Familar Hit Dice

[Roshan]

Say for a wizard, does the familar's hit dice equal his wizard level or his total character level?

[Josh M Foster]

Roshan wrote:

Say for a wizard, does the familar's hit dice equal his wizard level or his total character level?

Total character level for purposes of effects relating to HD, with hp equal to half his master (also from total hp, not just wizard hp.)

[Some call me Tim]

Roshan wrote:

Say for a wizard, does the familar's hit dice equal his wizard level or his total character level?

The Core Rulebook specifically says "character level" not his wizard level.

[Ravingdork]

Note that this only applies for things like the HD limitations of sleep, daze, or hypnotic pattern.

These "effective hit dice" do not grant your familiar extra feats, skill ranks, hit points, save bonuses, base attack, or anything else for that matter. Those things are determined by the base familiar stats, and your own (that is, the familiar's caster/master). The abnormal "mixed stats" is part of the arcane "bond" between the familiar and his master.