Summoner type character even possible?

[Corsair14]

I am new to 5th although I have been playing since 1st and may be a little spoiled by all the character options available in Pathfinder. Steered clear of 4th, didn't seem like D&D to me. Now one of my favorite style of character has always been pet class style characters and the Summoner from Pathfinder is by far my favorite class. I knew there wasn't a specific summoner class in D&D so I am trying to come up with something similar within the rules for 5th as a character concept. I first figured, hey a Conjuror should work fine, lots of summon monster spells, some back up offensive spells, cool beans, lets rock. Only to find out that Conjurors don't actually conjure anything anymore? WTF? Where are all the summon spells? The first conjure/summon spell I saw was a magic level 4 summon elemental spell. So what are you supposed to be summoning between 1st and 8th?

So that was a bust. Warlocks who I have never looked at before look interesting, they at least get a familiar that's worth a little in combat. Ranger get a weak pet but then have to give up attacks to tell it to attack? Umm I can tell my rottie to attack something while I go do something else with no problem, I don't have to specifically to tell her to bite whatever every ten seconds.

I haven't gotten the chance to see whats available to druids yet spell wise. I know they get to transform but to be honest in the 30 years I have been playing, I have never even read the class entry for druids.

So what options are out there for this character type? I am kind of disheartened by the severe lack of options for magic users and the bad mechanics presented so far.

[Mandragola]

For a summoner, see druids. Summoning brown bears, or a bunch of wolves, is really significant at 5th level and thereafter. There's nothing before 5th though. All summoning spells require concentration though, so you're prevented from calling in a huge army.

For a pet class the revised ranger is where it's at. Wizards have admitted that they didn't get rangers right in the phb so they've had another go, and published it in UA in a couple of weeks ago. The new version looks substantially better.

[Segev]

It's worth noting that nothing prevents you from homebrewing a couple of spells. Talk to your DM about what kinds of monsters he's okay with you having around, and for how long per spell cast, then make some low-level summoning magics.

I don't have my books with me and don't yet have 5e fully mastered the way I do 3.5, so I'm not sure, but if it's possible to buy pets capable of combat (e.g. a trained wardog or something), maybe you could just invent a spell that lets you summon animals you already own to your side. Probably either too powerful due to unintended utility or too weak due to being no better than just keeping the critter with you, though.

[tieren]

Druids are definitely the summoners of this edition: Conjure animals, conjure minor elementals, conjure woodland beings, giant insects, conjure elemental. You can feat (magic intiate) to pick up find familiar. Beyond those there are a number of spells where you are summoning things to help you, like flaming sphere, entangle, spike growth, etc...

[clash]

Mandragola has the right of it, Druids have all the summoning spells and revised ranger plays the pet roll well. I will also add, if you want to play a wizard or sorcerer check out https://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/07_UA_That_Old_Black_Magic.pdf for demon summoning as early as level 5.

Also this doesn't sound entirely what you want but just in case I will include a link to my hombrewed summoner class I am in the process of play-testing.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?496687-DND-5e-Final-Fantasy-style-summoner

[hymer]

I haven't gotten the chance to see whats available to druids yet spell wise. I know they get to transform but to be honest in the 30 years I have been playing, I have never even read the class entry for druids.

An avowed druid fan myself, to the point of having written a handbook (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?397940-5e-Druid-Handbook-Land-amp-Moon) for them, I must nevertheless caution you against them. If reading their entry is too much work, playing one will be far more work. Between wild shapes, summons and their all-access spell list, druids are the most bookkeeping heavy class in 5e.
That said, if you're really hot on playing a minionmancer of some stripe, druids can most certainly do that for you, as people have pointed out. Depending on the DM and the campaign, you can do it from level 1 with Animal Friendship. Otherwise you have to wait until level 5 and Conjure Animals.

[Citan]

For a summoner, see druids. Summoning brown bears, or a bunch of wolves, is really significant at 5th level and thereafter. There's nothing before 5th though. All summoning spells require concentration though, so you're prevented from calling in a huge army.

You should NOT forget Wizards.
While they get lesser conjuration spells (and don't get any until a fairly high level), the Conjuration School benefits are arguably too good to pass for someone trying to spent his time conjuring creatures.
- Bonus action swap teleport with recharge with a conjuration cast (does not require spell slot so worst case you can cast Unseen Servant or Floating Disk as a ritual for "free" recharge).
- Concentration can't be broken because of damage.
- 30 THP to any conjured creature.

Also, the best thing? It works with all conjuration spells, whether you learn/cast them as a Wizard or not. And conjuration spells can be upcast, making even 3rd level Conjure Animals relevant.
So the best summoner build without homebrew is arguably Conjurer Wizard 14 / Moon Druid 6 (Moon for bonus action wild shape and CR 2, although Land is good too). Cast a Conjure X spell, wild shape to hide/escape, enjoy. :)

or pick Lore Bard 6, could be even better: cast Find Steed (Magic Secrets), beforehand, cast Conjure Animals (Magic Secrets), and stack Dissonant Whispers every other turn to get a chance to provoke several OA from your conjured creatures, like a pack of Wolfs with quadruple the usual HP (11HP+30 THP).

If you really feel in danger, you could also cast Mirror Image on yourself (and your steed).^^
Or drop the Find Steed idea and grab Spiritual Weapon instead so you can bring even more damage. ^^

Very efficient and heaps of fun. :)

EDIT: Just realized something about Mordenkainen's Hound while reviewing conjuration spells. There is actually nothing preventing you to stack several of them. Just had a vision of a party of Wizard create a fullround blockade of Hounds to get 360° nasty alarm, or fully block a hallway. XD

[Naanomi]

Conjurer/Druid is a weird but effective combo... high HP wolves and pixies running around and whatnot

[Citan]

Conjurer/Druid is a weird but effective combo... high HP wolves and pixies running around and whatnot
Not pixies. Unfortunately. Unless I'm mistaken, pixies come from Conjure Fey, which is Druid 6th level, meaning 11th.
Since Conjurer's best benefits comes at 10th (concentration immune to damage) and 14th (THP) the only other creature Conjuration spell you can ever get is Conjure Animal from Druid or Lore Bard.
Druid is a solid choice though. Because you get plenty of good spells to complement Wizard, and because it can be fun to Wildshape as one of the animals you conjure to play hide and seek with your enemies. XD
(nasty combination: cast Plant Growth, cast Conjure Animals with aerial swarms or Conjure Air/Earth Elemental, wildshape away and enjoy XD)

And if you have another Lore Bard and/or Paladin in your group, you are totally golden: enjoy Crusader's Mantle affecting all your conjurations, or a Faerie Fire. XD

[Kryx]

I ported the PF's Summoner to 5e (http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rJOLlx_g) if you're curious.

[tieren]

Not pixies. Unfortunately. Unless I'm mistaken, pixies come from Conjure Fey, which is Druid 6th level, meaning 11th.
Since Conjurer's best benefits comes at 10th (concentration immune to damage) and 14th (THP) the only other creature Conjuration spell you can ever get is Conjure Animal from Druid or Lore Bard.
Druid is a solid choice though. Because you get plenty of good spells to complement Wizard, and because it can be fun to Wildshape as one of the animals you conjure to play hide and seek with your enemies. XD
(nasty combination: cast Plant Growth, cast Conjure Animals with aerial swarms or Conjure Air/Earth Elemental, wildshape away and enjoy XD)

And if you have another Lore Bard and/or Paladin in your group, you are totally golden: enjoy Crusader's Mantle affecting all your conjurations, or a Faerie Fire. XD

Pixies are from conjure woodland beings, most DMs won't allow them anymore though due to the crazy spell casting cheese of getting 8 minions with polymorph and fly etc...(turn 4 party members into flying giant apes and profit)

I'd rather go 10 moon druid/10 conjuration wizard. Then you can wade into melee as a stone elemental and never have to worry about losing concentration on whatever conjuring you are concentrating on. You only miss conjure fey which isn't terrible since the fey options are pretty lackluster at the moment.

[Citan]

Pixies are from conjure woodland beings, most DMs won't allow them anymore though due to the crazy spell casting cheese of getting 8 minions with polymorph and fly etc...(turn 4 party members into flying giant apes and profit)

I'd rather go 10 moon druid/10 conjuration wizard. Then you can wade into melee as a stone elemental and never have to worry about losing concentration on whatever conjuring you are concentrating on. You only miss conjure fey which isn't terrible since the fey options are pretty lackluster at the moment.
It's a matter of taste I suppose. I personally love the idea of having a band of beasts much more durable than they should normally. Especially considering the upcast doubles the creatures quantity. XD It also makes the choices of some creatures for Conjure Animals much more interesting (like Lions, which have interesting features but few HP and AC, or Giant Wasp/Owls which are nice because of fly but usually very frail).

But I admit that sliding underground as an Earth Elemental is also an "elegant&dirty" way to profit. ^^

EDIT: Makes me think: I'm not familiar with "carry-away" mechanics: would it be possible for a Giant Eagle to carry a gnome or halfling character?

[tieren]

It's a matter of taste I suppose. I personally love the idea of having a band of beasts much more durable than they should normally. Especially considering the upcast doubles the creatures quantity. XD It also makes the choices of some creatures for Conjure Animals much more interesting (like Lions, which have interesting features but few HP and AC, or Giant Wasp/Owls which are nice because of fly but usually very frail).

But I admit that sliding underground as an Earth Elemental is also an "elegant&dirty" way to profit. ^^

EDIT: Makes me think: I'm not familiar with "carry-away" mechanics: would it be possible for a Giant Eagle to carry a gnome or halfling character?

I like the idea of the durability, but I think practically it just comes too late. You'd need to be level 19 to get wiz14/druid5 to conjure those lions. Even using a level 7 slot to get 8 of them, I still like my chances opposing you with 32 panthers without the durability.

[JackPhoenix]

EDIT: Makes me think: I'm not familiar with "carry-away" mechanics: would it be possible for a Giant Eagle to carry a gnome or halfling character?

Grapple and check carry weigth limit?

[lunaticfringe]

I like the idea of the durability, but I think practically it just comes too late. You'd need to be level 19 to get wiz14/druid5 to conjure those lions. Even using a level 7 slot to get 8 of them, I still like my chances opposing you with 32 panthers without the durability.

Indeed, drown them in bodies. I play if tt wargames.

Your special snowflake unit won't survive my Bucket of Attack Dice. (Generally speaking of course, exceptions to every rule & what not.)

Zerg!

[Mandragola]

EDIT: Makes me think: I'm not familiar with "carry-away" mechanics: would it be possible for a Giant Eagle to carry a gnome or halfling character?

Technically, it's possible for a halfling warlock's pet imp to carry him and fly around. The imp can turn itself and anything it's carrying invisible. This is because halflings weigh 40 pounds, and warlocks don't need much equipment. Imps aren't all that strong but they are strong enough.

The warlock can then happily spam EB, or whatever other spell it likes, while flying and invisible at level 3. The invisibility probably doesn't even end. It ends when the imp attacks, and the imp does not attack.

This is why no DM should ever allow a player to do something, if the word "technically" is used at any time.

And yeah, conjurer wizards are cool. Shame they don't have access to the "conjure X" spells. At high level they may well be the best summoners, but earlier on it's druids.

[Segev]

To the OP's problem, have you considered refluffing a cantrip or two?

Say you take fire bolt. This lets you make a spell attack each round. Refluff it as summoning a small fire-bird that swoops around at your command. It remains as long as you keep casting the cantrip each round, but the fluff is that you're directing your summon rather than shooting fire from your fingertips. Mechanically identical, though.

You could also use a familiar, which you can summon from a pocket dimension at will, as a summon...and then cast shocking grasp through it for its "attack."

[lunaticfringe]

I think they want the absurdity of the Pathfinder Summoner in 5e. Which is basically an MMO Pet Class ported to ttrpg. It's like having a Monster Simulacrum that you can Customize on a whim without paying any costs or spending 12hrs to cast as a Class Feature.

Original Summoner (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/summoner)

'Fixed' Summoner (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/unchained-classes/summoner-unchained)

[Addaran]

The new beastmaster ranger from UA looks a lot better then the PHB version. With that, animal friendship and maybe even find familiar via a feat, you could have a few summon.


There's this homebrew that looks really cool. Not sure how balanced it is though. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?398016-Wizard-Archetype-Bonded-Mage-(PEACH)

[Corsair14]

Looked at the new ranger. It is much improved from the old one. If I were to go that route I would need to look for something a little more exotic than a bear. That list is pretty ho-hum.

Thanks to whoever did that portover from PF for the summoner class. Looks really good. Once I get more into the game and understand the mechanics better I might give it a run by the DM. I think I would allow it in my game when I run it, doesn't seem OP or anything.

One thing I have noticed, It looks like halflings are the go to race for everything. Are their stats ans size really that good or does everyone really want to be a hobbit for some reason?

[Kryx]

Thanks to whoever did that portover from PF for the summoner class. Looks really good. Once I get more into the game and understand the mechanics better I might give it a run by the DM. I think I would allow it in my game when I run it, doesn't seem OP or anything.
Thanks! I made sure to focus on the balance as the PF Summoner has a poor reputation in that regard. Let me know if you discover any problems!

[Douche]

The only summoning spell you will ever need is the one that allows you to summon 8 boa constrictors.

[Sigreid]

Because I'm a dork that has been playing Pokemon Go, I've been toying with home brewing a Binder class that is essentially a Pokemon trainer.:smallbiggrin:

[Ze_Azrael]

To the OP's problem, have you considered refluffing a cantrip or two?

This. There's an item in my game that summons a fire-bat that follows you around and can be instructed to dive-bomb an enemy. It's basically just casting Produce Flame but they don't know it.

I also think Druid is the best choice. I remember one of those DMsG spotlight articles in WOTC's site reviewed some homebrew Druid circle options and one of them (Circle of the Beast I think) basically gave you the Beastmaster's Animal Companion.
Found it, (http://www.dmsguild.com/product/173275/Druid-Circle--Circle-of-the-Beast) and it seems author is keeping it updated and added the UA Ranger rules.

Between this Circle, refluffling a handful of spells, and maybe taking a feat for a Familiar, I think you'd get a pretty solid summoner.