Can a Pact of the Tome warlock get a Pact of the Chain-type familiar?

Question

I am having trouble with a friend's warlock character.

At level 3, a warlock gets the Pact Boon feature. The Pact of the Chain feature lets you learn find familiar and let that familiar take some special additional forms (imp, pseudo dragon, quasit, or sprite), as well as allowing you to forgo one of your attacks to let the familiar attack.

My friend tried to cheat the system and chose Pact of the Tome; he also chose the Book of Ancient Secrets eldritch invocation and was able to learn two 1st-level ritual spells. One of the ones he picked was find familiar.

Does my friend still get the additional forms and the ability to attack that Pact of the Chain would grant? Or am I right that he would just get the original form options (and inability to attack) as specified by the find familiar spell?

Answer 1

Find Familiar determines forms and abilities

The character has not chosen Pact of the Chain and therefore does not get access to those forms and abilities. Instead, they are limited to what Find Familiar(PHB, 240) offers and the capabilities of those beasts as well as the abilities Find Familiar dictates.

bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast

There is no reason why they would bypass the limitations of Find Familiar when all they are now doing is casting that spell.

There can be only One

As Giuseppe states, you can only choose one Pact Boon for the Warlock.

At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service. You gain one of the following features of your choice.

And if anyone is considering using Multiclassing as a workaround to gain two Pact Boons, Jeremy Crawford has also stated that Multiclassing is not meant for double dipping into the same class to gain more than one subclass feature.

Multiclassing is designed solely for taking different classes

Answer 2

Pact of the Chain does not grant him anything if he does not choose it.

The Pact Boon feature states:

At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service. You gain one of the following features of your choice.

So if he chooses Pact of the Tome, then find familiar only does what its spell description says: no special forms, no forgoing attacks to let the familiar attack.

Answer 3

You are right, he gets the original form of the spell, since that's what he took.

Find Familiar: You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.

Nowhere does it say that you can summon an imp or the other forms, that's only granted by the Pact of the Chain.

Answer 4

There are some exceptions from the MM. PG 63 Quasit, has a familiar Variant. Imp has a variant familiar, pg 69, as well as Psedodragons, pg 254. Each of these would either have to be summoned specifically or encountered and have the bargain struck at that time, but once the deal had been sealed, they can be bonded in a similar manner as the familiars from the Find Familiar spell.

I have included the variant quotes as follows.

VARIANT: QUASIT FAMILIAR Mortal spellcasters interested in extraplanar familiars find quasits easy to summon and eager to serve. The quasit plays the part of the obsequious servant. It serves its master well, but it goads the mortal to greater and greater acts of chaos and evil. Such quasits have the following trait.

Familiar. The quasit can serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master. While the two are bonded, the master can sense what the quasit senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While the quasit is within 10 feet of its master, the master shares the quasit's Magic Resistance trait. At any time and for any reason, the quasit can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.

VARIANT: IMP FAMILIAR Imps can be found in the service to mortal spellcasters, acting as advisors, spies, and familiars. An imp urges its master to acts of evil, knowing the mortal's soul is a prize the imp might ultimately claim. Imps display an unusual loyalty to their masters, and an imp can be quite dangerous if its master is threatened. Some such imps have the following trait.

Familiar. The imp can enter into a contract to serve another creature as a familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master. While the two are bonded, the master can sense what the imp senses as long as they are within l mile of each other. While the imp is within 10 feet of its master, the master shares the imp's Magic Resistance trait. If its master violates the terms of the contract, the imp can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.

VARIANT: PSEUDODRAGON FAMILIAR Some pseudodragons are willing to serve spellcasters as a familiar. Such pseudodragons have the following trait.

Familiar. The pseudodragon can serve another creature as a familiar, forming a magic, telepathic bond with that willing companion. While the two are bonded, the companion can sense what the pseudodragon senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While the pseudodragon is within 10 feet of its companion, the companion shares the pseudodragon's Magic Resistance trait. At any time and for any reason, the pseudodragon can end its service as a familiar, ending the telepathic bond.

Here is Jememy Crawford's stance:

Warlocks have a special feature that allows them to have a pseudodragon familiar. If anyone else wants such a familiar, you need to use the variant rule in the Monster Manual. #DnD