Improved Familiar Progression?

[Minigiant]

I have never used an Improved Familiar before, and now I am looking at a Faerie Dragon and would like some clarrification

Nethys wrote:

Spells A faerie dragon casts spells as a 3rd-level sorcerer.

Does that mean as the Faerie dragon gains HD it remains still only able to cast level 1 spells?

Nethys wrote:

Faerie dragons grow in power as spellcasters as they age (typically gaining levels in sorcerer)

This surely does not grant them a bloodline?

[AwesomenessDog]

Improved Familiars and Regular Familiars don't gain hit die, they just gain HP (as it is based off half of your HP) and intelligence/intelligence boosts as the owner levels up. The stats for the familiar remain otherwise unchanged, with only the option to substitute your skill ranks or base saving throw bonuses for their ranks/base bonuses.

[avr]

A faerie dragon familiar gains no new spellcasting as you gain levels - unless you release it as a familiar and take it as a cohort via the leadership feat, anyway.

A faerie dragon which does gain levels in sorcerer would certainly get a bloodline. It doesn't have one at the start.

[Lelomenia]

avr wrote:

A faerie dragon familiar gains no new spellcasting as you gain levels - unless you release it as a familiar and take it as a cohort via the leadership feat, anyway.

A faerie dragon which does gain levels in sorcerer would certainly get a bloodline. It doesn't have one at the start.

i would interpret the text he is quoting as indicating that if you added HD to a faerie dragon it’s existing sorcerer casting ability would increase in level, gaining spells/day etc as appropriate. It would not gain a bloodline; it would continue with the same sorcerous dragonblood and associated abilities as always.

I do not think there is an in-game way for a PC to leverage those rules though; the cohort approach you describe would end up with two sets of non-stacking sorcerer casting levels.

[AwesomenessDog]

Gaining extra racial HD and gaining a sorcerer level are two different things, but both result would give an extra sorcerer caster level for a dragon who already has spellcasting. However, this doesn't change the fact that Familiars don't gain class levels or HD as the owner progresses.

[Minigiant]

AwesomenessDog wrote:

Gaining extra racial HD and gaining a sorcerer level are two different things, but both result would give an extra sorcerer caster level for a dragon who already has spellcasting. However, this doesn't change the fact that Familiars don't gain class levels or HD as the owner progresses.

AoN wrote:

Hit Dice: For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the master's character level or the familiar's normal HD total, whichever is higher.

[AwesomenessDog]

That doesn't mean the creature has XHD, but it means you get to choose for it to be treated as having XHD for spell effects. For example, you can't daze a familiar if the owner's HD is above 4 because even though the familiar's actual HD is 2 or 3 (in the case of a Faerie Dragon), the faerie is treated as having the owner's HD total. But also, if a gunslinger shoots a familiar out of the sky, he doesn't regain grit because the qualification for regaining grit can be denied by treating the familiar as the lower HD count.

It still isn't actually gaining any HD.