Witch's Familiar


Rules Questions


I am having trouble interpreting what the skill ranks of a familiar would be. Can someone please explain? An example would be helpful (We are using a cat).


A familiar has its own skill ranks, but can also use the master's if those are better.


They would be the same as a regular cat, except it would get more ranks when the familiar's intelligence gets high enough, and would use its master's ranks if higher.

Specifically, the standard bestiary cat has a single rank in perception. At GM discretion, you might be able to change that.


So just to be completist:

If Calypso, a level 2 witch, has two ranks each in Bluff, Heal, Knowlege (arcana), Knowledge (nature), and Spellcraft, her cat familiar You Bastard would a single rank in Perception, but could also make checks in those five skills as though it had two ranks.


yes, although that may be limited.

The rules say:
Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use.

Also, You Bastard would get the racial bonuses of the cat, so it could also be stealthy and climb.


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Base Cat.

N Tiny animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 size)
hp 3 (1d8–1)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +1
OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d2–4), bite +4 (1d3–4)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
STATISTICS

Str 3 (-4), Dex 15 (+2), Con 8 (-1), Int 2 (-4), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 7 (-2)
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 6 (10 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +6, Perception +5, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Stealth

OK, you're interested in skills. The animal type rules say

"Skill points equal to 2 + Int modifier (minimum 1) per Hit Die. The following are class skills for animals: Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim."

So a base cat has the minimum 1 skill point.

There is a FAQ that says "Any creature of Tiny or smaller size should use its Dex modifier instead of its Str modifier for Climb and Swim checks."

The base cat has
Climb +6. We're told that +4 of this is a racial modifier.
( 0 ranks +2 dex mod + 0 class (because no ranks) + 4 race)
Perception + 5.
(1 rank + 1 wisdom mod + 3 class)
Stealth +14. We're told that +4 of this is a racial modifier. Because the cat is a tiny animal, there is a size modifier of +
( 0 ranks +2 dex mod + 0 class (because no ranks) + 4 race + 8 tiny size )

Here's what the familiar rules say

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 is 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. Familiars treat Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim as class skills.

Now the cat becomes a familiar. The INT changes to 6 (-2) so we're still at the minimum 1 skill rank. Later, when the master reaches 9th level, the cat's INT will increase to 10 (+0), so 2 + INT mod (min 1) will be 2, and the familiar will have gained a skill rank to assign.

So if the master has 1 rank in climb, use that rank instead of the cat's 0 ranks, but use the +2 dex mod and the +4 race mod instead of the master's str mod and race mod (if any).

If the cat wants to use a skill it does not possess, but is physically capable of performing (such as escape artist), it would use whatever ranks master has + the cat's applicable ability mod (instead of master's).


With a witch, I find "master" is a confusing term. It's not clear to me who is the master. I mean, the animal hands (paws?) out the spells...

Lantern Lodge

PRD: "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 is 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. Familiars treat Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim as class skills."

If a witch (assuming 3rd level, 4 skill ranks/level) has 3 ranks in K/Arcana, 3 ranks in Spellcraft, 3 ranks in Perception, 1 rank in Acrobatics, 1 rank in Climb and 1 rank in Swim, then the Witch's Cat familiar has, for each of these skills, either the same ranks as the Witch or its own ranks if higher.

This is simple to calculate for the ranks provided by the Witch. A typical 3rd Level Cat Familiar is:

Str 3 (-4), Dex 15 (+2), Con 8 (-1), Int 7 (-2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 7 (-2)

Remember, only Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim are class skills for the Familiar. The familiar gets its master's ranks, but not its class skills. But also note that some Familiar Archetypes get different class skills (e.g. Emissary Familiar adds Heal, K/Religion & Sense Motive as class skills). So we get (for a Cat Familiar):

K/Arcana +1 (3/ranks + 0/class skill - 2/INT)
Spellcraft +1 (3/ranks + 0/class skill - 2/INT)
Perception +7 (3/ranks + 3/class skill + 1 WIS)
Acrobatics +6 (1/rank + 3/class skill + 2 DEX)
Climb +10 (1/rank + 3/class skill + 2/DEX + 4/racial)
Swim +6 (1/rank + 3/class skill + 2/DEX)
Stealth +14 (0/rank + 0/trained + 8/size + 4/racial + 2/Dex)

Note: Creatures of Size Tiny or smaller use their DEX in place of STR for Climb and Swim checks.

If you reverse engineer the Common Cat, it has 1 rank in Perception, so you use the master's 3 ranks in the above example since the master's ranks are higher.

Note that it can be challenging to reverse engineer some animals as the numbers don't always seem to come out correct, but remember that all normal animals of the type which become familiars only have one rank since the stock animal has an INT of 2, and animals get 2 ranks/HD, and they only have one HD. Or 2 skill ranks - INT modifier equals 1 skill rank (the minimum).

Interestingly, once the familiar hits INT 10, it gains a rank which it can assign anywhere. Previously it only had one rank (2-INT modifier, minimum 1, which was assigned to Perception). Then more ranks as it hits INT 12 and 14.

Finally, remember: "Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use. " For example, a Cat Familiar with Linguistics ranks cannot "speak" Gnome, but it could read it.


The character whom the familiar is a familiar of, of course. If you don't like the word master, use something else, but it's not unclear what we mean.


Captain Zoom wrote:
Interestingly, once the familiar hits INT 10, it gains a rank which it can assign anywhere. Previously it only had one rank (2-INT modifier, minimum 1, which was assigned to Perception). Then more ranks as it hits INT 12 and 14.

Since a familiar does not gain skills for the increased HD, I don't think it should gain skills for the increased INT.

If you give it a headband, that would give skill points, but only in the selected skill and only for un-enhanced HD.

[rant]Improved familiars take a hit to Int, since the rules set the int, not raise the int.[/rant]

If you want to improve the familiar's skills, you can use magic items, or go Improved Familiar (Homunculus) where you can spend gold to improve stats and HD.

/cevah

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