Here is an idea for a talent that describes familiars. Some of a familiar’s abilities are keyed to caster bonus rather than level bonus; this is deliberate, the intent being that characters who prioritise magical training will naturally have better ties to their familiars. Depending on how spell-like abilities tie into caster bonuses, this might need adjusted?
| Tier | Benefit |
| Basic | Your familiar provides a +3 bonus to a certain skill (within 1 mile). It uses its master’s saves and BAB if greater than its own. It and the master have an empathic link (out to 1 mile), and it can share personal-effect spells cast by the master. A familiar’s Intelligence score is equal to (2 + master’s caster training bonus). |
| Expert | The familiar can deliver touch spells for its master, if it was in contact with the master at casting time. The familiar can speak with its master. |
| Heroic | The familiar can speak with others of its kind. It acquires a spell resistance bonus equal to its master’s caster training bonus. |
| Master | The master can spend from his Intelligence pool to scry on his familiar. The familiar can speak any language known to its master. |
| Champion | The familiar can turn into a creature of the same species as its master’s natural form; treat as an Alternate Form ability. |
| Legendary | The master can turn into a creature of the same species as the familiar (same terms as above). He can communicate with others of that kind, in either form. The familiar can act as a “walking spell slot”; its master can prepare a number of spells with levels totalling at most his caster training bonus into the familiar. The familiar can cast these just as if it were a caster itself. |
Alternative progression
This version moves things up slightly at the lower tiers so that a Basic familiar is less obviously magical.
| Tier | Benefit |
| Basic | Your familiar has Intelligence 2 and is unswervingly loyal to you, but is otherwise a normal animal of its kind. |
| Expert | Your familiar provides a +3 bonus to a certain skill (within 1 mile). It uses its master’s saves and BAB if greater than its own. It and the master have an empathic link (out to 1 mile), and it can share personal-effect spells cast by the master. A familiar’s Intelligence score is equal to (2 + half master’s caster bonus). The familiar can speak with others of its kind. |
| Heroic | The familiar can deliver touch spells for its master, if it was in contact with the master at casting time. The familiar can speak with its master. It acquires a spell resistance bonus equal to its master’s caster bonus. |
| Master | (as above) |
| Champion | (as above) |
| Legendary | (as above) |
