Soulbound Familiar (Familiar Archetype)

Restriction: Elemental whisper familiars, shaman spirit animals, witch familiars, and familiars that grant spells can’t take the soulbound archetype, because they are attached to patrons or spirits.

Soulbound familiars are born when a master uses the magical principles behind soulbound dolls to bind a soul fragment to an animal.

Soul Focus (Ex)

The soul fragment bound to the familiar lives within a focus crystal surgically inserted into the animal. As long as this soul focus remains intact, it can be used to bind the soul fragment into another familiar, with the same cost and time requirements as replacing a familiar. Once bound into the soul focus, the soul continues to learn, and so if it is later put into a new familiar body, the soul retains its personality and memories from its previous body or bodies. A soul focus has hardness 8, 12 hit points, and a break DC of 20, though it can be attacked only when surgically removed from the familiar. If the soul focus is destroyed, creating a new soul focus with none of the old one’s memories costs as much as replacing a familiar, in addition to the normal cost of replacing the familiar itself. Because it is born of another creature’s soul, a soulbound familiar can never serve as a witch’s familiar, a shaman’s spirit animal, or any other spell-granting familiar. The soulbound familiar gains Skill Focus in a skill important to the creature whose soul provided the fragment.

This replaces alertness.

Alignment Variation (Ex)

A soulbound familiar’s alignment is always at least partially neutral, although it can also be chaotic, evil, good, or lawful, depending on the creature whose soul provided the fragment rather than on the master’s alignment (unless the master donates a fragment of her own soul). At 8th level, it gains one of the following spell-like abilities, usable once per day and based on its alignment (caster level = its master’s caster level – 3): chaotic neutral: rage; lawful neutral: suggestion; neutral: deep slumber; neutral evil: inflict serious wounds ; or neutral good: heroism. At 13th level, its caster level increases to its master’s caster level.

This replaces speak with animals of its kind and scry on familiar.