Familiar and UMD

[Azoth]

It is widely held that the requirements for a familiar to make use of scrolls and wands with UMD is that it must have an appendage capable of manipulating the item and be able to speak the command word.

I know that their is an FAQ for PFS that lists what familiars can use wands and it seems to fit that same model.

Now, my question lies with the feat Evolved Familiar. We already know that Skilled (UMD) is very powerful to help make a UMD familiar. What about the Tentacle evolution?

My though here is that some Improved familiars Cacodaemons, Void Worms, ect. can speak, but lack an appendage to manipulate the scroll/wand. Would taking Evolved Familiar and selecting the Tentacle evolution give them a limb sufficient enough to allow them to UMD wands/scrolls?

[Geddy2112]

Yeah, a tentacle is capable of moving a wand. However, if the thing does not have its own UMD then it needs to rely on its casters skill ranks and focus, etc.

But it requires taking an extra feat instead of getting a familiar ready from the get go. Makes more familiars viable though.

[Azoth]

I got to thinking about it because of a necromancer build I was working on. I liked the idea of a cacodaemon fluff wise and as a free source of income for crafting, but didn't like it because of its lack of ability to UMD.

Now, yes the Imp would have been stronger and an easy to use choice as well, but I wanted to see if I could make the Cacodaemon work before resigning to the imp.

There is something enjoyable about the thought of making items out of the souls of fallen enemies, or using their souls as the fuel to animate corpses.

[Geddy2112]

Oh certainly it makes the doom monster familiar top tier along with the imp or azata or such. You still have the 1/week commune, constant detect good/magic and at will invisibility on a flying familiar, and the disease telepathy could be handy. And having soul gems is good if you wanna bribe a called demon or something.