First,
Trying to determine all the ways that one can get a familiar.
Wizard bond with familiar
Witch has to have a familiar.
Arcane sorcerer gets wizard bond with familiar.
Serpentine sorcerer gets viper familiar at -2 levels.
Magus with the familiar arcane
Alchemist with the tumor familiar discovery
Anyone taking eldritch heritage feat with the arcane bloodline can get a familiar at -2 levels.
Any that I am forgetting? (Seems like there was one for clerics and/or oracles, but I can’t find it.)
Second,
Do the serpentine sorc’s viper and alchemists tumor qualify you for the improved familiar feat so you could take something else like a pseudodragon familiar?
Third,
A pseudodragon normally has weapon finesse. Can I have him take something else like stealth synergy instead? Is there some other way to give a familiar a specific feat? I wanted him to have more than 1 feat.
Fourth,
A pseudodragon normally has 2 ranks in diplomacy. Can I switch those 2 ranks to sense motive?
Fifth,
An improved familiar still has all my skill ranks and I still get the alertness feat when it is close. Correct?
Sixth,
A pseudodragon normally has an intelligence of 10. So his intelligence will not increase (which also means he won’t get more skill points) until I reach caster level 13. Correct?
A Blight Druid gets a familiar instead of an animal companion.
What book has the Blight druid?
And I forgot the druid domains of eagle, frog, monkey and serpent respectively grant a hawk, toad, monkey, and viper familiar.
Forgot about the tattooed sorc since I don't have that book. Would that qualify for improved familiar?
What book has the Blight druid?
And I forgot the druid domains of eagle, frog, monkey and serpent respectively grant a hawk, toad, monkey, and viper familiar.
Blight Druid is in the Advanced Players Guide.
Weird, the search function was not locating it for some reason. So we got:
First,
Trying to determine all the ways that one can get a familiar.
Wizard bond with familiar.
Witch has to have a familiar.
Blight druid gets a familiar.
Druid with domains of eagle, frog, monkey and serpent respectively grant a hawk, toad, monkey, and viper familiar.
Arcane sorcerer gets wizard bond with familiar.
Serpentine sorcerer gets viper familiar at -2 levels.
Tatooed sorcerer gets a familiar.
Magus with the familiar arcane.
Alchemist with the tumor familiar discovery.
Anyone taking eldritch heritage feat with the arcane bloodline can get a familiar at -2 levels.
Any that I am forgetting? (Seems like there was one for clerics and/or oracles, but I can’t find it.)
Second,
Do the serpentine sorc’s viper and alchemists tumor qualify you for the improved familiar feat so you could take something else like a pseudodragon familiar?
Third,
A pseudodragon normally has weapon finesse. Can I have him take something else like stealth synergy instead? Is there some other way to give a familiar a specific feat? I wanted him to have more than 1 feat.
Fourth,
A pseudodragon normally has 2 ranks in diplomacy. Can I switch those 2 ranks to sense motive?
Fifth,
An improved familiar still has all my skill ranks and I still get the alertness feat when it is close. Correct?
Sixth,
A pseudodragon normally has an intelligence of 10. So his intelligence will not increase (which also means he won’t get more skill points) until I reach caster level 13. Correct?
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Fifth,
An improved familiar still has all my skill ranks and I still get the alertness feat when it is close. Correct?
The list of what changes for an Improved Familiar is in the feat itself. Otherwise, it works using the rules for a familiar. So, yes, it uses your skill ranks (overlaying its own for a skill you both have ranks in, not additive) and the alerness feat still applies if it is in range.
Drow and Tiefling clerics (Fiendish Vessel/Demonic Apostle racial archetypes) both grant familiars (3rd/1st level) that somehow combine the improved familiar feat too.
That IS a familiar question! I knew I'd seen it somewhere before....
From that thread we have:
Familiar options
• Bard: Sea Singer (2nd; familiar; APG)
• Cleric: Demonic Apostle (drow; 1st; demonic familiar; ARG)
• Cleric: Fiendish Vessel (tiefling; 3rd; fiendish familiar; ARG)
• Druid: Blight Druid (1st; nature bond: familiar; APG)
• Druid (1st; eagle domain; UM)
• Druid (1st; toad domain; UM)
• Druid (1st; monkey domain; UM)
• Druid (1st; serpent domain; UM)
• Rogue (10th; advanced rogue talent: familiar; -4; UC)
• Rogue: Carnivalist (1st; familiar; Animal Archive)
• Sorcerer (1st; arcane bloodline: familiar)
• Sorcerer (3rd; serpentine bloodline: serpentfriend; -2; APG)
• Wizard (1st; arcane bond: familiar)
• Alchemist (2nd; discovery: tumor familiar; UM)
• Gunslinger: Buccaneer (human; 1st; exotic pet; 1/2; ARG)
• Magus (3rd; magus arcana: familiar; UM)
• Ninja (10th; master trick: advanced rogue talent: familiar; -4; UC)
• Witch (1st; witch's familiar; APG)
• Witch: Beast-Bonded (4th; enhanced familiar: +1 to effective witch level; UM)
The list of what changes for an Improved Familiar is in the feat itself. Otherwise, it works using the rules for a familiar. So, yes, it uses your skill ranks (overlaying its own for a skill you both have ranks in, not additive) and the alerness feat still applies if it is in range.
Fifth,
An improved familiar still has all my skill ranks and I still get the alertness feat when it is close. Correct?
Some people have told me that since it doesn't specifically say you still get those that you don't. I didn't think that was correct, but I wanted to check.
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Improved Familiar
This feat allows you to acquire a powerful familiar, but only when you could normally acquire a new familiar.
Prerequisites: Ability to acquire a new familiar, compatible alignment, sufficiently high level (see below).
Benefit: When choosing a familiar, the creatures listed below are also available to you. You may choose a familiar with an alignment up to one step away on each alignment axis (lawful through chaotic, good through evil).
Familiar Alignment Arcane Spellcaster Level
Celestial hawk1 Neutral good 3rd
Dire rat Neutral 3rd
Fiendish viper2 Neutral evil 3rd
Elemental, Small (any type) Neutral 5th
Stirge Neutral 5th
Homunculus3 Any 7th
Imp Lawful evil 7th
Mephit (any type) Neutral 7th
Pseudodragon Neutral good 7th
Quasit Chaotic evil 7th
1 Or other celestial animal from the standard familiar list.
2 Or other fiendish animal from the standard familiar list.
3 The master must first create the homunculus.
Improved familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: if the creature's type is something other than animal, its type does not change; and improved familiars do not gain the ability to speak with other creatures of their kind (although many of them already have the ability to communicate).
Improved familiars otherwise use the rules for regular familiars, with two exceptions: ...
The rules for skills and the alertness feat are not in those two exceptions, so you still get them.
What about the other questions:
Second,
Do the serpentine sorc’s viper and alchemists tumor qualify you for the improved familiar feat so you could take something else like a pseudodragon familiar?
Third,
A pseudodragon normally has weapon finesse. Can I have him take something else like stealth synergy instead? Is there some other way to give a familiar a specific feat? There are a couple of specific feats I would like him to have.
Fourth,
A pseudodragon normally has 2 ranks in diplomacy. Can I switch those 2 ranks to sense motive?
Sixth,
A pseudodragon normally has an intelligence of 10. So his intelligence will not increase (which also means he won’t get more skill points) until I reach caster level 13. Correct?
...
Actually, incorrect, sort of. Familiars have a set INT score based on your effective Wizard level (or whatever). Improved Familiar doesn't affect that, so your Pseudodragon is less intelligent than a standard Bestiary one at first, having an INT of 6 at level 1. He has only 8 skill points when you are level 1. He gains 2 when you reach level 5, 9, 13, and 17.Sixth,
A pseudodragon normally has an intelligence of 10. So his intelligence will not increase (which also means he won’t get more skill points) until I reach caster level 13. Correct?
What! Really! I will have to check, but I don't think I've seen anyone lower the intelligence of an improved familiar.
Can anyone else confirm this? Does a creature really get stupid when it becomes a familiar?
If I get a faerie dragon as a familiar at level 7. This moderately brilliant (int 16) creature suddenly becomes dumber than all the other faerie dragons and never quite reaches the point of being as intelligent as it was before it met me.
That is really the way it works?