Help the summoning druid / rapid spell questions

[Phaederkiel]

I have some questions about how to build a summoning druid...


Campaign in question:

We play an Iron Kingdoms - Campaign, which is made for 4 people with 2 pcs. Because of that, the DM has allowed us to go pretty wild with the cheese. We decided to play both casters, her a druid, me an beguiler /wizard / UM. Since we severly lack blockers, she went summoner.
The Campaign will probably end at lvl 8.

Go Team Squishy!



Character in question:

Starting at lvl 1, 2 Flaws (shaky & feeble, i think), human with some Iron Kingdom-specific subtype that grants +2 wis, -2 dex, sense motive as a class skill (this one was forced on by the dm...)

wis 20, con 16, rest are quite dumped.
feats:

Greenbound (toned down, the ac bonus, the dmg reduce and the spelllikes are dependent on the spell level used)

Ashbound

Augmented summoning and its prereq spell focus conjuration


question 1: when a druid summons a natures ally, that beast appears and can attack only next time the druids turn comes around, righty?



question 2: When she summons it with rapid spell, can the summon perform a charge?



question 3: is for such a dedicated summoner Rapid spell perhaps better as

a) Natural Spell or
b) Natural Bond



question 4: How good do you think is Natural bond for her? DM is cool with her getting a fleshraker at lvl 4, with the malus on druid lvl negated by Nat bond.



question 5: Since we are only lvl 1 atm, we think about her having some additional dogs ( Animal companion atm is a riding dog). Can someone give some tips for buyable blockers?


thanks in advance :)

[HunterOfJello]

question 1: when a druid summons a natures ally, that beast appears and can attack only next time the druids turn comes around, righty?



1. Summon Nature's Ally is a spell with a 1 round casting time both in 3.5 and Pathfinder. That means that the casting occurs on the beginning of the druids turn and doesn't end until the start of the druid's next turn. On that next turn, the summoned creature appears and can act.



question 2: When she summons it with rapid spell, can the summon perform a charge?



2. Rapid Spell Metamagic reduces a spells casting time that is usually X Rounds to a Full Round Action. Therefore, yes the creature would be able to do whatever it likes right after your turn.



question 3: is for such a dedicated summoner Rapid spell perhaps better as

a) Natural Spell or
b) Natural Bond


3. Rapid Spell is about as good as it gets for summoning. It allows you to summon and have the summoned creature(s) act on your first round. Natural Spell is obviously one of the best feats in the game and would help a lot, but without Rapid Spell you'd be looking at your Summons appearing on round 3 if you use your turn on round 1 to Wild Shape.

Natural Bond can't exceed your character level. Are you not playing a pure druid?



question 4: How good do you think is Natural bond for her? DM is cool with her getting a fleshraker at lvl 4, with the malus on druid lvl negated by Nat bond.



4. malus?



question 5: Since we are only lvl 1 atm, we think about her having some additional dogs ( Animal companion atm is a riding dog). Can someone give some tips for buyable blockers?


5. CLIMBDOG!!! (Arms & Equipment Guide p76)

Check out the Arms and Equipment Guide for other creatures that can be bought and trained. There are some cool creatures in there, although many like the Blink Dog, Owlbear, and Rust Monster are quite expensive.

[Phaederkiel]

Fleshraker is an improved animal companion, which is got at druidlvl -3 for determining Hd and other things. Natural bond can be read as if it would negate that -3. The question is only: is that good enough to take?

[HunterOfJello]

Fleshraker is an improved animal companion, which is got at druidlvl -3 for determining Hd and other things. Natural bond can be read as if it would negate that -3. The question is only: is that good enough to take?

Are you trying to get a Fleshraker at level 1 instead of level 4? It wound definitely be worth grabbing an Improved Fleshraker at level 3+. At level 1, you might as well just grab a Spindlespitter.


However, once you get to level 3 or 6, grab an Improved Fleshraker and give it Ability Focus: Poison as it's bonus feat. Remember that Poison DC are based on 10 + 1/2 HD + Con modifier.

[Phaederkiel]

no, I think she will take Natural Bond at lvl 3, taking the raker at lvl 4.

IF the playground thinks that Bond is better for her than Natural spell or Rapid spell.

Which one of the three is the best, that is the question. One ask if she can retrain Ashbound at 6 into natural spell, but that is perhaps more cheese than is tasty.

Is it feasible (on lvl1 ) to just buy 3 Guard Dogs (25 gp), using them as tanks?
What do you think?

[Elric VIII]

Just a correction: Rapid Spell will reduce the casting time of SNA from 1 round to 1 standard action.

The summoned creatures, by RAW, have their own initiative. This initiative is determined when the spell that is creating them is finished casting. The initiative then continues as normal and they act when their count comes up (possibly later in the same round or before the caster in the next round).


If you want to just have the creatures act on the summoner's initiative, there is nothing wrong with giving them a full rounds worth of actions to occur at some point in the summoner's turn.


Also, if you go the Rapid Spell route, there is a ring (in SS, I think) that automatically upgrades your SNA to the next highest level, but not a higher level than you can cast (a 7th level Druid casts a Rapid SNA 3 in a 4th level slot and the ring makes it SNA 4). It essentially gives you a free +1 metamagic on your SNA spells.