Making a Pact (summon monster rule)

[Drackstin]

About 10 years ago a played in a game where my DM said in order to use a spell like summon monster, you needed to make a pact with a monster the spell itself could summon, and that's the monster that would show up, we couldn't use the spell until this was done. Has anyone heard of this rule or maybe something like it? it sounds homebrew to me but it kind of sounds like something a ranger or druid would have to do to gain an animal companion.

[DrMotives]

It sounds like adding a little fluff to the summon monster variant where you summon specific individuals. So yes it's a homebrew rule, it's not completely out of left field like some that people have been talking about here.

[liquidformat]

It sounds like the DMG alternate summoning rules pg37, maybe slightly tweaked. I have played around with them slightly they are pretty cool and make good hooks for side quests to explore other planes. Typically you will have a much smaller list of creatures you can summon but they will be more powerful, also changes some of the way players use summons for example if you only summon a creature to set off traps it will stop coming and you will get a black mark from that plane as an abusive summoner...

You could also combine it with the themed summoning lists from UA to make things even more interesting, like as a druid you have a strong connection to the celestial plane of animals (brain farted on name and afb).

[Eldan]

As far as I remember, in older editions, you could befriend animals to make them your animal companion. Not summons though, as far as I can recall.

[liquidformat]

As far as I remember, in older editions, you could befriend animals to make them your animal companion. Not summons though, as far as I can recall.

ya even 3.0 animal companion worked based off of handle animal and animal friendship spell (brain farting if that is the actual name) you had a bunch of animal companions and would normally awaken them and use them for stuff and things. 3.5's changes to animal companion made awaken next to useless unless you are doing something like using nature initiate to have an army of animals and plants that you awaken.

[Drackstin]

It sounds like adding a little fluff to the summon monster variant where you summon specific individuals. So yes it's a homebrew rule, it's not completely out of left field like some that people have been talking about here.

its not completely out left, and it sounds better fluff wise or story wise also.


It sounds like the DMG alternate summoning rules pg37, maybe slightly tweaked. I have played around with them slightly they are pretty cool and make good hooks for side quests to explore other planes. Typically you will have a much smaller list of creatures you can summon but they will be more powerful, also changes some of the way players use summons for example if you only summon a creature to set off traps it will stop coming and you will get a black mark from that plane as an abusive summoner...

You could also combine it with the themed summoning lists from UA to make things even more interesting, like as a druid you have a strong connection to the celestial plane of animals (brain farted on name and afb).

I'll have to look into the alternate summoning rules and variants. i would like to use something like this in the game I'm running. i have a ranger that will soon get a pet. In my last game the cleric would just keep on summoning celestial badgers as she screamed "he doesn't give a F" it would have been funny to watch her make a pact with a celestial badgers.

[Asmotherion]

yes i've played by those rules and honestly was one of the most fun sessions i ever had with DnD. Too bad it was a 1-shot.

[ShurikVch]

It reminds me about the 1st edition of Midnight Campaign Setting: since whole setting is just one sealed plane (Ravenloft-style), anything and everything interplanar is a big no-no; but [summoning] and [calling] spells are still able to work - they would just summon some creature which is already at the plane.
[summoning] spells summon not a random creature of the kind, but one particular creature (known to a caster)
There are 5% chance the spell wouldn't summon anything: it means the creature in question either don't want to come at your summon, or dead. (In either case, you may designate another creature at the start of the next day)