You know, it seems familiar are pretty uniformly crapped on. I like them. It adds just a nice bit of flavour to wizards or arcane sorcerers. The faithful, hyper intelligent helper for the studious, secluded sage.
My question is how you guys think, in-world terms, they work. They course give you bonuses to skills in PF. For instance, a monkey will grant you +3 on Climb checks. I'm wondering if you guys think that this is through the empathic bond you share with the monkey, digging into it's skills as a natural climber, or if, for instance, while climbing a tree, the monkey will show you the best hand and foot holds, etc. Like, will a cat let you know when someone is coming and where to hide? I've just never been sure.
