Familiar

A familiar is a coveted piratey possession. It can be created by Ocean Masters and offered as a prize in special events, such as the Olympic Champions League or certain forum contests. Certain types of familiars can be won from Atlantis, Cursed Isles, Haunted Seas, black boxes or gold boxes. Familiars are among the rarest objects in the game, and as such, carry a high value when traded among players.

Familiars typically act as a clothing item, and can be placed in wardrobes, but not on tailors' racks. They can be worn by non-subscribers, and do not age. When a pirate wearing a familiar has a portrait made, the familiar will appear on the pirate's shoulder in the portrait.

Species
There are currently eleven basic types of familiar available:

Hatted familiars
Hatted familiars are a type of familiar that wear a hat upon their heads. Their skin color as well as their hat colors cannot be recolored using rogue marks.

The current known familiars which can have hats are:


 * Monkey
 * Octopus

Coloring
Ghostlings, ippolitos, monkeys, octopodes, skeletal monkeys, and ravens are monochromatic, while chameleons, dragons, parrots, serpents, and toucans have two colors each. The color will depend on the source of the familiar: if from a contest, some allow for the winner's color choice within the guidelines, while others will be decided beforehand. A few general restrictions apply, regardless of how color is determined:


 * Pure white monkey, octopus, and parrot familiars are reserved for winners of the Olympic Champions League
 * Pure black monkey, octopus, and parrot familiars are reserved for Ocean Masters and developers.
 * Monkeys (except the skeletal type) may be chosen in only "natural" colors. See the page on monkeys for more information.
 * Skeletal monkeys are available in "skeleton" colors.
 * Originally (as of June 25th, 2006) tan familiars were exclusively given out in automated tournaments. Currently, they may be won from gold boxes as well (with a 0.4% probability), and are also given out in impromptu Bake-offs as well as other events where a full color familiar is not appropriate.

Familiars can be recolored for a charge of 20 rogue marks by clicking on them in the booty panel, and selecting the 'Recolor yer familiar' option. Players are not permitted to make their familiars completely black in this fashion (a parrot with only one color as black is allowed, however.) The familiar palette shows all possible color combinations for player-owned familiars.

The following familiars cannot be recolored at all:


 * Tan familiars
 * White monkeys, octopodes, or parrots
 * Dragons, ghostlings, ippolitos, serpents, skeletal monkeys, or ravens
 * Familiars in special colors.

Parrots are considered tan if either of their colors is tan; the non-tan color cannot be changed.

Familiars can not be recolored to any special color.

It may require logging out and logging back in to see the effect of a recoloring.

Acquisition


Familiars are occasionally available for purchase. When a player decides to part with his or her hard-won familiar, the general asking price for a colored familiar varies widely from 2,000,000 to 8,000,000 Pieces of Eight. The Ringers auction off familiars on the forums about once a month, one on each ocean; however, in recent months, alternative forms of auction have been explored, such as boat auctions, rag/stick auctions, and rare item auctions, as well as plain old PoE.

Under the new familiar system, regular quasi-weekly tournaments for each carousing puzzle are held on every ocean. These tournaments are automated and not announced beforehand, with top prize of a tan familiar; in the case of a parrot, a tan/other color parrot is awarded. Other "full" familiar tournaments will be held for carousing puzzles, but not as frequently as they have been in past. These tan familiars tend to go for between a quarter and a half of the price of a colored familiar, although the price depends strongly on the color, name and owner of the familiar.

Chameleons, dragons, ghostlings, ippolitos, ravens, serpents, and skeletal monkeys are unique from the other familiars, in that they are obtained by luck, not contests.


 * Chameleons, dragons, and toucans can be found in gold boxes.
 * Ghostlings, ippolitos, and serpents can be found in treasure chests.
 * Ravens can be found in mystery boxes.
 * Skeletal monkeys can be found in black boxes.

Naming
Familiars can be given a name by clicking on them in the booty panel, and selecting the 'Name yer familiar' option. There is a limit of 18 characters for familiar names. The first name is free, but renames come with a charge of 20 rogue marks. Familiars can be renamed by clicking on them in the booty panel and selecting the 'Name yer familiar' option.

External/other links

 * Commonly discussed ideas from Game Design
 * Kerix's Familiar Tournament Schedule (Outdated)
 * Updated Familiar Tournament Schedule