Artificer Homunculus: New Skills

[Zenchi]

I just spent an hour searching books and the web and haven't found anything except how to give skill points. I need to know the rules on how to give a Homunculi a new skill. I've heard you can, but not how and by what rules. Assume there are no limits to money, XP, etc... I mean it's weird I can have them help me make stuff but they can't use a rope, search and stuff any better. If I invest a bunch of HD into them I need more skills to dump their skill points into.

I actually found nothing saying how anything can gain new skills unless they get a Class or Template.

Or am I running in circles because all skills are open to everything just with 0 ranks, but that just doesn't sound right?

[Fax Celestis]

If you give it more HD, it gains skill ranks accordingly. Constructs get 2+INT skill ranks per hit die, and their "class" skills for their racial Hit Dice are whatever ones are specifically mentioned in their base stat block.

[Uncle Pine]

You can give a homunculus ranks in skills not mentioned in its stat block, although they count as cross class skills and thus follow different rules (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/homunculus.htm). Alternatively if you don't want to advance your homunculus you could ask your DM if you can assign its skill points upon creation: as a Construct with 2 HD, a homunculus has 10 skill points (the one in the Monster Manual has 4 ranks in Hide, 3 ranks in Listen and 3 ranks in Spot).