[RPG] Is a familiar from the Find Familiar spell as intelligent as its “normal” animal counterpart, or more intelligent

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Familiars from the find familiar spell are spirits (celestial, fey, or fiend) and take the form of a pre-defined creature when summoned, but are they as intelligent as their "normal" creature counterpart? Or is the familiar more intelligent than a normal creature of its kind?

The spell find familiar seems to list features that imply an intelligence greater than a typical animal. Is there a reference to how intelligent these spirits are expected to be?

Best Answer

From Find Familiar (PHB p. 294)

the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.

They have the same Intelligence (and Wisdom, and Strength etc.) as the chosen form.

The spell is explicit about what they can and cannot do. Specifically:

  • It acts independently
  • It obeys your commands
  • It cannot attack
  • You can communicate with it telepathically up to 100 feet - it does not say that it can communicate with you in this way
  • You can use an action to "see through your familiar’s eyes and hear what it hears"
  • You can use an action to dismiss/recall it
  • You can use it to cast a "touch" spell

Of these the only one where lack of intelligence would be an impediment would be obeying commands. The forms mentioned all have an Intelligence of 1, 2 or 3, so:

  • a command "Design the Sydney Opera House" is going beyond their capability,
  • "Go there", "Come here", "Stay" are not,
  • "Go through that door and scout the next room" is a DM call. The geniuses of the group (cat, octopus) might manage this; the others would probably struggle. If you want to use a familiar as a scout you would be better served "see[ing] through your familiar’s eyes and hear[ing] what it hears" and issuing short easily followed commands on a round-by-round basis.
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