A hostprobably cast by C, who is a cleric) -ghost's casting of so G re-possesses and recasts Find Familiar? Does on 'A' again. B's familiar is slain, so G re-possesses and re-casts with that host, 'B', as well. C, not trusting G in the least, has her familiar magically familiar: (fiend / celestial / fae)Banished bond to a physical body or to the spirit?- so G re-possesses and re-casts Find Familiar with 'C' as well.
Situations & ConcernsQuestion: Who Gets A Familiar Through A Host-Ghost?
Anna has her own familiar before Grundy's possession / take-over. When Grundy takes possession does he also control her familiar? Or is Anna's connection temporarily 'lost' and the familiar is a Free Agent now? Or is the familiar still bound, following Anna's will... on some kind of standby mode? Or can Anna communicate telepathically through the familiar whilst Grundy has total control of the body?
When Grundy casts Find Familiar (whilst possessing in Anna's body), does his Find Familiar work despite the fact that Anna already has her own familiar? For the 'yes' possibility there would be two (2) familiars around Anna, one controlled by Grundy. Or does Grundy gain control of Anna's familiar via the spell?
When Grundy leaves Anna, does Grundy's familiar go along with him? Possibly 'no' if a leaving spirit &/or 'ghost' leaving a body is similar to death - death traditionally ends the bond, releasing familiars & mounts from bonds. Or does Grundy keep his familiar, bringing it with him to the Etherial plane? If Anna is free from possession (Grundy has left), is her familiar 'active' again? Is there a 'spare' familiar (from Grundy) as a Free Agent?
Nothing happens to a familiar if the owner dies or goes unconscious - the basis for this Free Agent thinking.
When Anna dies her familiar is a Free Agent. Should Anna come back to life (via Raise-Resurrect-Reincarnate) does she re-connect with the first familiar? Is Anna's death like Grundy's giving up possession - a 'death'? Anna's spirit leaving or Grundy ghost-form 'leaving' both present as the termination of the 'Find Familiar' bond - is this so?
Should Anna return to life // re-cast Find Familiar: does she gain an entirely NEW familiar? Or would the gods hunt down the old one (wherever it had gone on the Prime Material) and re-link that one back up? For that matter, if Anna changes bodies (goes from 'half-orc' to 'elf') and she chooses 'fae' instead of a 'celestial', is that new form a NEW familiar?
The caster gets it, and the caster is obviously the spirit or ghost. As such ALL of the summoned familiars are just the same poor celestial familiar returning-respawning each and every time. Each casting simply re-summons the same tired spirit over and over again.
A ghost leaving the body no longer has claim to any familiar. As each 'host' comes complete with a body and soul - the celestial familiar must bond with the original body-soul combo, the one that did the physical ritual (with the physical material components). The physical aspects and components of the spell determine which physically living body the familiar binds to.
When any ghost or spirit leaves a body, it is similar to a 'death' of sorts. The fact that there is still a spirit in there (the spirit of the original host-body) doesn't matter - any claim or bond is LOST in the process of the ghost's leaving the host-home. The familiar WAS bound to the ghost (with a living body) upon casting, sure - but when the ghost leaves the celestial-familiar is as FREE to do whatever it wants.
Assume the familiar bonds with Target A. When 'A' dies, the familiar is just fine and a FREE agent. Resurrecting 'A' does NOT restore the familiar bond ('not in spell description')! On recasting the spell must find a brand-new familiar for A. A and the original A-familiar will recognize one another but never be bound ever again (short of a 'Wish' spell). Contrast this with 'B' when the B-familiar dies (or is slain) - the returning ghost-spirit is effectively an entirely new casting. A 'new', original and entirely different celestial familiar may show up, pending where the old one is now bound.
Banishing a familiar logically breaks bonds! C may get an entirely new celestial familiar - or perhaps the original (now bitter & upset) C-familiar.
Familiars are sentient spirits and independent creatures and therefore have choice and freewill. When effectively summoned by a combo ghost-host team, the familiar gets to CHOOSE who they want to serve. A celestial would therefore pick the hosts ('lawful good') and not the ghost ('who is bad'). Or they may simply choose to be free. Or perhaps choose to 'die' and return to their plane of existence.
The caster gets to choose the alignment of the familiar. As such, these familiars are all 'celestial' yet chaotic evil. Thus they would try to bond with or choose the ghost-caster. But since the caster has cast this through three different hosts, there are three different familiars all bound to the same ghost.
The above 'rulings' painfully contradict one another and do not qualify as 'answers'. I have triedmust be wrong on many levels and would like to drastically reduceknow what is really going on with the confusion in rewriting thisFind Familiar spell and G's ritual casting six times on three hosts (A, but i have only partial successB & C respectively). My thanks for everyone's patience
Repeat of Question: A ghost possesses a number of persons and casts the ritual spell Find Familiar through them. To whom do the newly minted familiar(s?) 'bond' to &/or stay with - or not?
Thank you in advance.
