what is an emissary familiar's cleric level?

[ohako]

Familiar Folio wrote:

Domain Influence (Sp or Su): At 3rd level, the emissary gains a spark of divine power from the patron that sent it. Choose one appropriate domain that grants a 1st-level domain power usable a number of times per day equal to 3 + the user’s Wisdom modifier. The emissary can use that power once per day. This ability replaces deliver touch spells.

Strength domain wrote:

Strength Surge (Sp): As a standard action, you can touch a creature to give it great strength. For 1 round, the target gains an enhancement bonus equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum +1) to melee attacks, combat maneuver checks that rely on Strength, Strength-based skills, and Strength checks. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

Let's say that I'm a witch with the Strength patron and an emissary king crab familiar whose Domain Influence is the Strength domain. Once a day my crab can give me a strength surge. How powerful is it? Is it stuck at +1?

[Cevah]

Since familiars don't have levels, this must refer to your effective wizard level, i.e. your level of Witch.

/cevah

[FLite]

Well, in general when a familiars inate power (such as a silvanshee's lay on hands) depends on Hit dice, it uses it's masters total hit dice, not their caster level.

Not sure how that interacts with this.

[dragonhunterq]

PRD on familiars wrote:

Hit Dice: 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.

Masters character level, unless your familiar has more HD (I doubt that comes up very often).

[VRMH]

The question isn't about Hit Dice though, but Class Levels in Cleric. Of which the Familiar doesn't have any, and its master probably doesn't either.

[Melkiador]

Out of curiousity, what would happen if the familiar's master were a cleric? I feel it still wouldn't count but not sure.

[Cevah]

The archetype replaces an aspect of the class feature Arcane Bond(Familiar) that wizards get. Since nearly all means of getting a familiar reference this as the "standard" familiar, then it stands to reason that this archetype also does.

Familiars normally get "Deliver touch spells" at the Wizard's 3rd class level, it makes sense that "Domain Influence (Sp or Su): At 3rd level, the emissary gains ...." is also referring to the Wizard's class level. It does not make sense to refer to the HD, since that is not the same thing as class level.

Since this is a Witch, the familiar is sent by a Power, which may be divine. The archetype reads as though this is the case. It is that Power granting the familiar the ability, scaled to your class levels.

As with other things that are grafted on to other classes, you usually replace the specific class reference with the grafted class to make sense of the result. Thus:
Strength Surge (Sp): As a standard action, you can touch a creature to give it great strength. For 1 round, the target gains an enhancement bonus equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum +1) to melee attacks, combat maneuver checks that rely on Strength, Strength-based skills, and Strength checks. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
becomes:
Strength Surge (Sp): As a standard action, you can touch a creature to give it great strength. For 1 round, the target gains an enhancement bonus equal to 1/2 your witch level (minimum +1) to melee attacks, combat maneuver checks that rely on Strength, Strength-based skills, and Strength checks. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

Changing from 3+Wis to 3+Int, is less likely, given the text of Spiritual Weapon's usage of a Wis modifier even for Oracles (FAQ).

/cevah