[RPG] How to go about convincing the DM that their ruling about the familiar is a bit harsh

dnd-5efamiliarsproblem-gmwarlock

Last session, my DM ruled that my imp cannot help me perform checks (in this instance I was trying to have my little guy help me pick through some dead guards' pockets) because he deemed that giving me advantage on most checks all the time is OP.

Also, my imp has to make stealth checks every time he enters a room to scout, regardless if he is invisible or not, which hasn’t always ended well.

It seems to me that all the creative ideas that I’ve read about using a familiar are bound by what the DM would rule.

My play group are mostly some long term friends that I have been playing with, along with the DM. It's also his first time as the DM.

Should I see if my DM will let me change my pact? Or should I try to convince him to ease up on my familiar?

Best Answer

Disallowing the help action is Homebrew a house rule

Find familiar states:

A familiar can’t attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

Therefore, by RAW, the help action is allowed. Generally, your fellow players could help with most things as well and advantage does not stack, so it is possible that this more a problem of the help action than the familiar.

See this question: It seems like every skill check should always be made with advantage due to the 'Working Together' rules. Is this accurate?

Side note: help is an action to use in combat. However, there is an analogous option called working together to use for ability checks outside of combat to which the same considerations apply. See this question: Could you use the Help action outside of combat?

Invisible does not mean undetectable

When the imp is invisible it can still be heard,and potentially smelled. So, it can still be detected making it reasonable to ask for a stealth check. Then again, it seems reasonable to give a bonus (such as advantage) on the check even if there is no explicit rule to back this. See the following question, especially BlueMoon93's answer:

Does being invisible grant advantage on stealth checks by RAW?

Of course the GM is, by RAW allowed, to not give such a bonus and if they do, you should accept that. In that case, see my suggestions below for what you can do further.

What you can do

You should politely state that RAW the help action is allowed. Try not to sound accusatory. If the GM insist on the ruling you can say that the familar is less useful than you anticipated and ask to change pact if you don't have fun with the familar implemented like this.

Features such as the familiar that rely heavily on rulings can be problematic when there are different opinions on how they should be implemented. In such a case other features that have clear rules (such as the pacts of the tome and the blade) might be preferable and avoid discussions.