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Coplantor
2010-08-09, 09:55 AM
Yeah, ere there ant summon mechanics for 4e?
I have a setting planned that I want to play, 4e seems o fit it nice but the summoners are vital for the setting (theyan summon beasts and powerful enough summoners can merge wit their summons).

hamishspence
2010-08-09, 09:58 AM
Arcane Power has somewhat limited summoning mechanics for wizards.

Coplantor
2010-08-09, 10:01 AM
How limited exactly?

Kurald Galain
2010-08-09, 10:01 AM
Wizards, druids, invokers, and psions are all capable of summoning. The best of them are probably wizards and druids.

Generally, summon spells take a minor action to cast, sustain for free, and have an attack that you can use as a standard action (i.e. instead of your own attack). This is generally not such a great deal... but druidic summons have an "instinctive" action which they will take if you don't give them orders, which is frequently something like "attack the nearest enemy". Also, wizard summons tend to have opportunity attacks, and a recent Dragon article prints many good wizard summon spells that also have instinctive actions.

Hzurr
2010-08-09, 01:33 PM
Everything Kurald Galain said is correct. One bit of warning, though. The "instinctive" actions of the summons don't always go after enemies. They could target allies, or even the summoner. One good example of this is the recent Dragon article that had rules so wizards could summon demons (or devils?). If you don't give them a command, there's a very good chance they'll go after you, just because they're ticked off about you summoning them in the first place.

HMS Invincible
2010-08-09, 02:44 PM
In addition to your summons having an instinctive action, the wizard summons also hinder you slightly when they do instinctive actions. They range from taking damage, to being knocked prone.

Tiki Snakes
2010-08-09, 04:00 PM
It's also worth mentioning that the above information is reguarding PC summoners. If the summoners are NPC's and/or Enemies, then it's as easy as saying "He summons a thing!"

Guancyto
2010-08-09, 07:03 PM
Artificers also get some pretty solid summons, in case you don't want all of your summoners to also be Controllers.

Hzurr
2010-08-09, 07:41 PM
Artificers also get some pretty solid summons, in case you don't want all of your summoners to also be Controllers.

This is very true. I once watched an Artificer last for something like 5 rounds straight with a mindflayer trying to extract his brain, just because he had a healing figurine standing next to him. It was very impressive, and definately made for an impressive leader-type summons. The flameheart defender also made for a fairly impressive front line-type.

MrSinister
2010-08-15, 08:08 AM
One good example of this is the recent Dragon article that had rules so wizards could summon demons (or devils?).


Which issue was this? Or is in the character builder already? I have a player wanting to come in as a summoner and this seems to be right in line with how she will play her character.

Telok
2010-08-15, 09:53 AM
With a quick search of the compendium it seems that the summons that he is talking about are already in there. However, they are also all daily powers. So they have all the limits of those rules on them too.

There is one ritual to summon a demon. It is level 16, only gets you a 'manifestation' of the demon, and it looks like you'll need to win a solo skill challenge to get anything out of it.