Per topic, this was also posted in Rules Questions, so if cross posting is frowned upon I apologize in advance, I'm just not sure where this belongs. I've seen longer build discussions in this forum than Rules Questions so it makes me tink perhaps this belongs here.
Newb PF player, 3rd level, so I'm updating my Familiar, and taking the opportunity to go over the rules for the Familiar and some of it isn't so clear.
As a general rule, I'm taking the creature (Raven) base stats, and layering the Familiar changes over the top, but there's a few odd things, so I'm trying to reverse engineer how they come to be. Hopefully PF is using static rules for everything, 4e D&D as an example was utterly broken in this case.
So if anybody would be so kind as to let me know if I've got this right, thanks in advance! I'm going to throw up the block and my guesses are in CAPS and parentheses with some questions at the bottom. I hope this post isn't too involved, but this has had me guessing from day 1.
Raven CR 1/6
XP 65
Neutral Tiny animal
Init +2 (DEX 15 +2); Senses low-light vision; Perception +6 (WIS +2,RANK 1, SKILL FOCUS +3)
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 DEX, +2 SIZE)
hp 3 (1d8–1) (HALF OF 1D8, CON -1)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee bite +4 (1d3–4)
Space 2-1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 2, Dex 15, Con 8, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 7
Base Atk +0;
CMB +0; (BAB 0, DEX +2, -2 SIZE)
CMD 6 (10 + BAB 0, STR -4, DEX +2, SIZE -2)
Feats: Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Finesse
Skills: Fly +6 (DEX 15 +2, TINY +4, NO RANKS?),
Perception +6 (WIS 15 +2, RANK 1, SKILL FOCUS +3)
Here's a few questions:
1. Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim as class skills are only for Familiars? So in this case the Raven takes that +6 Perception from the stat block, and adds another +3 for becoming a Familiar and getting it as a Class Skill for a total of 9? (I know I can use my Wizard's Ranks here, but I'm just trying to calculate the Familiar's score here.)
2. I can't see how the Fly score is +6, even taking into account the Dex and Size modifier, it would mean the Raven has no ranks in Fly, but 1 Rank in Perception? It seems inconsistent.
3. Why is the Melee bite at +4? With Weapon Finesse you use your Dex on Natural Weapons, so +2 there, but where's the rest of the bonus coming from?
4. Why are the Raven base Saves +1, +4, +2, but the Familiar is +2, +2, 0? I know I can choose either the Familiar or the Wizard's Class Base Save, but can I take the Raven's +4 Reflex Save instead of the Familiar's +2? Is there an actual rule for how Animal/Monster Saves are calculated? IDK why the Save would get worse as soon as the Raven became a Familiar, is the TL;DR of this.
Last but not least, the Familiar uses either its own Skill Ranks or the Wizard Ranks, modified by its own stat mods. What about Class Skills? I don't think the Raven gets to add the +3 for the Wizard's Class Skills, since Familiar has its own Class Skills, and it isn't a Wizard, but a Familiar. Do most folks add the +3 or not?
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1. Yes, perception should get the class skill bonus for a total of +9. That it isn't there already is an error in the stat block - errors like that aren't uncommon.
2. 1 HD, Int 2 means the unmodified raven has exactly one skill point. It chose to put it into perception.
3. The other +2 is from its Tiny size.
4. The raven has Fort base +2, con -1 = +1; Reflex base +2, dex +2 = +4; Will base 0, wis +2 = +2. A 3rd level wizard has base saves of F +1, R +1, W +3 before applying stats. As a familiar of that wizard the raven's base saves are better for F and R so it'd use its own, but it would take the wizard's base Will +3 & add its own wis bonus (+2) for a total of +5.
5. A familiar has its own class skills and gets the +3 for those when it has ranks in them, but not the +3 for the wizard's class skills.