Question Familiars, Martial arts class and the Sims

How does the school handle familiars when it comes to the Sims and combat class? Do they require some kind of containment unit to let them link in like a person, or does the computer handel it? For combat classes, they considered a living holdout like Jobe's spiders, an extention of the person? Do you have to tag out both the mage and the familiar to win?

Familiars are not that common -- there are what, perhaps a dozen in the entire school? So while there might be some general basic rule, it's likely to have a lot of room for case-by-case exceptions.

There are only four listed in the Wiki. Ms. Grimes, Merlin isn't likely to be in the sims. Same for Buttons at least for a year or so, Schrödinger might get into them this year. Slyboots is likely been them before.

In Combat classes they are almost certainly present and participating, except in cases where they would be kept out. There is probably a special simsuit link for them. Wasn't Leanne present in one of the sims?

There are certainly more than a few, but Mages tend not to get one really early.
The Martial Arts people probably treat them like weapons/holdouts, allowed but they wouldn't be keen on then in BMA as they want to drive the basics in first - you may not have weapon or familiar around, and you shouldnt be dependent on them. You'd see them more in later classes.

Sims are an issue, I guess they either get a suit of the sim simulates them as it would a weapon.
Good luck getting Smokey into a simsuit...

There are also other "animal companions" which are allowed in campus even though they aren't really familiars. Case in point: Light Ling and her flying horse Storm Bolt. And I think both Kayda and Tansy managed to bring their personal horses.

For the sims? I believe those horses would be just simulated. Although Light Ling might make a case for Storm Bolt needing the training too, so he can learn to handle himself in stressful situations. Cue for the tech geeks figuring out how to hook a winged horse into the sims...

Wondercute brings Pern and Rythax into the sims on a regular basis. I imagine they use custom suit and sim rigging. I'm guessing it depends on A, how pertinent it is for the student to learn to fight along with the creature in question, B: how permanent the creature is if it's a manifestation (i.e. if the creature is unstable and likely to just poof away at any moment in a suit), C: whether a workable suit and connection can be cobbled together for it, and D: how willing it is to get stuffed into said suit and plugged into said connection.