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Any ideas on how to increase a familiars IQ? It's a faerie. I want to be able to teach it some more skills and spells. The GM has okayed it, if I can figure out how to increase his IQ.

Rifter 21 has an optional Rifts-related article about familiars which includes the ability to exchange personal P.P.E. for attribute enhancement at a 5 PPE per 1d6 exchange rate, or skills at 1 PPE per skill at up to 65% (languages up to 98%). It requires the use of the Enhance Familiar ritual (level 6, 50 PPE), and allows for other abilities described in the article to be similarly imbued.

Curbludgeon wrote:Rifter 21 has an optional Rifts-related article about familiars which includes the ability to exchange personal P.P.E. for attribute enhancement ...snip

Which are an expansion of the familiar enhancement text in the NBWB3: TtGD.

Which are mirrored in the PF2:MoM1 gamebook.

Those are for when you and bonding with the familiar. I have already bonded with Creto and done the whole agreement.

ShadowHawk wrote:Those are for when you and bonding with the familiar. I have already bonded with Creto and done the whole agreement.

Then you'd need the enhance familiar spell from the rifter to boost the Fam's stats.

Skills wise...there is the at least one skill in the "Go Mental" article that boosts IQ of those that have it.

Wait, that can be done after the bonding? I thought that those were just for when you are bonding or prebonding with whatever.

Rifter 21, pg 27: The following are enhancements that can be made to a familiar at the time it is bound to its wizard master.

Through the Glass Darkly, pg 45: Additional modifications cannot be made at a later date: the familiar's powers are determined when it is first adopted by the magician.

The Heart of Magic, pg 49: A Wizard may choose to permanently spend P.P.E. at thae time of the initial linking with his animal companion to increase the animal's abilities beyond those of the normal creature.

That said, having a True Faerie is already outside the ambit of the Summon Greater Familiar spell, and teaching most faeries additional spells ain't really a thing in Palladium, so this is already well into turning a precedent into a house rule. Perhaps in this particular game agraeements with faeries may be subject to renegotiation under preposterous circumstances.

While the Rifter article has a low cost option for imbuing skill knowledge, as explained above, spell casting is considerably more expensive (5 P.P.E. per spell level, per each spell learned). Likely the best source upon which to base an argument for what you're looking to do, ShadowHawk, is Through the Glassa Darkly. While there's nothing specifically listed about teaching skills or spells, there are options for increasing intelligence. The option Human Intelligence (5 P.P.E.) allows a roll of 2d6+7, while the other warrants a closer look.

Superhuman Intelligence (15 P.P.E.): The familiar has an I.Q. of 25, and a near-perfect memory. It can solve math problems at the same speed as a computer, out-argue the world's wisest philosophers on matters philosophical, and learn foreign languages in a matter of minutes. It can even use a computer (to a limited degree) equal to a Computer Operation skill at 80% proficiency.

Unless one takes that as flavor text with no mechanical benefit beyond the attribute score, it's clear the familiar gains some capacity for learning.

Given a Faerie's ability to be a serious P.P.E. battery for a practioner of magic, if I were trying to swing this in a game I'd consider having my character pony up 30+ P.P.E.. What spells and skills were you looking to add to this familiar, ShadowHawk?

ShadowHawk wrote:Wait, that can be done after the bonding? I thought that those were just for when you are bonding or prebonding with whatever.

The TtGD & MoM text, enhancements are done in the months long bonding process, as described in those texts.

There is no such limitation expressed in the Enhance Familiar spell's text.
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C, should state if he is talking about the R21 Summon Greater Familiar, or the one on page 216 of the PF RPG 2nd ed Core book.

While note really the intent of the R21 SGF spell, there is a looseness in the text which a GM could use it to mean that it can summon something CoM or lesser SN.

The one in the core book there is some looseness in the text so a fairy could be summoned (it seams there is a random element meant to be in the spell's summoning), thou the bonding is more a str of wills contest, like a summoner's, for the spell.

In this case, my friend and former roommate, Shannon (aka PBlackCrow) is playing the faerie, I am playing one of his squire/ward, and we are both playing 1 of Craig's rangers followers (Shannon handles the priest and I the thief); and he is playing one of my retainers (the arcane archer in the last game we were in, but the game before he played my psy-warrior.) and the other squire of Shannon's knight. So it's up to Shannon once we figure this out which spells and skills he gets. It's actually a fun way of dealing with minor characters. We have been doing this for a good while. We are looking for another 3 players though to have our party back to full capacity and all of our characters in play. But when one player doesn't play, we don't play the their characters if we are at a good stopping point.

ShadowHawk wrote:Any ideas on how to increase a familiars IQ? It's a faerie. I want to be able to teach it some more skills and spells. The GM has okayed it, if I can figure out how to increase his IQ.

Megaversally Rifts offers:
-Gene Splicers (SB3) or Gene Tech (I want to say DB5 or 6) or other Genetic Engineering powers (CS-Lone Star for example)
-Bio Wizardry (WB2 Atlantis)
-Magical Mutations (Ley Lines/Rift exposure can cause mutations, numerous examples in various books)

Given this is Palladium Fantasy Setting, magical based mutation is the only one that would still be available unless they have access to interdimensional travel. Causes of the mutation certainly have some options from magical experiment, Ward Phrase (maybe I'm not fully familiar with Wards), Circle (lost, failed experiment, etc), Ley Line/Nexus exposure.

Get your familiar a magic ring that boosts IQ from Western Empires. I think this gives a +3 bonus.
And for fun, give it another ring that boosts PS by 10.

My PC would say "Oh, look a hula-hoop."

I sorta doubt they make rings in the 1mm range.