Familiars

While the familiar is within arm's reach, the master gains the Alertness feat (+2 on Perception and Sense Motive checks; +4 when the check is to notice or sense something). The familiar must be adjacent or on the master's person — 1-mile empathic link range does not qualify.

When subjected to an attack allowing a Reflex save for half damage, the familiar takes no damage on a successful save and only half damage on a failed save. Familiars start with Improved Evasion — they skip the basic Evasion step that animal companions work through.

The master may cast a spell with a target of "You" on his familiar as a touch spell instead of on himself — even if the spell does not normally affect magical beasts. The spell must originate from a class that grants the familiar.

The master has an empathic link to his familiar out to 1 mile. Only general emotions can be communicated — the master cannot see through the familiar's eyes. The master also shares the familiar's awareness of any items or places the familiar has a connection to (e.g., a place it has spent time in).

If the master and familiar are in contact when the master casts a touch spell, the master can designate the familiar as the "toucher." The familiar then delivers the touch spell as if it were the master — useful for delivering spells at range via the familiar's movement. If the master casts another spell before the touch is delivered, the held touch spell dissipates as normal.

The familiar and master can communicate verbally as if sharing a common language. Other creatures cannot understand the exchange without magical assistance. This goes beyond the empathic link — actual words and information can be conveyed.

The familiar can communicate with animals of approximately its own kind — including dire varieties. Groupings: bats with bats; cats with felines; hawks, owls, and ravens with birds; lizards and snakes with reptiles; monkeys with simians; rats with rodents; toads with amphibians; weasels with ermines and minks. Conversation quality is limited by the other creature's Intelligence.

The familiar gains SR equal to master's level + 5. A spellcaster must succeed at a caster level check (1d20 + CL ≥ SR) to affect the familiar with a spell. This makes high-level familiars surprisingly resilient against targeted spells.

Once per day, the master may scry on his familiar as if casting the scrying spell. The master sees and hears through his familiar with no save or SR check required — the familiar is automatically the subject.