Diminutive Creatures and Combat Maneuvers

[Ellrin]

I'm planning on taking a thrush familiar in an upcoming PF game for the typical scouting/UMD stuff, but I'm kind of worried about the combat maneuver rules. With his diminutive size and -5 Str mod, he's rocking a CMD of 3 unless I start layering spells and magic items on him for various bonuses. Is there any less resource-intensive way to ensure he isn't turned into a grapple magnet?

Also, is there any point in trying to have him focus on performing combat maneuvers, such as using the Pilferer archetype so he can steal? Even with the +4 from Improved and Greater Steal, he'd have a CMB of +2, which gives me a pretty crappy chance of success even against low-BAB enemies.

[mistermysterio]

What level are you? If you are high enough to cast freedom of movement, it lasts 10 minutes per level ;)

[Psyren]

Generally, the way you avoid your familiar getting beat up is by leaving it out of combat entirely. They're not designed for it, and making them a nuisance or threat is just encouraging the GM to target or attack them. Use them for scouting, roleplaying, and other out-of-combat uses instead.

If you must do this, you can replace their starting feat (i.e. Skill Focus: Perception) with Agile Maneuvers instead - this will let them use their Dex to steal instead of their Str and give you a bigger base CMB. It will then use your BAB to calculate its CMB, but be warned, usually this isn't much of an improvement.