Familiar

"Familiars" redirects here. For the inn on the Cobalt Ocean, see Familiars (Cerulean).

A familiar is a coveted piratey pet. 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 or black 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.

Monkeys, octopodes, ippolitos and skeletal monkeys are monochromatic while parrots and serpents have two colors. The color will depend on the 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 only be chosen in "natural" colors. See the page on monkeys for more information.
Skeletal monkeys are available in "skeleton" colors.
Tan familiars as of June 25th, 2006 were exclusively given out in automated tournaments.
Tan familiars 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 monkey, octopus, or parrot
Ippolitos or serpents
Familiars in special colors.

Parrots are considered tan if either of their colors is tan; the non-tan color cannot be changed. Familiars cannot be recolored to any special color.

Familiars may be recolored.

Selecting the Recolor yer Familiar option brings up this menu.

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

Acquisition

From left: octopus, parrot, and monkey familiars.

Ghostling familiar.

Ippolito familiar.

Serpent familiars.

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.

Ghostlings, Ippolitos, serpents and skeletal monkeys are unique from the other familiars in that they are obtained by luck, not contests. Ippolitos, serpents and ghosts are found in treasure chests, and skeletal monkeys are 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 while holding the required renaming fee.

Familiars may be named or renamed.	Selecting the Name yer Familiar option brings up this menu when a familiar hasn't been named.	Selecting the Name yer Familiar option brings up this menu when a familiar already has been named.
Named familiars show up on a pirate's info page.	They are also named in the booty panel.