Uvexar
2018-11-24, 06:36 PM
"I saye to you againe, do not Calle up that Which you cannot Put Downe..." -H.P. Lovecraft, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Calling and Binding: How to Create an Army of Pit Fiends and Hopefully Not Die in the Process
Everyone's heard the story of Faust. But how many of us have thought, "You know, I bet I could do better?"
If you have, you're in luck. In this guide, I hope to concentrate the collective wisdom of the D&D fanbase pertaining to the topic of calling, binding, and summoning, into one useful location.
Content and Rankings
For the purposes of this guide, I will be utilizing the following books: Monster Manuals 1 to 3 (MM1, MM2, MM3 respectively), Dungeonscape (DS), Fiendish Codices 1 and 2 (FC1 and FC2), Miniatures Handbook (MH), and Heroes of Horror (HH). I will also be making references to rules introduced in the Book of Vile Darkness (BoVD), such as souls as item and spell components.
In certain areas, I may rank monsters based on how good of a summon they are, and how expensive they are to summon compared to others with the same good-ness. I'll use the scale below:
Gold: Ridiculously good, to the point of being broken. Your DM may remove the ability to summon these.
Turquoise: Best in class. Some of the most powerful monsters available, yet also least likely to be removed out of that group.
Purple: Very good. Never a bad choice, but outclassed by other monsters.
Blue: Good choice, but at this point there are plenty of other good ones that do the same things but better.
Black: Just okay.
Orange: These monsters aren't worth it. Either not powerful enough compared to almost every other option available, or too expensive.
Red: DMs, for your players' sake, I suggest you also ban these monsters, to keep them from being accidentally picked. They are just that bad.
This will be my first attempt at monster ranking, so feel free to jump in if you feel a monster got the short end of the stick.
Conjuration (Calling), and What it Means
All the spells discussed here are part of the Conjuration (Calling) group, one of the better parts of Conjuration as a whole. They each "call" a creature (or creatures) from their home plane, and then give them the ability to return at a later date. Called creatures cannot be dispelled, because their presence on this plane is for real, and not sustained by magic. However, should they die, they die for real. They do not disappear and reform, like creatures created by the summon Y X line of spells.
Now, out of the (Calling) subgroup, there are 52 total spells. Many of these are reprints: for example, there are three versions of Vile Death, but only one in Heroes of Horror, which is the one that I will place here. I will only be looking at the spells present in the Player's Handbook and in the books I listed above.
Planar Ally (Lesser/Greater): The cleric's planar binding. You can do essentially the same things, but you must ask your deity for assistance. What this means is that you probably won't be binding fiends as a cleric of Bahamut, but you can get an angel. You also have the advantage of being able to call for a unique named creature, even though you might get an ordinary mook anyway. Another fantastic advantage of the planar ally series is willingness. The ally called will perform your task, no questions asked, as long as it receives a payment. This payment can differ depending on how it associates with the creature's moral alignment (a deva might need more to kill goblins than to kill demons, for instance).
What's the downside? Well, it is limited in scope to your deity's preferences. Solars are powerful, but unless the deity thinks you worthy of such a kingly ally, you can't have one. The spell is a request, not a demand, meaning you have no control over what you receive.
Planar Binding (Lesser/Greater): The classic Faustian spell. You can call an elemental or outsider of no more than 6/12/18 hit dice, or three whose total HD do not hit that cap for the standard and greater planar bindings. You must summon it into a magic circle against X trap, focused inward so as to prevent escape. You cannot summon unique or named creatures without knowing their proper name. Knowing D&D, this probably means their true name, for things such as demon lords. Once summoned, the creature immediately gets a Will save to resist being called into the circle. If it fails, it can then use its spell resistance, dimensional travel, or a Charisma check (15 + 1/2 caster level + Cha mod) to escape. If you prepare your magical circle properly, you can eliminate spell resistance and dimensional travel, and make the Charisma check harder. Every 24 hours, it can repeat the escape attempts.
Once you've summoned and bound the creature, the time has come to bargain with it. You make an offer and an opposed Charisma check, for which the creature gets a bonus depending on the nature of the service and reward. If it succeeds, the creature refuses for that day. If it fails, it must serve you. For open-ended tasks like defending an area, the spell lasts for 1 day per caster level and gives the creature an instant chance to break free. Once the task is over, the creature must tell you, and then it goes back to its original location, probably pissed off that it wasted 20 days on your pointless drivel.
How does this spell differ from planar ally? Well, for one, it's a lot more complex. There are multiple checks and saves both parties in the binding have to meet, and the thing you summoned is free to rip you limb from limb if it succeeds on breaking the binding. You need to be prepared. Additionally, you have the ability to summon and bind any creature you want, be it fiend or celestial. (Or elemental, but everyone forgets those.) And you can call whatever you want, not subject to your deity's whims.
Gate: One of the best 9th-level spells in the game, gate can, as one of its effects, let you call and control a single creature of up to twice your hit dice, or multiple creatures whose total hit dice equals your own. If you want them to just fight for a few rounds, you don't have to pay them. If you want a longer-term service, you're going to have to provide payment, as with the planar ally/binding spells. If you don't have their pay now, just BS it and build up what they want over time. Once the service is over, the creature teleports over to you, you pay it right then and there, and then it goes away. If you don't pay up, bad things happen.
So what makes this spell good? Well, for one, it lets you build up a planar army. You can call a balor or pit fiend with this spell, and for all its Cha mods and Will bonuses it can't do anything but serve you. Since CR and HD aren't linked, you can find some very potent creatures (especially templated creatures) who have limited hit dice. The only downside is the high XP cost, but I'll cover that later.
Abyssal Rift: This spell, usable by sorcerers, wizards, and classes with the Entropy domain, opens up a hole in reality that leads to the Abyss when it closes. It gives a +2 to the caster level of [Evil] spells (such as planar bindings used to call fiends), but beyond that it just deals some basic damage over three rounds. It can be used to send creatures to the Abyss, but overall there are better uses of a 9th-level slot.
Vile Death: With this spell, you can bind a fiendish spirit into an undead creature. The undead gains the fiendish template and becomes independent, starting indifferent to you. It costs 100 XP. Honestly, it seems fine. You can Vile Death-ify some of your undead minions if you have those, and then mindrape them (from BoVD) to make them loyal to you. If you can pay the 100 XP, and have some powerful undead, tacking on fiendish to their stats never hurts.
Paying for Your Soul
Now, obviously, some of these spells cost quite a bit of XP. Gate, in particular, costs 1,000 XP when used to call creatures. At the levels you're binding greater demons and casting gate, there are few creatures who can still give you experience. In addition, you will probably be summoning a lot of fiends, all of whom like souls as payment. Now what is to be done?
In fact, it's easy to knock both of these requirements out of the park. In the Book of Vile Darkness, one of the rules detailed there is the use of souls for item and spell components. A single soul is worth 10 XP (a number that should bother anyone concerned about the worth of an immortal soul). They are also listed under bonus material components, in larval and soul bound form, for 250 and 200 gp respectively.
Now, what can we do with this? Simple. If a single soul can be used for 10 XP in a spell or magic item, we simply cast trap the soul, soul bind or imprison soul all over a village of unsuspecting goblinoids. Then we cast gate, using 100 souls in place of 1,000 XP, and we have our pit fiend, solar, or elder elemental! Alternatively, we locate a soul broker, and pay him 20,000 gp for those hundred souls. At high levels, you can find 20,000 gp under a toilet seat if you look close enough.
Now, technically, the rules for souls as XP state that they can be used in magic item creation, and say nothing about spellcasting. But all that means is that you craft a scroll of gate and you're back where you started. This will cost more, but what's a few souls between friends?
But what about paying the gate-crasher? Well, what do fiends and celestials like more than souls! Be sure to reserve at least a few souls for your payment procedures. It may seem odd to give a solar souls as payment, but remember that the last thing an angel wants is for a soul to fall into the hands of a greedy mage, who will probably give it to a pit fiend if your refuse. The angel will be performing service in the hopes of saving those innocent mortals you have locked up. It's despicable, it's vile, and it's RAW-friendly!
Gating Versus Binding
Between gate and the planar binding series, I have to say I prefer gate. For one thing, it's much simpler: pay your XP, promise a payment to that scary demon, never make a check. Planar binding needs extensive prep time, and for the kinds of things you want to bind creatures for (say, lair defense or bodyguarding, although there are workarounds for the latter) it has a limited duration. And in the end, there's still a chance you die in the attempt. For another, gate can be cast in an instant, without taking 3 hours to prepare fully, which makes it a great "twitch" ally spell, better than any summon Y X you can cast.
However, if you're strapped for XP and/or can't cast a soul-trapping spell (or don't want to), planar ally/binding is just fine. Just be careful who you call.
Uvexar
2018-11-24, 06:37 PM
Monster Manual 1
If all you have is the SRD, you're pretty well set up. All the classics, like solars and pit fiends, are here.
Abominations in general are absolutely fantastic. However, just summoning them is going to be difficult, since they're so much higher in HD than almost everything else, and probably unknown to everything except gods. I can't even imagine what they'll want in payment. You need to gate them in, obviously.
Let's just say they're all turquoise and leave it there. I might rate the Infernal higher, but these guys are hard enough to summon as it is.
Anaxim: Immune to magic, medium size, can summon 4 iron golems per day (!), can ethereal jaunt at-will, has a good sonic cone attack. Need to be level 19 to gate in. Very good bodyguards if you can afford them.
Atropal: Need to be level 17 to gate. Unless you're undead, keep this bad boy far away from you. Can bolster nearby undead, but everything it is near, touches, or looks at funny gets at least four energy drains, making it the equivalent of a demilich with 33 hit dice each time it does something. Has damage reduction that can be bypassed by an ordinary bloke with a silvered mace, but the question is can that bloke reach it? Has almost all the good necromancy spells as at-will SLAs, and can plane shift at will on the side. If you're a lich, and somehow level 33, this guy is your pal.
Chichimec: Need to be level 14 to gate, if you somehow get that spell that early. Deals Charisma drain in melee, which is amazing. Lots of 3/day lightning-themed SLAs, plus wail of the banshee, for some reason. Can summon 3 elder air elementals per day. Nice to have, but has a name that's too easy to misread or mispronounce.
Hecatonchieres: Need to be level 26 to gate. True to mythology, has a hundred hands, each of which carries a greatsword or a boulder. Now, not all of its arms can attack Large or smaller creatures at once, but that's still incredible damage output. Can cast greater magic weapon and fly at-will, which means you have a Huge flying thing with 100 +5 attacks. If you order it, you can make it summon another hecatonchier to aid you, but it will have to answer that HK's summon at a later date, so it won't like it. Regeneration is only stopped by weapons "tempered in the blood of a deity," and how many of those do you have lying around? Very, very good if you want a hulking rock-thrower that also flies.
Infernal: Can be gated at level 20, for an epic level present if you like. If it battles a spellcaster and survives, that spellcaster's spells that it cast on the infernal no longer have any effect on it. It also sucks away spell slots from casters if they survive its bites, becoming Int damage once they run out. Has so many good SLAs that it's ridiculous. And that's not even the best part: Lawful or chaotic infernals can summon four pit fiends or balors (respectively) per day. Why would you bind anything else after that?
Phaethon: Need to be level 31 to gate, and at Gargantuan size I'm not sure it'll fit. Is oozelike, which means it has pseudopod attacks. Can fireball and fire storm at will, and cast scrying once per day, which is an odd mix. But it can summon ten elder fire elementals each day. That is a fantastic way to burn down a planet very quickly, so be sure to keep it safe in your personal demiplane.
Phane: Need to be level 18 to gate. Incorporeal, which is a win right out the gate. Very time-themed, and has some good SLAs, including a 5/day trap the soul for you soul farmers. The best part, in my opinion, is its past duplicates ability. If you send your phane to fight something big (27 HD, no more or less, for best results), and then call it back, it can summon that creature as a time duplicate from an alternate dimension. It can also do this in the middle of a battle, meaning Orcus might just have to face a 25 HD version of himself. Very good, with a lot of potential.
Xixecal: Need to be level 36 to gate, and this guy is Colossal. Has a permanent dire winter effect constantly surrounding itself, deals Con drain with its melee attacks, and can summon 5 "old" white dragons per day. I recommend giving this guy a pass. The infernal can summon 4 pit fiends per day and could have been summoned 16 levels earlier, not to mention he would actually fit through the door. There's simply no place to put a xixecal, and the dire winter effect is probably going to crimp your domain. But if you want to gate something at level 36, this is you highest possible option.
Achaierai: Big Bird if he lived on Acheron. It can deal an instant 2d6 poison damage to every non-achaierai within 10 feet of itself 3/day, after which affected creatures have to make a save or succumb to insanity. Good Will bonus and a +3 in Charisma. It's honestly just okay. I mean, it can overcome some damage reduction, and it has those toxic clouds, but other than that it's nothing to write home about. +1 for Insanity though.
The classical planar ally. Angels are packed with power and oodles of fun.
Astral Deva: Standard binding/ally. Good Will save and a +5 in Charisma. Devas get many, many good SLAs, from holy word to heal, and can stun enemies with their mace attacks. Like all angels, they have a constant tongues effect, and their protective aura is fantastic for fighting the bad guys. Its mace, by the way, is a disruption weapon, meaning it can instantly destroy undead. What's not to love?
Planetar: Greater binding/ally. Good Will save and a +6 in Charisma. Planetars have regeneration, which should be thought of like how companions in Skyrim take damage. However, evil-aligned weapons and spells deal normal damage, so while they apparently love fighting fiends, it's probably not the safest use of one. Planetars have a bunch of nice SLAs, such as earthquake 1/day. They also cast spells as 17th level clerics, making them incredibly versatile and powerful in combat, despite their restriction to the Destruction and Good domains. They wield greatswords, but unfortunately unlike the deva they aren't disrupting. Overall, a top ally, and a very nice binding if you can get it.
Solar: Holy cow. You need to gate them in at level 11 or higher, but solars are extremely powerful. Only epic evil weapons, and evil spells, can damage a solar. They wield a dancing greatsword and a longbow that creates slaying arrows when shot - making them instant death machines on the battlefield. Solars have so many good at-will SLAs it's actually ridiculous, and can cast wish once per day. Anything that gets wish is overpowered in my book. They can also cast spells as a 20th-level cleric. However, due to their rarity, the high level at which you get gate, and the fact that they won't come cheap, they're not completely broken.
Arrowhawk: You need a regular planar binding for this guy by 1 HD, and at that point you could just bind an efreeti, so why would you bother with a bird? Poor Will saves and a +1 in Charisma. It is immune to acid, electricity, and poison, so that's nice. If you need a scouting bird in the lands of a blue, black or green dragon, an arrowhawk is just fine.
Most archons are excellent candidates for planar ally. Especially early on.
Hound Archon: Can turn into a dog for some secret bodyguarding. No one suspects the great dane at the master's feet. Good Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Can generate an aura of menace that gives penalties to enemies within 20 feet until they hit it, which can be nice for debuff-oriented clerics. Like all archons, it can use greater teleport at will, which is probably funniest for the random teleporting obese shiba inu you have around your house. If you want, it can also get class levels, albeit with a +5 adjustment.
Lantern Archon: Only 1 hit die, so almost useless unless you want to gate in a whole bunch to act as light sources/lair guards. No Charisma bonus, and only a +2 to Will saves. It can also cast aid at will, which can be useful if you want to summon more creatures. Only staying black because of the light source/taser aspect.
Trumpet Archon: Is a 14th-level cleric, so very nice if you don't have any healing prepared for the day, or need an extra party member. It's especially nice at 11th level, when you first get standard planar ally/binding, opening up a whole higher level of cleric spells. Good will saves and a +3 in Charisma. It can paralyze creatures with its music for 1d4 rounds, for a Fort save. This trumpet can also become a +4 greatsword as a free action. It's also nice for parties.
Avoral: Like the arrowhawk, one HD shy of a lesser ally/binding spell, but unlike the arrowhawk makes up for the slot level with plenty of good abilities. Poor Will save and a +3 in Charisma. It can cast Empowered magic missiles at will, making it a great source of nearly unresistable magic damage. It can use a fear aura similar to that of a lich once per day, and can use Lay on Hands from its full hit points. It can also use true seeing at will if it concentrates. Overall, not a bad choice for a standard binding, and very good for a standard ally.
Azer: Basically a fiery dwarf. Very low-level lesser binding/ally. Their biggest defining trait is being fire-based, so they're immune to fire, vulnerable to cold, and deal bonus fire damage with their attacks. Otherwise, you could just hire some dwarves and you'd get the same effect. Azers are fine for lesser allies, but don't bind them, and once you get standard allies leave them behind.
Barghest: Can be lesser allied/bound. Okay Will save and a +2 to Charisma. The barghest has some fine abilities, but the best part comes in when you need to prevent a creature from coming back to life. If a barghest feeds on a corpse, any resurrection magic less powerful than true resurrection, wish, or miracle cannot work on the creature. And even those spells that can work only work 50% of the time. However, this ability is just situational, and if you look beyond it, the barghest is a fast, tricky wolf that can sometimes become a goblin.
Behemoth Eagle + Gorilla: Behemoth Eagles and Gorillas are just huge versions of their smaller cousins. They can only ever be gated in (level 16 minimum), and they are Colossal. Unless for some reason you need King Kong up in someone's face, these guys just aren't worth it. At all.
Belker: Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. Belkers are cigarettes incarnate. Don't believe me? They can engulf creatures in smoke form, who must make a save or swallow some of them. The belker's smoke then becomes a claw, tearing into surrounding organs for some untyped damage each round. If you want to bind a living PSA into the world, the belker is your elemental. Otherwise, they do a fair bit of damage, but really aren't good otherwise.
Bralani: Can be lesser allied/bound. Poor Will save and a +2 to Charisma. Bralanis can cast mirror image and wind wall, the two biggest arguments for wizards not dropping Illusion or Evocation, at will. They can also cast cure serious wounds twice per day, and speak all languages. A bralani is very helpful if you need a quick translator for this reason, and is also good for battlefield control and buffs. On top of that, they have +1 holy longbows and scimitars, and cannot be surprised. Good overall, especially as lesser allies/bindings.
Cauchemar Nightmare: So, I'm confused. The SRD fluff says the cauchemar is about the size of a light war horse, but it is Huge in its statblock. Ah well. Can be greater allied/bound. Poor Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Like the ordinary nightmare, a cauchemar nightmare can cast astral projection and etherealness at will, but it is Huge, which makes it less useful for Medium and Small adventurers. It has flaming hooves, which is a neat touch, and can kick up enough smoke to give attack and damage penalties in a cone. Not very useful for a PC, but still fine.
Chaos Beast: Standard ally/binding for this one. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. For some reason, it has Use Rope skills, despite being a living incarnation of mutational Chaos. All of its attacks deal an effect called Corporeal Instability, which turns affected creatures into blobs, and deals 1 point of Wisdom drain per round, resulting in the creature transforming into another Chaos beast if its Wisdom falls to 0. This creature is...confusing? As in, why did they put this in the game at all, let alone the first Monster Manual? I thought bad content was reserved for MM5? All jokes aside, the chaos beast deals next to no damage, the save to avoid the blobbing effect is only 15, and it's slow. I can imagine a DM throwing these in as a minion for some cheesy villain (what with the bonuses to bindings), but otherwise no one should ever summon one. Not even for a joke; you may need that spell slot later.
Couatl: Very cool. Must be standard ally/binding or greater. Good Will save and a +3 in Charisma. These guys can ethereal jaunt at will, have psionics, and cast as 9th-level sorcerers whose spells can be taken from the sorcerer, cleric, Air, Good, and Law lists. There's a whole jumble of abilities here. They can detect every alignment except true neutral, perfect for the edgy exposition ("But you, DarkOne996...I cannot detect your alignment") and deal Strength damage with their bite poison. If you get a random ally, a couatl is a pretty good choice, with a large and varied mix of abilities and spells that can help you in almost any situation. It's also probably helpful if you want to get into the Rainbow Servant PrC.
Crysmal: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and a +2 in Charisma. Crysmals deal almost no damage in melee, and have some interesting PLAs (psi-like abilities), but they don't have much. Don't recommend.
Here we go, the big hitters! Demons are probably the most popular things to summon, and they're often good.
Babau: Just tipping over the edge of a standard ally/binding, though I have to wonder who you're worshiping who gives you access to demons. Poor Will save and a +3 to Charisma. Some solid damage reduction, the standard demon SLAs like see invisibility and dispel magic, and can try to summon a single babau per day. The babau can also sneak attack like a rogue, which is a neat combo with its darkness SLA. The babau is covered with a corrosive goo that damages any weapon that touches it, including adamantine. Good low-HD standard binding, especially for the sneak attack.
Balor: A demon of the ancient world. Can only be gated in, but worth it. Balors have good damage reduction, are immune to fire (among others), and wield a +1 vorpal longsword - an epic weapon. They also have a +1 flaming whip, useful for entangling. They can cast blasphemy, greater dispel magic, dominate monster, unholy aura, and power word stun at will, as just their best abilities, and implosion once per day. All around a fantastic demon, well worth the expense of bargaining with and calling it.
Bebilith: At the very top of standard bindings/allies. Poor Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Their poison deals Con damage, and its claws can rend armor, which is good. It can also throw webs 4 times a day that are like nets, but can capture Gargantuan creatures. They can also plane shift themselves at will. Overall, a very spooky spider. Probably easier to bind than, say, an efreet, and probably a lot scarier to send rushing after your enemies. Highly recommend. Just note that it is Huge, so you will have to find it room.
Dretch: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. In large groups, potentially effective - they can cast stinking cloud once per day each - but should be left behind at higher levels, since they don't deal a lot of damage and are pretty dumb.
Glabrezu: Needs a standard binding/ally. Good Will save and a +5 in Charisma, so bring your foci. They can cast wish once a month, as long as it brings great pain and suffering in the world. For most adventurers, this is probably a hard pass, but for the kind of people summoning a glabrezu anyway this is great! Liches get soul gems for demilichdom, evil characters get magic items they use to kill good creatures...They can also cast chaos hammer and reverse gravity at will if you like, but wish is the main draw here. Other than that, they have 5 attacks, and Improved Grab, but why are you grappling?
Hezrou: Good candidates for a standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and a +4 in Charisma. They have a stench effect that can nauseate nearby creatures, and are powerful melee combatants besides possessing fine SLAs. These nobs are the ground floor in your demon army, and at level 20 you can gate in 2 at once. But there are better options.
Marilith: Needs a greater binding/ally. Poor Will save (relatively) and a +7 in Charisma. A marilith is one badass mother. They can cast blade barrier and magic weapon at will, the latter of which makes their melee prowess - six longswords plus a slam or tail slap - that much more apparent. If you're grappling, they can constrict, which is nice. I recommend these as great melee bindings.
Nalfeshnee: Greater binding/ally. Good Will save and +5 in Charisma. Nalfeshnee are big, slow, and powerful. They get two summon demon attempts per day, and can smite their enemies in a 60 ft. radius three times per day, dazing them with their worst fears. They can cast feeblemind and call lightning at will to boot. Though they might not think so, nalfeshnee are made for the battlefield. They can swoop in low over a cadre of warriors, smiting them, before feebleminding the wizard and calling lightning on everyone else. Very good gate candidates.
Quasit: Lesser binding/ally. Fine Will save and no Charisma bonus. Quasits are weird. They make good familiars, like imps, but they have too many hit dice, and simply aren't powerful enough to warrant a summon unless you need Dex damage. Which can somehow be dealt with only a +8 against AC and a DC 13 Fort save. If you want a Quasit, don't call it.
Retriever: The Abyss saw the hound archon and thought, "I can do better." Standard binding/ally, and you can gate in two at a time at level 20. Poor Will save and -5 in Charisma. It's like these guys were meant to be bound or something....It gets 5 melee attacks and an eye ray each round, the latter of which can petrify or deal cold, fire, or electricity damage. It can be ordered to find an item or creature and does so unerringly. It also has an improved grab where it holds the thing it's chasing in its mouth and brings it back like a giant demonic puppy carrying a stick. It's adorable, it's Huge, it's fast, and its eye rays deal 12d6 elemental damage each. What's not to love?
Succubus: Only requires a lesser binding/ally. (You might say she's...easy.) Good Will save and a +7 in Charisma, keep your cold iron handy. The main draw here is, of course, having a succubus. That should really speak for itself. If you're looking purely at mechanics, the succubus can cast suggestion at will, along with ethereal jaunt and greater teleport, although it can only carry 50 lbs of objects with it to do this. It has a permanent tongues effect, if you need a translator; has an energy draining kiss; and gets some bonuses to Use Rope (binding) along with diplomatic skills...Lord above, they really filled this statblock with innuendos, didn't they? Succubi are good to have around, for seduction if that's your thing, as well as general diplomatic things. Only top-tier because it's in the same slot level as the quasit and chaos beast.
Vrock: Standard binding/ally, or use gate at level 20 to get 2. Fine Will save and +3 in Charisma. Vrocks are good air-based melee combatants, being able to cast heroism once per day, and can stun other creatures with a screech. Their coolest ability is Dance of Ruin, where three or more vrocks do Kumbaya for three rounds before dealing 20d6 untyped energy damage to all non-demons within 100 feet of the friendship circle (Reflex save halves). Even on a save, that's an untyped energy fireball in the face of everything for 20 squares. I have battlemats that aren't that big! If you can get several, they kick ass, but otherwise - outclassed somewhat.
Devils are another quintessential binding target. The star of the show is the pit fiend, but other types bring good things to the table as well.
For the record, I have no idea why they bother with all those alternative names. Just say "hamatula" or "kyton" and leave it at that. Don't bother with the "x devil" versions.
Barbed Devil (Hamatula): Standard binding/ally needed. Poor Will save, and a +4 in Charisma. Everyone hit by a barbed devil has to make a save against a fear spell, which is great CC, and they deal solid damage to grappled creatures. In the most metal style of grappling ever, they impale grappled creatures on their bodies, like a Khornate berserker who couldn't be bothered to lop the heads off first. They can cast hold person, major image, and scorching ray at will, all very good spells. They can also cast order's wrath once per day, which is always nice because so many mooks are chaotic. Along with summoning devils, these abilities give barbed devils a great advantage in close combats. However, at this slot level, you start to find creatures that are good at both casting and melee, limiting the hamatula's usefulness to grunt work.
Bearded Devil (Barbazu): What happens to bad Dwarf Fortress dwarves when they die. Lesser binding/allies. Poor Will save, no Charisma bonus. Bearded devils only have the standard greater teleport SLA, but make up for it in melee. Basically, a barbazu can choose to either use its glaive, or its claws. Its glaive deals infernal wounds, which constantly deal damage and need a Heal check plus a healing spell to be cured. If it chooses claws, and both hit, it can then use its beard, which inflicts a disease called devil chills, a Strength damager. In addition, twice per day a bearded devil can work itself into a battle frenzy, much like a barbarian, but with no ill effects once the frenzy ends. Barbazus are good early melee combatants, especially since monsters aren't often going to have a cleric standing by in battle (unless your DM wants to ruin your devil-summon fun). They make good shock troops and do a barbarian's job pretty well, with the bonus of spell resistance and damage reduction.
Bone Devil (Osyluth): Standard binding/ally, can get two with a level 20 gate. Fine Will save, and a +2 in Charisma. Bone devils have a fear aura which does not affect other devils - odd, considering they're supposed to be taskmasters in the Nine Hells. Their sting has a Strength poison, which is fine, and they have an okay summon devil ability. They can also cast dimensional anchor, fly, major image, and wall of ice at will. These fiends are just fine. They don't have any distinguishing features, their melee attacks are okay, having poison is nice, and their SLAs include a nifty one for lair construction and binding other creatures. They're probably better if you give them reach weapons, but overall there are better options.
Chain Devil (Kyton): Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save, and a +1 in Charisma. What makes these shine as bindings are their spiked chains, which we all know someone at Wizards had a thing for. Give them four extra chains each, tell them to throw the chains into a room of enemies, and watch the trip attacks begin. They have no SLAs, but can use Unnerving Gaze to give penalties to their enemies. They also have regeneration, and aren't bad metalcrafters. Kytons are one of those creatures that don't have any defining features in their stat blocks, but have real meat in the mechanics of their basic abilities. Like the Damn Crab, a properly equipped and played chain devil is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.
Erinyes: Standard binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +5 in Charisma. Erinyes can entangle creatures with their rope, and the description says they'll typically "drop [entangled creatures] from a great height," which is probably how you'd play that optimally. Besides that, they're well-built for ranged combat, but overall there are some better options at this level.
Hellcat (Bezekira): Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. Hellcats are good damage-dealers, and are fantastic ambushers due to being invisible in light and magical darkness. However, at a standard binding/ally, not my favorite thing in the world. Easier to bind than others, though, and again they are very good ambushers.
Horned Devil (Cornugon): Greater binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +6 in Charisma. Horned devils are your elite guard, your front-line commanders. Like the bearded devil's glaive, a horned devil's tail attack is an infernal wound. They also have regeneration, where the weapon vulnerability is good silver weapons, not one or the other. Cornuga (I think that's the plural) also wield spiked chains, always good weapons. They have a fear aura, and their SLAs aren't bad. Overall, good bindings.
Ice Devil (Gelugon): Greater binding/ally. Good Will save and a +5 in Charisma. These guys can cone of cold and ice storm at will if you need cold damage, create persistent images, and have regeneration (good) and a fear aura. Their spears and tails deal a slow effect. For some reason, they're immune to fire, but not cold. Overall, not bad at all. Like all high-level devils, they're excellent melee combatants, and their cold SLAs are nice for fighting fire creatures.
Imp: Lesser binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +2 in Charisma. Imps are the devilish quasits. They're fine as familiars, but you really shouldn't be binding one. It's not worth the effort, or the risk of pissing a devil off.
Pit Fiend: Greater binding/ally. Good Will save and a +8 in Charisma. I'd recommend gating these in personally, but if you think you can risk it making its save, a pit fiend is a fantastic thing to call. They have regeneration (good silver), have a fear aura, and their bite attacks give the devil chills disease. They're very effective in melee, especially against good creatures, but their best feature is their SLAs. I mean, come on - blasphemy, fireball, mass hold monster at will, meteor swarm once per day, wish once per year? Incredibly powerful, especially for something you can bind at 15th level if you're a wizard. Pit fiends are the classic Faustian bargain, and if you can keep it from breaking free and get a good contract, they can be absolute monsters.
Djinni: Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and a +2 in Charisma. Djinn are air-based genies, and creatures in the air have penalties while fighting them. They can create food, wine, and plant matter once per day, and can become a whirlwind that deals untyped damage to creatures caught in it. Spellcasters inside also have to make Concentration checks to cast spells. Besides that, djinn don't have much going for them. Especially since, as standard bindings, they're rubbing shoulders with their cousins the efreet.
Dream Larva: Must be gated in at level 20 minimum. The dream larva is an abomination that has some dream- and nightmare-based powers. If a creature is close to the dream larva and sees it, it becomes that creature's greatest nightmare, scaring it so much it must make a Will save or die. 5 times per day, dream larvae can summon nightwalkers, and they can also cast nightmare and prismatic spray at will. There's also a bit of Wisdom damage possible with its grapple, but grapple is so complicated it's not worth mentioning. Really, the at-will prismatic spray is the biggest effect a dream larva possesses, especially since all its nightmare abilities don't affect creatures immune to mind-affecting effects. If you want an abomination, the dream larva is one of the few that might actually fit through the gate, but you can get an infernal at the same level anyway.
Efreeti: Standard binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +2 in Charisma. Let's be frank: nothing, absolutely nothing, matters about the efreet, except that they can grant three wishes per day. Per day. That's really all you need to know, besides that they're only standard-level and are easier to bind than many creatures of that HD range. Now what can you do with three wishes? Well, you can create three magic items, any ones you want (including epic items, unless I missed an errata or UA that says otherwise). You can create 75,000 gp. You can revive three dead people. You can heal all damage, remove all poisons, and cure all diseases afflicting your party. You can also get the efreeti to produce other effects, but you will have to write them down beforehand so you know there are no loopholes that it can exploit. ("Raze your intelligence? Of course, master...") Once you bind an efreeti, your DM may as well close the game down right then.
Elementals are the vast majority of...elementals...in the SRD. They all have poor Will saves and no Charisma bonus. Each type is divided up into standard (ranging from small to huge), Greater, Elder, and Primal Elemental types. The latter two are gigantic and can only be gated in. Overall, they're great big, dumb brutes, heavy dealers of damage but bad at taking it due to their lousy AC progression. They do, however, possess DR x/-, a rarity. The primal types also have high spell resistance. Nice to have around the house, but not my first pick.
Formians are these weird centaur-ants that for some reason are outsiders. Honestly, these turned me off, but I'll include them here anyway.
Worker: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and a -1 in Charisma. A worker has a lawful bite attack that deals as much damage as a single bolt from magic missile. Besides that, three workers can use make whole as a full-round action, and eight can do the same with cure serious wounds. Honestly, however, it's not worth it. At this level, you don't need to burn eight (or three, if standard binding) spell slots to get a cure serious wounds, and workers are so piddly in combat that it's unacceptable to bind them. I can only assume you won't be getting them as allies, because not even Asmodeus is that petty.
Warrior: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. Their bite does a bit of Strength poison, but they don't even have the healing effect a worker has. Less worth it than the worker.
Taskmaster: Lesser binding/ally. Good Will save and a +4 in Charisma. They have an expanded dominate monster effect, which is pretty neat, and can dominate four such creatures at a time. Otherwise they're just warriors. Better, but still not great.
Myrmarch: Standard binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +3 in Charisma. They do a bit more damage than taskmasters in melee, but their main draw is their SLAs, particularly their unrestrictive, at-will greater teleport, and their 1/day dictum. But they're definitely outclassed by many creatures in this HD range, and frankly have too many HD in my opinion.
Queen: Needs a gate at level 10 minimum, assuming you actually get it that low. Formian queens have some nice at-will SLAs and also cast as 17th-level sorcerers. The main problem, however, is that the queen has no Strength or Dexterity scores. She cannot move herself, she has a negative initiative bonus, has a touch AC of 9, and she has no Reflex save. She does have fast healing 2, but when you can't save against reflex evocation spells, the most basic blast spells in the game, you have a problem. Combine it with the fact you need to gate her in, and she's actually almost useless.
Ghaele: Standard binding/ally. Good Will save and a +3 in Charisma. Ghaeles wield holy greatswords, nice for purging heathens, and have an interesting gaze effect that acts like a fear aura, except it slays evil creatures of less than 5 HD. In globe form, a ghaele's light rays ignore all damage reduction, dealing 2d12 damage each. Ghaeles have the same protective aura angels do, as well as the tongues effect, and can cast spells as a 14th-level cleric. They also have some fine SLAs. Overall, not bad for a chaotic angel.
Hell Hound: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and a -2 in Charisma. Hell hounds are very fire-based, so much so that it's a detriment to their ability to fight many medium- to high-level creatures. They get a breath weapon, but otherwise they're basically not worth it.
Howler: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and a -1 in Charisma. Howlers' bites (in full attacks only) force quills into their victims' bodies, dealing penalties to attacks, saves, and checks, and dealing damage if they're removed without a Heal check. Howlers also, obviously, howl, and creatures who hear the howling for an hour must make a save or take 1 Wis damage. Howlers are fine debuffers, but at Large size (over 2 tons, according to the fluff - big dog) they take up a lot of space, so it's hard to work them in next to other things that want to hit an enemy, like your fighter. They can also be trained and ridden on, if you're into that.
Invisible Stalker: Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. Invisible stalkers have the advantage of constant invisibility, even when attacking, that is not subject to invisibility purge. They can quickly deal high damage in a short time, and can track targets very well. They're very squishy, but excellent assassins.
Janni: Lesser binding/ally. Good Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Jann are the "general" genies, capable of filling any alignment role. By themselves, jann are just okay. They can make themselves invisible, jaunt into the Etheral Plane, and create food and water. They can't stay on the Elemental Planes for more than 48 hours, or else they die. They can also enlarge or reduce once creature twice per day, giving them a boost in combat of any sort. But there are many better options. If you like, you can make a janni a recurring ally, perhaps even a player character, albeit with a +5 level adjustment.
Lemure: Lesser binding/ally. Fine Will save and a -4 in Charisma. Lemures are the souls of the dead who find themselves on the Nine Hells. They're slow, they deal almost no damage, and they're mindless. Absolutely useless to summon, unless you're in an area short on souls for gate production. Though Asmodeus probably won't like that.
Leonal: Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save, and a +2 in Charisma. Leonals can do Lay on Hands, using their full HP, and have a protective aura. They can also Roar in a 60 ft. cone that acts like a holy word, which along with their SLAs (including an at-will fireball, by the way) makes them an excellent aid for facing fiends on the Material Plane. They're fine standard allies, but I probably wouldn't bind one unless I really needed holy words.
Lillend: Standard binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +4 in Charisma. Lillends cast as 6th-level bards, always useful, and also have some illusion and enchantment SLAs. They can also constrict with a grapple, and are able to attack with their swords at the same time. They're not a bad choice, but as standard summons they rub up against a lot of good options with more hit dice, SLAs, and other abilities.
Magmin: Lesser binding/ally. No Will save bonus and no Charisma bonus. They burn things. What things? Every things. They're destructive and chaotic, and you're better off with something else.
Mephits are all lesser binding/allies, with poor Will saves and a +2 in Charisma. They're basically like familiars, except their SLAs can be nice. Dust Mephits, for example, can wind wall once per day, and Ooze Mephits do the same with stinking cloud. They all have DR 5/magic and fast healing 2 as well. However, they're all otherwise weak, and really you're better off with almost anything else.
Mercane: Standard binding/ally. Good Will save and a +2 in Charisma. Mercanes are the mercenaries of the outer planes, and they all wield masterwork falchions. They also have SR 25, something that's very powerful for something with only 7 hit dice. They can cast dimension door and invisibility 3/day, and plane shift once per day. Mercanes are good for some brute force, especially against mages, but otherwise very lackluster.
Nessian Warhound: Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and a -1 in Charisma. These guys are hellhounds+1: Large size, immune to fire but vulnerable to cold, more powerful breath weapon and bite. They're also rubbing shoulders with other, more powerful fiends. Still not worth it.
Night Hag: Standard binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Night hags deal demon fever with their bite, a disease which deals Con damage and drain. They carry heartstones with them, boosting their saves and granting them disease-curing powers, as well as the ability to use etherealness at will. They can detect all alignments and magic at will, as well as cast magic missile and ray of enfeeblement. One thing they're useful for is riding the dreams of chaotic or evil creatures, dealing Constitution drain until another ethereal creature fights them off. Besides that, they're immune to fire and cold, have SR 25, DR 10/cold iron and magic, and can enter combat on a mount. Not too bad.
Nightmare: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Nightmares are pretty good, setting aside any of their combat abilities, because they can cast etherealness and astral projection at will, at CL 20th. This means that at level 9, a wizard can have two 9th level spells at his fingertips, along with a kickass mount. Very, very good. If you want to get a head start on your astral (or ethereal) fortress, get a nightmare.
Rakshasa: Standard binding/ally. Poor Will save and a +3 in Charisma. Rakshasa have SR 27, and can change shape into any humanoid form at will. They have a continuous detect thoughts effect, and cast spells as a 7th level sorcerer. Not bad if you need some espionage, but this guy should never get into melee, as he's outclassed by everything without weapons. Honestly not bad, especially since the spells a rakshasa casts come from the sorcerer spell list.
Rast: Lesser binding/ally. Fine Will save and a +1 in Charisma. Rasts can deal Constitution damage with a grapple, and can fly or cease flight as a free action. Beyond the always-helpful Con damage, there's really not much going for them. They are immune to fire, if you need that.
Ravid: Lesser binding/ally. Good Will save and a +2 in Charisma. Ravids deal 2d10 damage to all undead, even incorporeal undead, and can animate objects once per round. Besides that, they're not that smart, and I'm amazed they have a bonus to Use Rope (bindings) even though they only have a tail.
Shadow Mastiff: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and a +1 in Charisma. When shadow mastiffs bark, all non-evil creatures in 300 feet must make a Will save or become panicked. They also have a special trip ability to go along with their bite attack. As well, in any light conditions other than full daylight, a shadow mastiff has total concealment. Only daylight spells can expose them in areas without access to the sun. I'm really confused why there needs to be this many variations on the "planar dog" theme. Shadow mastiffs by themselves are probably the best of the bunch, being able to have total concealment almost anywhere. But not by much.
Thoqqua: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. For some reason, a fat slug 1 foot thick and 4 feet long weighs 200 pounds. Regardless, thoqqua are fire-based creatures that can charge without moving 10 feet. Not bad, but they're not good either.
Titan: Must be gated in, level 10 minimum. Titans are massive in combat, wielding Gargantuan +3 adamantine warhammers without penalty. They get a slurry of fantastic at-will SLAs, including chain lightning, cure critical wounds, and fire storm, as well as different bonus SLAs based on alignment. They're very cool, having DR 15/lawful and SR 32, and a bunch of feats that boost their already mighty combat prowess. Nice to have indeed.
The different versions of tojanida are all basically the same creature with more HD and requisite boosts to abilities. What that creature is is a glorified squid-turtle useful only in water. If you're on the Elemental Plane of Water, tojanida can be nice, but generally DMs seem to neglect that plane and the messy details of drowning and 3-axis movement. Also, you'll probably need to bind them in a tank.
Uvuudaum: Needs to be gated in, level 19 minimum. I want to find whoever came up with that name and punch them in the face. Uvuudaum are gluttons for punishment: DR 10/epic and good, electricity resistance 30, fast healing 20, regeneration 5 (holy, cold, fire), and SR 39. They are surrounded in a constant confusion effect, and their head spike deals 2d4 Wisdom damage on a hit. Besides that, they have a boatload of good SLAs, like almost every gate-only creature, including the epic spell time duplicate once per day. Very good.
Vargouille: Lesser binding/ally. Fine Will save and a -1 in Charisma. I've always imagined vargouilles as French, for some reason. For their low HD, vargouilles are pretty good. They can shriek to paralyze creatures within 60 feet who can clearly see them, and then kiss them, resulting in another vargouille within 24 hours if the victim fails the Fort save. Their bite attack also deals a very nasty poison requiring poison-neutralizing spells. However, at only 1 HD, their save DCs are pretty low, and they're easy to kill.
Xill: Lesser binding/ally. Poor Will save and no Charisma bonus. Xills have four limbs, giving them a high hit chance. They bite creatures with their grapple, injecting a paralyzing venom the xill uses to then lay its eggs in the victim. Additionally, they can planewalk between the material and Ethereal planes, taking some time to get back to the material world. Xill have SR 21, as well. To be honest, the SR makes this monster. Without it, they're rather weak, and their save DCs are low.
Xorn are the Elemental Earth tojanidas, and slightly more useful only because they don't need water. You can use them to find sources of ore and gems if you like, but otherwise they're just not strong enough.
Yeth Hound: Lesser binding/ally. Fine Will saves and no Charisma bonus. Yeth hounds are copy-pasted shadow mastiffs, minus their shadow abilities, and plus a deadly fear of the sun. Not worth it.
Thoughts
Overall, some very good creatures in the SRD. I was very disappointed by the elementals, but the outsiders really pulled in ahead. I know I said I'd do all 3 monster manuals in this one, but I'm starting to think this may take longer than I thought. I hope to have the next one in soon!
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