[PF] Familiars. How do they work?

[Buri]

I'm playing a Witch from the advanced players guide and it gets a familiar similar to a Wizard. In a couple different places I've seen references to the familiar itself getting skill ranks and whatnot. I was talking about this to my GM and he was saying familiars get an actual class and level as well. I don't see this stated anywhere but it would make sense with the references to familiars and skill ranks. Up to this point I've just taken the stat block from the beastiary and then going over the familiar section in the CRB and APG for the appropriate modifications (like the familiar gets half the hitpoints of its master regardless of its actual HD). Is this wrong? If a familiar does indeed get a class then where is this specified? How does the entire dynamic work concerning familiars and classes? I've read the section in Wizard description, the Witch section and the Familiar section in the Beastiary yet this whole class and skill ranks thing boggles me. Help!

[Andreaz]

Familiars don't ever advance. Their powers that change are actually yours, as in HP and BAB and Skill Ranks.
Here's the SRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/familiar) on familiars.

[Buri]

So if I'm understanding this correctly, I can have my familiar make a spellcraft check using the ranks and +3 bonus for having it trained and the familiar would add its own Int mod to determine total spellcraft buff?

[Andreaz]

Almost. The familiar needs to have "spellcraft" in its class skill list to get the +3. Don't think any of them have it.


If the familiar has int 14, and you have 10 ranks in spellcraft, the familiar checks at 12 (2 int, 10 ranks)

[Buri]

Does my +3 trained bonus translate as well or it is ONLY my ranks plus it's ability mod?

[Andreaz]

Does my +3 trained bonus translate as well or it is ONLY my ranks plus it's ability mod?

The familiar only gets the ranks. Anything else comes from the familiar. So a familiar with a +8 racial to perception would use your ranks +8 +3 from being in the familiar's class list.