As a general rule, if a spell caster is observing the world through their familiar, do they lose their skill proficiencies or are they supplemented by the familiar?
As a specific example:
I have a Warlock, Pact of the Chain, and have an imp for my familiar. The character has the proficiency of "Deception". But the imp grants me "Insight" and "Persuasion".
My plan was to have the imp sit invisibly on my shoulder so even though I am using its eyes and ears, it is still close enough that I could hold a conversation (Think of it like listening to a translator over headphones).
If I'm in imp vision mode, can I still gain the benefit of its "Insight" skill along with my personal "Deception" skill?
Most situations I've read about assume the caster is sitting still or being guided by an ally while the familiar is far away. But couldn't the character learn to adapt having their eyes and ears moved to their shoulder?
Best Answer
You can't use your familiar's skill proficiency as your own, but you still get to use your own
The text doesn't specify that you can use its skills, therefore you can't. It also doesn't specify that you lose your own, so you keep using them. You're just looking at the world from a different set of eyes, Although if the Imp has dark vision or similar ability you would be able to use them.
However you can communicate with it telepathically, so assuming the Imp can understand the person you're talking to the Imp could use it's insight and let you know what it thinks. Whether it could help you with persuasion would be up to your DM.