Increasing Summon Monster duration (at low levels?)

[RexDart]

At a certain point, the 1 round/level duration of Summon Monster becomes fine for most practical purposes (i.e. having the monster around for all or most of the fight), but it's annoyingly limited at low levels. Is there any practical (i.e., within the means of typical low level characters) to increase the duration?

There's Extend Spell, obviously, but by the time you can take it, you probably don't need it (at least for this particular purpose.)

[Beni-Kujaku]

At a certain point, the 1 round/level duration of Summon Monster becomes fine for most practical purposes (i.e. having the monster around for all or most of the fight), but it's annoyingly limited at low levels. Is there any practical (i.e., within the means of typical low level characters) to increase the duration?

There's Extend Spell, obviously, but by the time you can take it, you probably don't need it (at least for this particular purpose.)

A rod of lesser Extend costs 3k gp and is affordable by level 4. The only other way I see is increasing your caster level, which is much more costly.

[Ramza00]

Ashbound Summoning for Druids, free extend, luck bonus to attack, yet you are part of a Druid sect that hates arcane magic.

[RexDart]

The only other way I see is increasing your caster level, which is much more costly.

Yeah, I figure the real answer is just increasing caster level by the boring method of gaining XP and leveling, which usually happens soon enough.

I think my views are colored by my experience with my last character, a 1st level Favored Soul who then took 2 levels of Fighter before the next FS level. So I had 3 levels of being really annoyed by the 1-round summon duration of my Summon Monster I spell.

In retrospect, I should have taken some other first-level spell, as there was only about a 2-level window where the spell had a long enough duration and useful enough monsters to be worth casting.

My DM has mentioned the possibility of moving the campaign to a time 15-20 years later than the current one, and I'm thinking about a character who would be the stepdaughter of the other character - also a FS, but I'm thinking about trying to specialize in summoning for a change of pace.

[Beni-Kujaku]

Ashbpund Summoning for Druids, free extend, luck bonus to attack, yet you are part of a Druid sect that hates arcane magic.

Nice feat you've got there. Eberron doesn't disappoint.


I'm thinking about trying to specialize in summoning for a change of pace.

If you reach these levels, thaumaturgist is the way for you.

[Rebel7284]

While druids are the best at early summoning due to Ashbound, there is also Summon Marked Homunculus for arcane casters. Requires a real specific setting and dragonmark, but 1 hour/per level usable at level 1.

[Lans]

The mount spell lasts an hour

[Seward]

The mount spell lasts an hour

A good go-to for wizards. If you need utility instead of disposable meat-cover, unseen servant is also good. Druids have wood wose for that and an animal companion as a permanent "summon" replaced in 24 hour if it dies that can do what "mount" does.

Clerics of my acquaintance who liked to summon in early levels would go with good domain and celestial eagles, cause they got a caster level bump and 2 rounds at L1 is a lot better than 1.

It's fairly hard in 3.5 to find first level caster level bumps. The feats and magic items aren't possible at L1 (they have spell levels higher than 1 or vast cash costs). The only methods I can think of offhand are:

1. Alignment domain, summon something from that alignment (+1). Sadly I don't think you can do, say, law and good domains, because no critter template I know of makes the spell both lawful and good to get a +2..and it might not stack anyway.

2. L1 bard friend who spent his L1 feat and his only bardsong on Inspire Spellpower (+1) and uses it when you summon. (is 2 rounds of a summon better than inspire courage and 1 round? Situational.)

and....that's it.

It's easier in Pathfinder, where it's possible to stack several things to get up to a +4 on a single spell at L1, at least if you are human.




I think my views are colored by my experience with my last character, a 1st level Favored Soul who then took 2 levels of Fighter before the next FS level. So I had 3 levels of being really annoyed by the 1-round summon duration of my Summon Monster I spell.



Rule number 1 about summoning, don't ever lose casting levels, especially on a spont caster. Practiced spellcaster at L3 might have eased the pain if the summon was about utility, not a combat thing.

[Zarvistic]

As a cleric, possibly cloistered, you can go with summoning domain and domain focus. That is +4 caster level starting at level 1 and still useful later.

[Zanos]

Arcanist Gloves will increase the caster level of a 1st level spell by 2, twice per day. Nice for bumping up the duration of your first level summons, since they're only 500 gp.

If you're going to multiclass, take practiced spellcaster.

[Particle_Man]

Race, Feat and domain intensive, but an human (ideally azurin, but at least human for the bonus feat) cleric with extend spell, midnight metamagic and the law domain can summon lawful critters for 4 rounds at level 1 with 0 xp and 0 gp, 1x/day.

[Rebel7284]

There is also the Spellgifted trait from unearthed arcana that boosts your caster level by 1 in a single school without costing a feat. Of course, the drawback of reducing other schools' caster level by 1 is pretty intense at level 1, but spending a single level only casting Conjuration doesn't seem so bad...

[Jay R]

I think my views are colored by my experience with my last character, a 1st level Favored Soul who then took 2 levels of Fighter before the next FS level. So I had 3 levels of being really annoyed by the 1-round summon duration of my Summon Monster I spell.

The specific solution for this situation is the feat Practiced Spellcaster. Don't leave your main caster progression without it.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

The solution is Planar Touchstone: Catalogues of Enlightenment for the Summoner Domain granted ability. +2 CL for Conjuration (Summoning) and Conjuration (Calling) spells.

[RexDart]

Rule number 1 about summoning, don't ever lose casting levels, especially on a spont caster. Practiced spellcaster at L3 might have eased the pain if the summon was about utility, not a combat thing.

Yeah. This particular character is built more around smacking things with a greataxe, while also casting the occasional spell (most of which weren't hugely level-dependent.) The hypothetical new character would likely just stick to Favored Soul (and eventually Thaumaturgist.)

Would there be any particular advantage for summoning as a Cleric vis-a-vis Favored Soul, given that she would NOT have access to any obviously helpful Domains? Her god is more or less a Thor expy, with the Air, Feast, Lightning, Storm, Strength, Thunder, Wrath domains. FS works better for flavor (and the DM's homebrew version of the class is better than the standard version).

[Thurbane]

Mastery of Twilight Denizens feat adds free Extend to summoning spells, but only if the summoned creatures are "inhabitants of Lamannia". See ECS p.97 for list of creatures.

[ShurikVch]

Book of Vile Darkness have optional material component which have 20% chance to double the duration
Book of Exalted Deeds have similar component, but more expensive (25 gp vs BoVD's 2 cp)

Demon Mastery feat (Fiendish Codex I) gives +1 CL on summon a demon
Infernal Sorcerer Heritage (Player's Handbook II) - +2 CL on summoning evil outsiders

[Ramza00]

The solution is Planar Touchstone: Catalogues of Enlightenment for the Summoner Domain granted ability. +2 CL for Conjuration (Summoning) and Conjuration (Calling) spells.

Good idea, but the skill ranks of 8 ranks kind delays the feat from being useful.

[Rebel7284]

Good idea, but the skill ranks of 8 ranks kind delays the feat from being useful.

Wasn't this one of the feats with multiple versions, one of which didn't have the skill limitation?

[Jervis]

At a certain point, the 1 round/level duration of Summon Monster becomes fine for most practical purposes (i.e. having the monster around for all or most of the fight), but it's annoyingly limited at low levels. Is there any practical (i.e., within the means of typical low level characters) to increase the duration?

There's Extend Spell, obviously, but by the time you can take it, you probably don't need it (at least for this particular purpose.)

DMM Persist? DMM persist.

[Particle_Man]

DMM Persist? DMM persist.

At low levels?

[Zanos]

More importantly, summons aren't fixed range spells.

[Jervis]

At low levels?

A human cleric with good charisma can do it once at level 3. And that’s really all you need a lot of the time.

[sleepyphoenixx]

For druid summoners there's also the Holy Symbol of Nature's Children (CC, 350gp, +1 CL on spells that summon or affect animals) and the Summon Dire Hawk 2nd level spell (RotW) which lasts 1 min/level.

[Gnaeus]

It's easier in Pathfinder, where it's possible to stack several things to get up to a +4 on a single spell at L1, at least if you are human.
.

Without going too off topic, there are a number of ways to fix this in PF, starting with classes that have summons with minute+ durations at level 1 like summoner or occultist.

[Bullet06320]

Dark Scholar prc
The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde p. 11
if you chose
Book Mastery (Ex):The Thousand Unspeakable Names: Knowledge (arcana) 16 ranks; cast conjuration spells at +1 caster level.
but you cant enter till you have 4th level spells and cant chose the option till u have 16 ranks in know arcana



Malconvoker
Complete Scoundrel p. 48
Deceptive Summons (Su): At 1st level, you can attempt to trick evil creatures you conjure into serving you for longer than they normally would. When casting a summon monster spell to summon an evil-aligned creature, you can attempt a Bluff check as a free action, opposed by the creature's Sense Motive check. If your check succeeds, the duration of the effect is doubled (as if by the Extend Spell feat)