A Villainous Summoner

[Staven]

I'm building the villain for a Oriental Adventures-themed campaign (though I'm not really using OA, just the aesthetic), and I've come up against a roadblock.

See, the villain I have in mind is trying to build an unbeatable army of Oni, demons, and the like, so I immediately imagined a summoner of some sort. I got out my DM's guide and it looks like the best prestige class for someone who wants to be a summoner is the Thaumaturgist. The problem is that it requires one to be a cleric (it would seem), able to cast Lesser Planar Ally. I was thinking that this villain would be a sorceress or perhaps a Conjurer. Something that excelled in summoning already.

My question is this: is there a way to build this character such that she either is a cleric with the access to a summoning domain (I have no idea if such a thing even exists, though I imagine it might) or a Conjurer/Sorcerer with access to the Lesser Planar Ally spell? Or if there's an even better way to go about doing this that I haven't even considered.

[Gamer Girl]

There is a Summoner Domain, and you can get it as a wizard by being a Domain Wizard(taking the alternative class feature) or the Arcane Disciple feat.

[Galathir]

Well, a cleric can make a very solid summoner, but might I suggest the Malconvoker (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872758/Mastering_the_Malconvoker)? It seems to fit in pretty well with your concept, though I would suggest going wizard instead of sorcerer. Since you'll be casting many of the same spells all the time anyway, spontaneous casting is not as useful as it would be with a less focused class.

[subject42]

Galathir is right, MALCONVOKER is your best choice here, especially if you read some of the handbooks.

I've played one in game and they can be incredible, especially if you toss some metamagic on your summons.

[Urpriest]

Well, a cleric can make a very solid summoner, but might I suggest the Malconvoker (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872758/Mastering_the_Malconvoker)? It seems to fit in pretty well with your concept, though I would suggest going wizard instead of sorcerer. Since you'll be casting many of the same spells all the time anyway, spontaneous casting is not as useful as it would be with a less focused class.


Galathir is right, MALCONVOKER is your best choice here, especially if you read some of the handbooks.

I've played one in game and they can be incredible, especially if you toss some metamagic on your summons.

Guys? Malconvoker requires non-evil. That's almost certainly why it's not being used here.

That said, Master Specialist (Conjurer) is a fine prestige class.

[subject42]

Guys? Malconvoker requires non-evil. That's almost certainly why it's not being used here.

I thought that somebody figured out a way around that a while back. Let me see if I can find a link.

Additionally, a villain doesn't necessarily need to be evil. He could just have antagonistic views.



EDIT: Found it. If you play a creature type with the [Good] subtype, you can still be evil.

[Urpriest]

EDIT: Found it. If you play a creature type with the [Good] subtype, you can still be evil.

How does that let you qualify for Alignment: Any nonevil ?

[subject42]

How does that let you qualify for Alignment: Any nonevil ?

If I understand, it lets you qualify for alignment non-evil, because you always count as good-aligned for mechanical purposes. An analogue would be that WotC Succubus Paladin that can't hold her holy avenger as a result of having the [Evil] subtype, despite being Lawful Good.

[KillianHawkeye]

If you count as being both good and evil, then you are not non-evil. Non-evil only checks if you are evil; it doesn't care if you are also good.



That being said, +1 to villains don't have to be evil.



EDIT:

An analogue would be that WotC Succubus Paladin that can't hold her holy avenger as a result of having the [Evil] subtype, despite being Lawful Good.

Actually, the Succubus Paladin does take a negative level when wielding a holy weapon, because she counts as being an evil creature. In fact, being a lawful good character with the (Chaos) and (Evil) subtypes, she counts as being all four alignments simultaneously, for better or for worse. She is never considered non-evil, non-chaotic, non-lawful, or non-good, since she is all of the above.

[Gnorman]

Uh, guys? He's the DM. I think he can safely ignore alignment prerequisites.

Besides, Malconvoker is insanely easy to adapt to evil - just change Bluff vs. Sense Motive to Intimidate vs. modified level check (cowing it into service) or opposed Diplomacy (appealing to its "better" nature). They're mostly analogous, though the Intimidate route is slightly easier for the summoner while Diplomacy can vary wildly from fiend to fiend, but is mostly harder for the summoner on the whole (fiends tend to have higher Diplomacy scores than Sense Motive, but many fiends have positively abysmal [or abyssal, yuk yuk yuk] Diplomacy scores).

[hamishspence]

Actually, the Succubus Paladin does take a negative level when wielding a holy weapon, because she counts as being an evil creature. In fact, being a lawful good character with the (Chaos) and (Evil) subtypes, she counts as being all four alignments simultaneously, for better or for worse. She is never considered non-evil, non-chaotic, non-lawful, or non-good, since she is all of the above.

Since she's not a Fallen paladin, this would imply that the alignment subtypes, might not bar her from classes and PRCs with alignment requirements like "Any nonevil" or "Lawful Good alignment only".

[KillianHawkeye]

Since she's not a Fallen paladin, this would imply that the alignment subtypes, might not bar her from classes and PRCs with alignment requirements like "Any nonevil" or "Lawful Good alignment only".

It depends on what is being checked. If the requirement is she must be Lawful Good, well she is Lawful and Good, so that's fine. If the requirement is she can't be Evil, well she is Evil, so that's a problem.

[Fable Wright]

Interesting tidbit: Sorcerers are not restricted to the wizard/sorcerer spell list.


Spells

A sorcerer casts arcane spells which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time, the way a wizard or a cleric must (see below).

Nowhere does it state that he has to take it from there. I don't know why people always play under that assumption. Go ahead, learn Lesser Planar Ally as a sorcerer- you can.

[WinWin]

Planar Binding is superior. Unless your villain has access to unlimited funds.

Wu Jen has access to spirit summoning, a fairly broad list encompassing undead, fey and elementals. Wild Soul is a PrC from complete mage that deals mainly with Fey, though it could easlily be tinkered with to produce an Oni focussed summoner. Alternatively, Nar Demonbinder from Unnaproachable East (online somewhere, google Wizards archive),