Summon Monster [3.5]

[The Neoclassic]

What is the appx. level that summoned monsters from the related spells (I - IX) should be? I tried figuring it out one time by looking up all monsters on, say, Summon Monster III and listing their CRs, but not only was it tedious, but the numbers tended to have more variation than I expected. Is there an easier way to do it or set of guidelines out there? Thanks!

[sonofzeal]

It seems to be about equal to the level of the spell, with an uptick towards the end (So SMV summons mostly CR 5, while SMIX summons mostly CR 11). The templates make it messy though.

[Eldariel]

As a rule, they're always weaker than the level on which you can cast the corresponding "Summon Monster"-spell. So Summon Monster I cannot get you CR1 creatures, Summon Monster II cannot get you CR3 monsters, Summon Monster III cannot get you CR 5 monsters, etc. Usually they lag behind a bit more than that. This is mostly due to the fact that you can use feats to boost your summoning (and get them for e.g. spellcasting purposes rather than for melee fighting, which is where stats matter the most), so they can't be able to take on CR appropriate opponents on even footing as otherwise, with feats a summon would actually be able to beat up a CR appropriate opponent alone without help from anyone (which Wizards sort-of-kinda tried to avoid failing miserably). The other reason is the spells' incredible versatility, having a dozen different creatures right at your fingertips with one spell..

[Irreverent Fool]

I believe Dragon 302 had an article on building your own custom Summon X lists. Note that it's still a list, meaning you have a limited number of options for what to summon. This is a good idea since otherwise your summoner will bog the game down as the player looks through giant indexes for what to summon. The lists are big enough as-is.

Normally I would warn to be careful of balance here but that's pretty much out the window with a dedicated summoner anyway.

The PDF is available from Paizo. They're usually about five bucks or so.

obnoxious
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