Improved Familiar Questions

[theishi]

Do improved familiars grant bonuses when they are near you similarly to regular familiars? I don't see anything listed, so I am guessing no, but I figured I would ask anyway.

Do they advance in level at all, or do they just gain health as you advance? I am looking at getting a faery dragon which is a level 3 Sorc. Very cool stuff. It says in the description that they gain levels in Sorc as they age.

What is the rules with skill tricks? If I know a skill trick, do they know it as well?

[SlimGauge]

If your familiar isn't listed on the familiar table on page 82, then you get none of the bonuses it lists. You do, however, still get the familiar abilities listed in the table on page 83 (such as Alertness).

If you mean the tricks listed under the "Handle Animal" skill, familiars don't need them because they're intelligent. If you mean the old v3.5 Skill Tricks, those don't exist in Pathfinder so ask your DM.

[macksting]

There are a few Improved Familiars which explicitly grant such bonuses. Clockwork Familiars grant their masters +2 UMD and Craft, IIRC.
This implies to me that most Improved Familiars do not, as they seldom list such benefits.