Practitioners of Theurgy often have what is known as a ‘familiar,’ a creature that assists them in their spirit negotiations and binding.  The actual nature of the familiar is poorly understood, with theories about it ranging from that it is an intelligent animal, to theories that claim that the familiar is similar to a mentor spirit, and that the familiar is basically possessed by a spirit.  What is known is that it shares the innate resilience found by spirit beasts.

 

Character Level	Spells	Ability Scores	Feats	Special
1st-2nd	2	14/12/8	1	Familiar, Familiar Type, Mysterious Knowledge, Aid Spellcasting, Speech, Inherent Resilience
3rd-4th	3	15/12/8	2	Familiar Ability
5th-6th	3	16/13/8	3	Familiar Ability
7th-8th	4	17/13/9	4	Familiar Ability
9th-10th	5	18/14/9	5	Familiar Ability
11th-12th	5	19/14/9	6	Familiar Ability
13th-14th	6	20/15/10	7	Familiar Ability
15th-16th	7	21/15/10	8	Familiar Ability
17th-18th	7	22/16/10	9	Familiar Ability
19th-20th	8	23/16/11	10	Familiar Ability

Character Level: The character level of the Theurgist

Ability Scores: A familiar has 1 mental (INT/WIS/CHA) ability score that it is good at, and 1 that it is decent at, and 1 that it is bad at.  You choose which is which upon character creation.

Familiar: Familiars can be targeted by attacks, but whenever they are seemingly killed, they reappear 1d4+1 days later, perfectly fine.  A Familiar’s defenses are equal to the Theurge’s, with the exception that it does not benefit from any armor the theurgist is wearing and have a bonus to Reflex defense due to their size (Tiny familiars get +2, Diminutive get +5), and the familiar’s ability scores are used if they are better than the Theurge’s.  A Familiar is treated as having hit points equal to half the hit point total of the Theurgist.  A familiar has a base attack bonus equal to 3/4th the Theurgists level.
A familiar has 2+INT Mod trained skills (minimum 2), one of which must be Magery, and none can be Knowledge (see Mysterious Knowledge below), and it treats all skills as class skills – however it might not actually be able to utilize some skills due to the lack of opposable digits.

Speech: A familiar can speak, read, and understand any language that it’s master can, in addition to one extra language per point of intelligence modifier.

Inherent Resilience: As creatures that straddle the line between spirit and physical, familiars share the same innate resilience of spirit beasts.  All damage dealt to familiars from non-magic physical or environmental sources is treated as nonlethal damage.  Damage dealt to familiars from spells, incantations, true incantations, contractor abilities, and device magic is treated as lethal.

Spells: As a magically-empowered creature, the familiar has spellcasting ability of it’s own.  However, it takes a -4 penalty to the Magery skill due to it’s strange nature and role as a go-between for the theurge.  A familiar has a certain number of spells in it’s spell suite, dependent on level, and it can draw spells from the pool of spells that Theurgists have access to.  Unlike most spellcasters, when a familiar’s Magery check to cast a spell is insufficiently high enough for the spell to have an effect, it is not removed from the familiar’s spell suite.  A spell is only removed from the familiar’s spell suite if the spell actually has an effect.

Feats: A familiar earns feats as normal.  It cannot take the Mage Talent feat, but it can take the Magery Training feat to learn more spells.  Some feats, such as NMS Implants, cannot be taken by familiars (GM has the final say).

Mysterious Knowledge: As a creature that straddles the border between regular creatures and spirits, a familiar has access to pools of far more knowledge than it should.  A familiar is trained in all Knowledge skills, with the exception of Knowledge (Bureaucracy).  It is treated as if it was a character with a level equal to the Theurgist for making Knowledge checks.

Aid Spellcasting: True to it’s role as a go-between working for the theurge,  a familiar can provide a more active role in assisting spellcasting.  As a standard action, it can make a DC 10 Magery check (with it’s normal -4 penalty to the skill) to provide a +4 bonus to any Magery check the theurge makes on that turn.

FAMILIAR ABILITIES – At level 3, and every 2 levels thereafter, a Theurge chooses a new ability for their familiar.  Unless otherwise noted, each ability can only be taken once.

• Aid Rite: The Familiar counts as a Bonded Follower for their master when performing Rites that provides a number of Bonded Followers equal to the amount that you would provide.  The familiar can take [Magic] feats on its own to increase this number even further, this stacks with the bonuses that feats that you have provide. There is no need to use the Bond Follower rite, your familiar is automatically bonded to you at all times.
• Aid Ritual (Prerequisite: Aid Rite): The Aid Rite Familiar Ability now expands to provide its benefit to Rituals as well.
• Aid Spellcasting (Prerequisite: You must have gotten the familiar via the Familiar Spirit feat, you must have the Mage Talent feat): True to its role as a go-between working for you,  a familiar can provide a more active role in assisting spellcasting.  As a standard action, it can make a DC 10 Magery check (with its normal -4 penalty to the skill) to provide a +4 bonus to any Magery check you makes on that turn.
• Consult: A familiar can consult with spirits to determine the outcome of a particular action being considered by the Theurgist in regards to timespans beyond that which can be determined through the use of the Search Your Feelings function of the Magery skill.  The base chance for receiving a meaningful reply when using this ability is is 70% + 1% per character level, to a maximum of 90%; the GM makes this roll in secret. A question may be so straightforward that a successful result is automatic, or so vague as to have no chance of success. If the roll succeeds, you get one of four results: Weal (if the action will probably bring good results), Woe (for bad results), Weal and woe (for both), or Nothing (for actions that don’t have especially good or bad results).  If the roll fails, you get the “nothing” result.  Consult can only determine outcomes out to a duration of about a day, so anything that might happen after that does not affect the result. Thus, the result might not take into account the long-term consequences of a contemplated action.  The first time this ability is taken, it can be used once per day.  Each successive time it is taken, it allows an additional use per day.
• Evasion: As the Scout talent.
• Expanded Invocation Aid (Prerequisite: Aid Ritual): The familiar can now count as a Bonded Follower for mystics beyond its master, however it must be bonded to that mystic as normal.
• Improved Invocation Aid (Prerequisite: Aid Ritual): The familiar counts as itself another time over when determining how many Bonded Followers it effectively provides to you for the purposes of Rites and Rituals. This ability can be taken multiple times.
• Magic Feat: The familiar gains a [Magic] feat as a bonus feat. This feat cannot be Familiar Spirit or Mage Talent. This ability may be taken multiple times.
• Magic Resistant: This functions as a constant Rebuke Magic spell.  The familiar must roll its Magery check each time it would be targeted by a spell.
• Any talent from the Awareness talent tree from the Scout class, but prerequisites must be met.

 

FAMILIAR TYPES

Familiars are all Tiny or Diminutive, and can therefore share a square with the Theurgist with no penalties to either of them.  Therefore, they can also share a spacesuit with a Theurgist without an issue.  Familiars are listed below with whatever attacks, special features, feats,  and movement rates they have.

All familiars are considered to have Weapon Finesse for the purposes of using their natural attacks.

Familiar natural attacks count as unarmed attacks for the purposes of feats.  If taking the Martial Arts feats, they are treated as small creatures.

 

Armadillo – Tiny, +2 natural armor bonus to Reflex Defense, Scent, Feat: Skill Focus (Swim), 6 square land speed, 1 square burrow speed, 2 1d2 claws, Natural Diver, Protective Ball
Natural Diver – Armadillos can hold their breath underwater for up to 6 minutes. Their dense armor naturally causes them to sink; they can inflate their stomachs to counter this, accounting for their racial bonus on Swim checks.
Protective Ball – Armadillos can roll up into a ball, increasing their natural armor bonus to +3 but decreasing their speed to 0.
STR 4, DEX 15, CON 11

Bat – Diminutive, Blindsense 20′, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Perception), 1 square land speed, 8 square Fly speed, 1d2 Bite
STR 1, DEX 15, CON 6

Cat – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Scent, Feat: Skill Focus (Climb), Feat: Skill Focus (Stealth), 6 square land speed, 1d3 Bite, 2 1d2 Claws
STR 3, DEX 16, CON 8

Flying Squirrel – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), Feat: Skill Focus (Climb), 4 square land speed, 8 square fly speed, 1d3 Bite, Glide
Glide – A flying squirrel cannot use its fly speed to hover. When flying, a flying squirrel must end its movement at least 1 square lower in elevation than where it started.
STR 3, DEX 15, CON 8

Fox – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Scent, Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), Feat: Skill Focus (Survival), 8 square land speed, 1d3 Bite
STR 9, DEX 15, CON 13

Hawk or Osprey – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Perception), 2 square land speed, 12 square fly speed, 2 1d4 Claws
STR 6, DEX 17, CON 11

Lizard – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), 4 square land speed, 4 square climb speed, 1d3 Bite
STR 3, DEX 15, CON 8

Monkey – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), 6 square land speed, 6 square climb speed, 1d3 Bite
STR 3, DEX 15, CON 10

Otter – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, 4 square land speed, 6 square swim speed, 1d3 Bite
STR 3, DEX 16, CON 10

Owl – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Stealth), 2 square land speed, 12 square fly speed, 2 1d4 Claws
STR 6, DEX 17, CON 11

Rabbit – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), 10 square land speed, 1d3 Bite
STR 3, DEX 16, CON 9

Rat – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Scent, Feat: Skill Focus (Stealth), 3 square land speed, 3 square climb speed, 3 square swim speed
STR 2, DEX 15, CON 11

Raven – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, 2 square land speed, 8 square fly speed, 1d3 Bite
STR 2, DEX 15, CON 8

Squirrel – Diminutive, Low-Light Vision, Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), 4 square land speed, 4 square climb speed, 1d2 Bite
STR 2, DEX 19, CON 9

Toad – Diminutive, Low-Light Vision, Scent, Feat: Skill Focus (Stealth), 1 square land speed, no attacks
STR 1, DEX 12, CON 6

Weasel or Mongoose – Tiny, Low-Light Vision, Scent, Feat: Skill Focus (Stealth), Feat: Skill Focus (Acrobatics), 4 square land speed, 4 square climb speed, 1d3 Bite (plus Attach)
Attach – When a weasel hits with a bite attack, it automatically grapples its foe, inflicting automatic bite damage each round.
STR 3, DEX 15, CON 10

HAND OF ACTION ONLY (or GM Permission)

Cave Crawler – Cave crawlers are a common form of wildlife found in caverns across Tau Ceti e and are effectively the Hand of Action equivalent to the earth family of avians Columbidae (pigeons).  These lizard-like creatures live in nooks and crannies in the cavern walls, and have membrane flaps between their legs that allow them to glide across the underground expanses.
Stats as per Flying Squirrel, with the below additions
Innate Magic: Cave Crawlers are trained in the Magery skill (so they effectively gain an additional skill trained), and have a single use of Levitate in their Spell Suite.
Low-Light Vision: Cave Crawlers ignore concealment (but not total concealment) from darkness.
Fire Resilient: Cave Crawlers ignores the first 10 points of fire damage they take per round.  They are immune to damage from overly hot conditions, up to 150 C.