In the Warpcraft system, forming a bond with a psychic familiar is a significant rite of projection and metaphysical alignment. These familiars — often warp-touched animals, spirit-bound constructs, or minor warp entities — become permanently connected to the psyker through a ritual link, allowing shared power and consciousness.
What Is a Psychic Familiar?
A psychic familiar is a corporeal or non-corporeal being attuned to the psyker’s mind and soul. This bond:
- Enhances psychic projection
- Allows mental or astral communication
- Grants passive defenses and reflexes
- Shields the familiar from warp degradation and temporal decay
Steps to Create a Psychic Familiar
1. Find a Suitable Entity
The familiar must resonate with the psyker’s nature or discipline. Possibilities include:
- Warp-attuned animals
- Daemons (for radicals or heretics)
- Constructs or souled artifacts animated by psychic intent
- Beings with Psychic Presence, minor Warp Signature, or a spiritual aura
Example: A psyker specialized in Telepathy may bond with a shadow-snake that feeds on surface thoughts.
2. Prepare the Familiar Bond (Open the Link)
Spend 1 cycle of projection (lab season)!! to prepare the entity for bonding.
- Infuse the link with Warp Essence, equivalent to Psychic Theory × 2!!
- You don’t open the familiar like an object — the essence is used to prepare the bond
- Requires access to a psychic sanctum or ritual space
3. Project the Familiar Bond
The bond consists of three psychic cords, each representing a type of connection between the psyker and the familiar:
| Cord | Effect |
|---|---|
| Gold Cord | Enhances resistance to Warp Backlash and Mental Instability |
| Silver Cord | Improves Concentration, Psychic Defense, and Fatigue Resistance |
| Bronze Cord | Boosts Reflexes, Initiative, and Physical Coordination |
Each cord requires a psychic projection ritual using Control Mind, Control Warp, or another appropriate Technique + Form.
- Each cord’s strength = Cord Level, where Level +2 = high bond strength
- Level 25 × Cord Level determines the power level of the bond effect
- Each cord projection takes 1 season unless Lab Total allows for more in parallel
4. Post-Bond Benefits
- Mental Link: Immediate, constant, and secure telepathic link
- Casting Enhancement: The psyker may project some powers through the familiar
- Temporal Shielding: Familiar no longer ages or deteriorates normally
- Cord Bonuses:
- Gold Cord: Adds to Warp Perils resistance or backlash control
- Silver Cord: Adds to focus checks, psychic duels, fatigue mitigation
- Bronze Cord: Adds to reaction speed, dodge, and kinetic awareness
Example: Bonding a Void-Owl Familiar
A psyker bonds with a semi-ethereal owl found near a collapsed Warp node.
- Uses 4 Warp Essence (Psychic Theory 2)
- Projects a Bronze Cord +2 for speed and precision
- Gains +2 to Initiative and +1 to Parry/Dodge from the familiar’s influence
Notes
- The familiar must be willing or bound through pact or alignment
- Only one familiar may be bonded at a time
- The familiar becomes an Arcane Connection equivalent for the psyker
- Bond strength can be increased later by projecting additional cords or effects
Ignis Aeternus WH 40K campaign notes 