Creating The Summoner

[MachFarcon]

I have run into a bit of a quandary. I am trying to design a encounter for a 3rd level party. I wanted to create a wizard/sorcerer that only summons things to fight for him.

Thus my questions:
Should I just fill his slots with summons? If so, what ones? Check below for party makeup.


Gnoll Barbarian - Very high strength (around 22 without raging)
Warforged Fighter - Tank (25ish AC. Uses a glaive)
Illithid Psion - High Intellect (around 21 I think)


Or is there a class/prestige that makes these better? Note: I don't want too much cheese.

The party should be able to take on a 4-5 level summoner. This is a boss, so shenanigans aren't off the table.

Or should I see if I could design some mechanics they have to figure out?
(I wanted to avoid this since my party just zergs everything.)

[Xyk]

I'm pretty sure Malconvoker is made for this sort of thing. I don't remember which book he's in. Maybe Complete Scoundrel?

[The Rabbler]

If you wanted to be mean, you could build a master of shrouds (located in the complete divine web enhancement IIRC) and smother the party in strength damage.

[Urpriest]

I'm pretty sure Malconvoker is made for this sort of thing. I don't remember which book he's in. Maybe Complete Scoundrel?

Complete Scoundrel is correct, but if the guy is level 4-5 then you can't get in to the class.

But the party contains an Illithid. So why are you giving them a level 4-5 boss when they're level 15+?

[Runestar]

You have an illithid psion in a 3rd lv party? Or do you mean the psi illithid with the savage species monster progression?

Here's a summoning-themed ooze. At cr 4, it should be a fair challenge, though I admit I have never used it before in my games, and so won't know how well (or poorly) it plays out.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040905a&page=5

It does have some perks, like being able to summon as a standard action, and them lasting for a long duration. However, I have never seen these low lv summons as being viable in combat? :smallconfused:

[MachFarcon]

But the party contains an Illithid. So why are you giving them a level 4-5 boss when they're level 15+?

He wanted to play an Illithid. So we homebrewed one that took away everything but the intellect bonus. And the brain eating thing.


You have an illithid psion in a 3rd lv party? Or do you mean the psi illithid with the savage species monster progression?

Here's a summoning-themed ooze. At cr 4, it should be a fair challenge, though I admit I have never used it before in my games, and so won't know how well (or poorly) it plays out.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040905a&page=5

It does have some perks, like being able to summon as a standard action, and them lasting for a long duration. However, I have never seen these low lv summons as being viable in combat? :smallconfused:

I might throw one at them to see how they do for now. Granted, since they killed the plot due to turning randomly evil, I'm just throwing things at them at the moment. Since puzzles are a horribly bad idea. Or maybe I build them the wrong way.

But thanks for the quick replies. What level could a summoner challenge a party?

[Runestar]

IMO, a summoner needs to be able to cast 3rd lv spells minimum. That's when you start getting decent summons like huge centipedes (which can grapple) and dretches. So maybe something like focused specialist conjurer3/master specialist2.

Alternatively, a druid5-6 could work as well, as they come with a free animal companion, can spontaneously summon (dire wolves!) and wildshape into a decent combat form.

They really seem to shine at mid lvs (lv7-13), because that's when prcs' special abilities let you pull all sorts of stunts, you have the resources to manage tricks like PAO'ing them into more powerful forms, imbued summoning and summoning-boosting gear, and the summons still remain useful (IMO, their effectiveness start to taper off at ~lv15+).

A psion with the astral construct power and the constructor prc seems fun as well.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625b

[Antonok]

Well... theres always the Summoner (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8362297#post8362297) homebrew class. A 4th/5th level one of these should give them a decent challange.

Other then that, I second the druid option.

[Flickerdart]

Here's a thing you can do. Halfling Illusionist, Shadow Shaper (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#chainsofDisbelief) and Animal Companion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#sorcererWizard). The Halfling ambushes the party from hiding with a summon (he fills all his non-specialist slots with summons, his specialist slots with spells that help him stay hidden such as Invisibility, and uses Sudden Silent/Metamagic rod of Silent Spell to keep his summon spells quiet). His companion, meanwhile, sneaks up behind the party's ranks and attacks the Psion. You should be able to get the drop on them easy - the halfling, covered in a Silence and under Invisibility or his ridiculous Hide check won't be easy to see. Give him Natural Bond for a Dire Weasel companion, those things are awesome. He can use Companion Spellbond (PHBII) to cast defensive illusions on his companion from 30ft away, while staying undetected.

Why would a real summoner put himself in danger?

Edit: Actually, I want to play this now...hm.

[Psyren]

He wanted to play an Illithid. So we homebrewed one that took away everything but the intellect bonus. And the brain eating thing.

They get +8 Int - did you give him LA with that?? :smalleek:

[FMArthur]

Druid is great as a summoner. Comes with an animal companion, and spontaneously casts all the Summon Nature's Ally spells. Summon Nature's Ally III can get you a dire wolf and a lion. Both are powerful animals at the level he gets it. Unfortunately a 5th level Druid will only have 1-2 SNA III in a day, so it would have to fall back on SNA II almost immediately.

Wizard is also fantastic as a summoner, and perhaps better at that level. His Summon Monster IIIs aren't as good as SNA IIIs in my opinion, but he can crank them out as standard actions (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#rapidSummoning) instead of waiting a round for them to appear. This makes him less prone to disruption, but doesn't give him a numbers advantage over the Druid because the Druid starts with a beast out already - his animal companion. The main reason I would recommend a Wizard is that a Focused Specialist Conjurer can have 3-4 SM IIIs prepared. Highlights are the celestial bison and the Huge fiendish monstrous centipede, but they don't quite rock faces like dire wolves and lions. Nonetheless the centipede still has +yes to grapple against level 3s.

[MachFarcon]

They get +8 Int - did you give him LA with that?? :smalleek:

I think we dropped it to a +4 or a +2. I can't remember off the top of my head.


Druid is great as a summoner. Comes with an animal companion, and spontaneously casts all the Summon Nature's Ally spells. Summon Nature's Ally III can get you a dire wolf and a lion. Both are powerful animals at the level he gets it. Unfortunately a 5th level Druid will only have 1-2 SNA III in a day, so it would have to fall back on SNA II almost immediately.

Wizard is also fantastic as a summoner, and perhaps better at that level. His Summon Monster IIIs aren't as good as SNA IIIs in my opinion, but he can crank them out as standard actions (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#rapidSummoning) instead of waiting a round for them to appear. This makes him less prone to disruption, but doesn't give him a numbers advantage over the Druid because the Druid starts with a beast out already - his animal companion. The main reason I would recommend a Wizard is that a Focused Specialist Conjurer can have 3-4 SM IIIs prepared. Highlights are the celestial bison and the Huge fiendish monstrous centipede, but they don't quite rock faces like dire wolves and lions. Nonetheless the centipede still has +yes to grapple against level 3s.

Thanks! This is what I was looking for. Not sure to pick Wizard or Druid though.

I would normally pick the wizard, but with the party being evil (LE and NE) and all, it's a toss up.

[Tetrasodium]

What about the Pathfinder Summoner (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/summoner). It's a great class overall with a cool feature in its eidolon.