Post/Author/DateTime	Post
RancorClaw 07-15-07, 03:09 AM	I hope this hasn't been asked too often in the past, (thus getting people very annoyed at me,) but do Familiars effectively gain levels with their masters? I know that the master's Class Level and HD determine some things including some Feats/Abilities that it gets, but would a 4th-level familiar get a feat all of its own? And does the familiar get Skill Points (based on its own Int score,) whenever its master levels up? Or are its stats (other than Int) and skills the same as the stock version of that creature, no matter how many levels its Master has?
NeueRegel 07-15-07, 09:50 AM	I think most games let the animal *** magical beast have the skill points (albeit only 1 or so per "level" or point of intelligence til later) and the feat every 4 levels, usually drawn from the short list of monster feats such as "improved natural armor" or "flyby attack" or whatever. It's pretty fully detailed here (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/theraven_stephenh/classes/familiar.html) in the SRD. Most of the other "quirks" are not so vague. Neue
runestar 07-15-07, 09:56 AM	Familiars do not get extra feats or skills. They can access any skills their master has, and they are treated as having the same amount of HD as their master, for that is pretty much it.:)
xpochian 07-15-07, 04:26 PM	does that mean my falcon familiar, with cure light wounds wand in talon, can swoop across the ruins of the battlefield to heal up an ally who would die before anyone else could get to them? ie: familiars can use UMD just as well as you? or they roll a knowledge (arcana) as well as yourself, so you essentially get two rolls per check? Mr Magi: (damnit...i rolled a 4) Fluffy: (hooray, rolled a 19!) Mr Magi: Hmm. I'm stumped. Fluffy: Actually sir, I believe this dates back to the early Quaari dynasty, back before the advent of formalized magical practice, indicating a nation of self taught sorcerers and the rare warlock...but I may be wrong...
runestar 07-15-07, 10:20 PM	does that mean my falcon familiar, with cure light wounds wand in talon, can swoop across the ruins of the battlefield to heal up an ally who would die before anyone else could get to them? ie: familiars can use UMD just as well as you? or they roll a knowledge (arcana) as well as yourself, so you essentially get two rolls per check? Yes. In effect, they are a virtual +2 to all your skill checks, since they can use the aid-another option to help you.
tarkin 07-16-07, 12:33 PM	As per core rules, familiars do not gain any feats or skills. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but it is treated as a magical beast instead of an animal for the purpose of any effect that depends on its type. Retains means it does not lose, but it also does not gain. I retain my existing property does not mean I get new stuff. In addition, familiars do NOT really gain any HD, ever. Instead it says: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master’s character level or the familiar’s normal HD total, whichever is higher. Note the conditional and the word USE. The creature does not actually gain HD, it just has an effective HD for certain specific purposes. No HD gain, reatins old skills and feats. But it can do Aid Another, if you so desire.
Rasmus Wagner 07-16-07, 01:59 PM	Skills For each skill in which either the master or the familiar has ranks, use either the normal skill ranks for an animal of that type or the master’s skill ranks, whichever are better. In either case, the familiar uses its own ability modifiers. Regardless of a familiar’s total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar’s ability to use. From the SRD. So, Fluffy the lizard can indeed zap the bad guys with a wand, using your skill ranks in UMD and his own crappy charisma modifier. Huh. Never thought of that use for a familiar. Instructing him to do it would either require the familiar to have the Speak With Master ability, or magic. May a gnome with an appropriate familiar? Speaking of familiars, by the time you can communicate the concept of "move in and zap him if he takes an attack of opportunity", by speaking with your familiar, it has Int 8. Does that seem smart enough to focus on the task at hand? I guess so.
Tempest Stormwind 07-16-07, 02:03 PM	Familars do not actually gain HD, therefore they do not actually gain feats or skills of its own. A familiar has special rules showing that it has its master's ranks in all skills. This is the closest you'll get with familiars. (There *are* companions in the game that do actually gain HD and thus gain skills and feats -- the paladin's mount, the animal companion, and the psicrystal (although much debate surrounds that last one). However, the familiar quite clearly does not.)
Captain_Kobold 07-16-07, 09:06 PM	Bear in mind that the familiar still needs to be capable of performing the action required by the skill in order to use it. So while a hawk famliar might be able to carry a wand across the battlefield, it could not activate it. A raven, which would be able to speak a command word, could though.
Fireclave 07-16-07, 09:28 PM	If your interested in your familiar becoming more capable, check out me class in me sig.