Combat Tips: Summon Lesser Demons?

[Drache64]

So essentially you can summon up to 8 dretches 60 feet away. They will attack the nearest non-demons until the spell ends in which case they disappear.

I want to use this spell for my character's flavor, but I don't want to annoy my party by getting them mauled by demons. Any tips?

What I'm thinking so far: summon them in the "backfield" if such a place exists, and drop concentration on the spell if it becomes a problem for the party in which case the spell will end and they will disappear.

[PhantomSoul]

For ease of reference, the spell:

Summon Lesser Demons
Conjuration, Level 3
Casting time: 1 Action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a vial of blood from a humanoid killed within the past 24 hours)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

You utter foul words, summoning demons from the chaos of the Abyss. Roll on the following table to determine what appears.
d6 / Demons Summoned
1–2 / Two demons of challenge rating 1 or lower
3–4 / Four demons of challenge rating 1/2 or lower
5–6 / Eight demons of challenge rating 1/4 or lower

The DM chooses the demons, such as manes or dretches, and you choose the unoccupied spaces you can see within range where they appear. A summoned demon disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends.
The demons are hostile to all creatures, including you. Roll initiative for the summoned demons as a group, which has its own turns. The demons pursue and attack the nearest non-demons to the best of their ability.
As part of casting the spell, you can form a circle on the ground with the blood used as a material component. The circle is large enough to encompass your space. While the spell lasts, the summoned demons can’t cross the circle or harm it, and they can’t target anyone within it. Using the material component in this manner consumes it when the spell ends.
At higher level

When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th or 7th level, you summon twice as many demons. If you cast it using a spell slot of 8th or 9th level, you summon three times as many demons.

Thoughts:
- The DM chooses the DM, so make sure no plans rely on what appears! (Unless your DM house rules that you decide.)
- Your space is safe, but (un)fortunately that's a limited area (granted a small party could fit with Enlarge cast on you ahead of time and then Enlarge being dropped to free up squares)
- Huh, I thought this one continued without concentration like Summon Greater Demon, but it doesn't!
- The description of the Demons' behaviour makes it a lot more reliable than I'd remembered. Pity! :P
- Magic Circle (level 3; Cleric, Paladin, Warlock, Wizard) could be good
- If the DM determines that they magically determine Demonhood, Nystul's Magic Aura (level 2; Wizard) could be used to change your party members' perceived types

[Silly Name]

Clever placement of the point where the demons spawn should solve most problems. Your better choice is to have them appear behind or right above the enemies, so that they act as a wall between you and the demons.

After that, it's a matter of paying attention to where you move and end your turns as to never be the closest creature to the demons. Don't treat them as allies or enemies, treat them as some sort of walking environmental hazard on the battlefield, since they're hostile to any non-demon creature.

A fun way, but probably not-so-reliable, to try and avoid the problem is to disguise your whole party as demons. If the summoned dretches fail their roll to recognise the disguise, they shouldn't attack you and you can move freely.

[Zetakya]

Are you a Warlock? Because it you are, it might pay off for you to contact your patron beforehand and make some kind of trade to ensure that the summoned demons attack you (& your party) last.

You should also consider what the reaction of your party members will be if you start to casually summon demons.

[Eldariel]

A fun way, but probably not-so-reliable, to try and avoid the problem is to disguise your whole party as demons. If the summoned dretches fail their roll to recognise the disguise, they shouldn't attack you and you can move freely.

This is easily doable via. Seeming on level 9 (just restrict speech and such) but before then it's quite resource intensive to disguise the whole party though. However, it's most important for your own melee types to have a disguise. Of course, Dretches kinda suck so they aren't that scary even if one does go on you (the Fetid Cloud is really the big thing). But as you have zero control over what get summoned, some other stuff may come through. Though frankly, most of the demons this can summon are not that scary in combat. Quasit is a CR1 but its combat prowess is...eh, it's like (effectively) a 14 HP 13 AC thingy with a +4 for 10 damage plus DC 10 Con vs. poisoned.

[Democratus]

What a fun spell to introduce a villain.

Guy strolls into the middle of a busy marketplace. He stoops down and pours red liquid in a ring around himself, then fills the market with demons who slaughter everyone in sight.

Once the market is full of corpses, he collects some blood for the next casting of the spell and walks down the road to the next village.

Nice!

[Drache64]

Are you a Warlock? Because it you are, it might pay off for you to contact your patron beforehand and make some kind of trade to ensure that the summoned demons attack you (& your party) last.

You should also consider what the reaction of your party members will be if you start to casually summon demons.

My character is a Celestial Warlock who is charged by a Solar Angel to enslave or slay all evil outsiders.

The idea behind summoning the demons is that my character is practicing enslaving demons but hasn't quite mastered it yet. When he gets to the appropriate level he will exchange summon Lesser Demons with summon greater demon (which he'll have better control over).