Help with build advise for a Summoner

[TheNervyOne]

Ok after a brief read up I wanna try building and playing a Summoner is the game that I am about to join.
Its lvl 2, and I am allowed virtually any race from Core and Advance Races Guide. I was thinking Samsaran even if they have a -2 to Con due to their alternate racial trait.

Its a 32 point buy build and as said a lvl 2

But I have never played a Summoner and while I am studying the handbooks I can find on it I would like more direct advice which I can read just a little easier (I have some issues with tones and texts in handbooks and how they relate)

Can anyone help me?

I was thinking of going Synthesist Summoner currently with a possibility of at lvl 7 getting Leadership and getting my cohort to go Master Summoner.

But if I did go Master Summoner I had a question.
I would get Summon Monster I at level 1 does this change as I level up, at level 20 would I still only have the Summon monster I? If so doesn't that hit a point where monsters from Summon Monster I fall short?

[grarrrg]

Ok after a brief read up I wanna try building and playing a Summoner is the game that I am about to join.
Its lvl 2, and I am allowed virtually any race from Core and Advance Races Guide. I was thinking Samsaran even if they have a -2 to Con due to their alternate racial trait.

Half-Elf is one of the more common, because you get extra Evo-points to spend on you Eidolon, and you can put the +Any into CHA.
Nothing wrong with expanding your options with Samsaran though.

But I have never played a Summoner and while I am studying the handbooks I can find on it I would like more direct advice which I can read just a little easier (I have some issues with tones and texts in handbooks and how they relate)

First you need to decide if you're doing Master Summoner, Synthesist or 'normal'.
'Normal' covers all other archetypes, only Master and Synthesist really play all that different (and nobody goes Broodmaster).

Once you make this decision, then we can help a little better.

But if I did go Master Summoner I had a question.
I would get Summon Monster I at level 1 does this change as I level up, at level 20 would I still only have the Summon monster I? If so doesn't that hit a point where monsters from Summon Monster I fall short?

You still gain Summon Monster II at level 3, and Summon Monster III at level 5.
Really all it's doing is giving you extra uses of the ability, and letting you have _one_ Summon Monster active while your Eidolon is summoned.

[TheNervyOne]

I am really divided but to keep the balance to just 1 character rather then 2 for a longer term then an average summon I think I am going with Synthesist Summoner over Master Summoner. my Cohort will be a Master Summoner then.

[therakishrogue]

I'm playing a 2nd level half-elf summoner in one of my games right now. It's a lot of fun! Summoners and their summons have the best action economy in the game so you'll always have something creative you can do no matter the situation. The half elf racial trait takes a while to build to something useful though; you get and extra 1/4 a evolution point per level, so i'd only go that way if you expect this game to last a while.

As for being a synthesist the idea of being some kind of magical Bruce Banner is pretty cool, but keep in mind it is basically a strait up nerf combat-wise. Instead of you and your eidolon acting every round, it's just a powered up you. Even if your character is just shooting a crossbow while your eidolon carves everything to shreds, you have a lot more damage potential playing it regular style than you would as a sythesist. Also, you can't hide under a rock while your eidolon does all the work if you are inhabiting the same body. Or send it after things, or have it stand guard while the party sleeps, or flank with it, or summon it outside the jail cell you got thrown in, or pretend it is a deity you serve while interacting with a tribe of superstitious goblins, etc. etc.

[TheNervyOne]

Alright so maybe a straight Summoner or Master variant. Have an Egor Synth Summoner as a follower.

[Beowulf DW]

I'm playing a Synthesist in a RL game with some of my friends at the moment, and I'm having a blast. The fluff I built up around this character helps a great deal, and I'm sure a dedicated fighter would do better in combat at this level, but being able to wade into enemies with great AC and temp hit points while swinging a great sword and buffing myself is "totes fun."

I'd highly recommend just about any Summoner variant. Except for Broodmaster. They don't seem so fun.