A New Idea on a Base Summoner Class [Archive] - Wizards Community

A New Idea on a Base Summoner Class [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Cade_Shadowfox
12-27-06, 02:48 PM Okay, I know everyone has read and critiqued their share of Summoner builds, but I wanted to try something different. After reading the Tome of Magic about pact magic, I got real interested, and one day an idea came to me for the idea of a Summoner. So this is a base class Summoner that I would like to know what everyone thinks about it. I would like to clarify that it is based loosely around pact magic and the various summoning magics of the Final Fantasy games.

Summoner

Reaching back to the beginnings of civilization, beings of intense power have existed in conjunction with the deities. These creatures, known as Aeons, are spirits created by the gods to house overwhelming personalities that could not be contained in death. Unlike Vestiges (from the Tome of Magic) Aeons are “living” beings that reside within the power of the deities and are, in some cultures, worshipped as deities themselves. Aeons are the conduits through which deities shape the world. When Obad-Hai deems it to rain, it is an Aeon’s power that causes the water to fall. Therefore the Aeons are the power of the gods and the summoners are the worshippers of the Aeons. Just as priests are the powers of the gods through mortals, summoners are the powers of the Aeons through mortals.

Adventures: Most summoners adventure to expand their knowledge of the Aeons and their role in the universe. They travel from shrine, to chapel, to monument, to temple looking for new Aeons and in turn, learning the divine order of the gods and the sources of their power. Summoners are very open-minded about most things, and if they ever proselytize it’s to attempt to teach the people of the true power of the gods: the Aeons. For this reason summoners are rarely liked amongst the clergy.

Characteristics: Summoners develop bonds with the Aeons they befriend and the hold almost a relationship of friendship unlike the ones priests hold with their gods: a relationship of servitude. They may call upon their Aeon friends as much as necessary in the course of the day, but some Aeons tire of being called too many times. At the height of their power, summoners have such a bond with their Aeons that they become like Aeons themselves.

Alignment: Summoners can be of any alignment on the good – evil axis, but must follow the ways of law to keep their connection with the Aeons. It does not matter whether the summoner connects to an Aeon of good or evil, but either way, she must retain a disciplined mind to be able to summon her companions.

Religion: The summoners are their own religion. They worship their Aeons, and sometimes the gods they serve, but this is not a common occurrence. Some summoners will disguise themselves as priests to hide from hostile citizens who fear that their talks about the Aeons are blasphemy.

Background: Most summoners come from lands that are little touched by the gods. Their skepticism about religion has led them to search for their own answers. Finding them amidst the Aeons, they realize that if they can borrow the power of the Aeons, they no longer need gods. Most believe carry the belief that the most powerful god would be nothing without the Aeons he or she created to carry out its will.

Races: Elves with their free-thinking spirits and long-lived minds are most likely to become summoners. Humans who have become disillusioned with the gods also sometimes choose to ally themselves with the Aeons. Other races are rarely seen as summoners.

Other Classes: Summoners tend to favor users of pact magic since they must call upon forces other than the gods or themselves to use their abilities: like the summoners. They also work like working with arcane magic users. If it all possible they do not work with priests since they tend to look down upon them for there heresy. They never associate with paladins since they actively work to persecute summoners for their blasphemy.

Role: Summoners can redefine their role in an adventuring party depending on the Aeons he aligns himself with. Their potent abilities are always useful in combat, but what those abilities are and what strategies they employ when using them depend on the Aeons he chose. As with any class, the race, alignment, and ability choices made upon character creation influence future choices. The summoner class, however, offers a special opportunity to break free of a spell caster’s typical boundaries.

Game Rule Information
Summoners have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Summoners depend on charisma for their ability to summon their Aeons. As with all spell casters, a high dexterity would aid in the summoners armor class, and a high constitution would add much needed hit points. If the summoner wants to be more melee-active, a high strength would aid him in combat.
Alignment: Any lawful.
Hit Die: d6

Class Skills
The summoner’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), and Profession (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the summoner.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Summoners are proficient with all simple weapons and all light armor, but not with shields.
Summon: In order to call upon the power of her patrons, a summoner must make a pilgrimage to a shrine (minor Aeons), a chapel (major Aeons), a monument (greater Aeons), or a temple (superior Aeons) to ask for the help of a particular Aeon. A 1st level summoner begins play with a single minor Aeon. She is assumed to have studied her craft at a nearby shrine. The summoner may petition a new Aeon at every new level, but must make the pilgrimage to said Aeon.

In order to summon an Aeon, a summoner must take a full-round action to mentally call out to the Aeon ask for its help. At the end of the meditation, the summoner must make a Summon attempt. This is a charisma based check that the summoner adds his level to. The DC is dependent upon the Aeon. Summoning an Aeon is an action that provokes an attack of opportunity, and can be disrupted by attack (thus requiring a Concentration check by the summoner). A particular Aeon is reluctant to be summoned more than once in a day; therefore, any attempt after the first to summon an Aeon in one day has its DC increased by 2 (+2 for the second, +4 for the third, +6 for the fourth, etc.).

The Aeon remains summoned for a number of rounds outside of combat for a number of rounds equal to the summoners level plus its charisma modifier, and a number of minutes outside of combat equal to her level plus five times her charisma modifier. A summoner is encouraged to summon her allies outside of combat for the good of the people. The summoner may not dismiss her Aeon prematurely. An Aeons abilities are dependent upon the Aeon.
Favored of the Summoner: At second level a summoner can designate any of her Aeon companions as a “favored” summon. These Aeons take only a standard action to be summoned, have their Summon DCs reduced by 2, and the summoner can dismiss this Aeon after only three rounds. She gains another Favored Aeon at 7th, 12th, and 17th levels.
Eidlform: A summoner’s connection to her Aeons and their native plane cause her to become more attune to their bodies. At 4th level a summoner no longer needs to eat to stay alive, and is immune to nausea effects.
At 8th level a summoner loses the necessity to sleep and is immune to sleep effects.
At 12th level a summoner losses the necessity to breathe.
At 16th level a summoner becomes immune to poison and magical and non-magical diseases.
At 20th level a summoner becomes so attune to her Aeons that she gains the spell resistance of the Aeons natural form. The summoner gains spell resistance equal to 30 plus her charisma modifier.

Attack Fort Ref Will
Level Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Summon(minor)
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Favored of the Summoner, 1st
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3
4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Eidlform(eat)
5th +3 +1 +1 +4
6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Summon(major)
7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Favored of the Summoner, 2nd
8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 Eidlform(sleep)
9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6
10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Last Breath 1/day
11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7 Summon(greater)
12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 Favored of the Summoner, 3rd Eidlform(poison and disease)
13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8
14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9 Last Breath 2/day
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +10
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Summon(superior) Eidlform(breathless)
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Favored of the Summoner, 4th
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Last Breath 3/day
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Eidlform(spell resistance)

Last Breath: At 10th level the summoner gains the ability to summon one of her Aeons as a swift action and use its Final Call ability in the same round once per day. This still counts as a summon so the summoner must make a successful Summon attempt, and all further attempts to summon the Aeon for the remainder of the day fail (due to its Final Call). If the check fails, this still counts as a use of the Last Breath ability, but not as a use of the Aeon’s Final Call (and therefore the Aeon may be summoned again during the day). At 14th level and 19th the summoner gains an extra use of this ability.

Aeons

Prerequisite: Most Aeons require certain things of their summoners some prerequisites are met in order to reach the Aeon (such as swimming across a small river with a swim check DC of 15), but then some requirements are inherent in the summoner (such as she must be of a good alignment).
Limitations: Some Aeons have special limitations to when and where they can be called. Aeons of a water type might only wish to be called in or near water. Some Aeons might have a particular aversion to other Aeons, and therefore will refuse to come if called after that particular Aeon.
Overcall: This represents an overexposure to the Aeons power in a single day and allows the summoner a modicum of power to use even when the Aeon is not present. Each Aeon’s Overcall has different requirements and different conclusions. Since the Aeon is not present to grant the power itself, the save DC for any ability granted to the summoner is reduced by 2. (Normal: Save DC = 10 + ½ the summoner’s level + her Charisma modifier).
Type: An Aeon may have 2 types: Combat and Support. Combat Aeons are also split into melee and ranged, these usually enhance the combat prowess of their summoner while allowing them to enter the fray and assist with their own somewhat limited array of abilities. Support Aeons are not able to enter combat themselves, but offer their summoner a list of abilities to use during combat.
Spell-like/Psi-like Abilities: Some Aeons imbue their summoner with spell-like or psi-like abilities. These abilities are cast as a sorcerer of the same level as the summoner and may be used (collectively) a number of times per summon equal to one plus the summoner’s charisma modifier.
Final Call: This ability represents the full power of the Aeons, and each Aeon has one. This ability is only useable on the final round the Aeon is present on the field. The usage of this ability is so draining to the Aeon, though, that they are not capable of being summoned for the remainder of the day; however, this does not negate possible abilities the Aeon has previously bestowed (from use of the Overcall ability or other various abilities).

So I don't have any Aeons typed up yet, but I have ideas for a few. I just wanted to know if I should even bother to pursue it enough to make Aeons.
Squall255
12-27-06, 03:03 PM Sounds interesting. I'd like to see what you've got in store as Aeons, as well as wondering if your Aeon's could increase in power, as opposed to having to select stronger Aeons at higher levels.
Cade_Shadowfox
12-27-06, 07:13 PM I planned on doing a small amount of scaling, but, hopefully, it'll be something in proportion to say a spell. Like, for example, magic missile, it does get better as the spell-caster levels, but evetually caps. I hope for the Aeons to do something like that, still be useful to use in later levels, but will eventually be passed up for something that's better with less effort.
Soel Griffin
12-27-06, 07:57 PM I like the looks of this so far. I've been wanting a base summoner class, but the binder is something different, and nothing using the summons spells seems to satisfy.

Waiting for more...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cade_Shadowfox 12-27-06, 02:48 PM	Okay, I know everyone has read and critiqued their share of Summoner builds, but I wanted to try something different. After reading the Tome of Magic about pact magic, I got real interested, and one day an idea came to me for the idea of a Summoner. So this is a base class Summoner that I would like to know what everyone thinks about it. I would like to clarify that it is based loosely around pact magic and the various summoning magics of the Final Fantasy games. Summoner Reaching back to the beginnings of civilization, beings of intense power have existed in conjunction with the deities. These creatures, known as Aeons, are spirits created by the gods to house overwhelming personalities that could not be contained in death. Unlike Vestiges (from the Tome of Magic) Aeons are “living” beings that reside within the power of the deities and are, in some cultures, worshipped as deities themselves. Aeons are the conduits through which deities shape the world. When Obad-Hai deems it to rain, it is an Aeon’s power that causes the water to fall. Therefore the Aeons are the power of the gods and the summoners are the worshippers of the Aeons. Just as priests are the powers of the gods through mortals, summoners are the powers of the Aeons through mortals. Adventures: Most summoners adventure to expand their knowledge of the Aeons and their role in the universe. They travel from shrine, to chapel, to monument, to temple looking for new Aeons and in turn, learning the divine order of the gods and the sources of their power. Summoners are very open-minded about most things, and if they ever proselytize it’s to attempt to teach the people of the true power of the gods: the Aeons. For this reason summoners are rarely liked amongst the clergy. Characteristics: Summoners develop bonds with the Aeons they befriend and the hold almost a relationship of friendship unlike the ones priests hold with their gods: a relationship of servitude. They may call upon their Aeon friends as much as necessary in the course of the day, but some Aeons tire of being called too many times. At the height of their power, summoners have such a bond with their Aeons that they become like Aeons themselves. Alignment: Summoners can be of any alignment on the good – evil axis, but must follow the ways of law to keep their connection with the Aeons. It does not matter whether the summoner connects to an Aeon of good or evil, but either way, she must retain a disciplined mind to be able to summon her companions. Religion: The summoners are their own religion. They worship their Aeons, and sometimes the gods they serve, but this is not a common occurrence. Some summoners will disguise themselves as priests to hide from hostile citizens who fear that their talks about the Aeons are blasphemy. Background: Most summoners come from lands that are little touched by the gods. Their skepticism about religion has led them to search for their own answers. Finding them amidst the Aeons, they realize that if they can borrow the power of the Aeons, they no longer need gods. Most believe carry the belief that the most powerful god would be nothing without the Aeons he or she created to carry out its will. Races: Elves with their free-thinking spirits and long-lived minds are most likely to become summoners. Humans who have become disillusioned with the gods also sometimes choose to ally themselves with the Aeons. Other races are rarely seen as summoners. Other Classes: Summoners tend to favor users of pact magic since they must call upon forces other than the gods or themselves to use their abilities: like the summoners. They also work like working with arcane magic users. If it all possible they do not work with priests since they tend to look down upon them for there heresy. They never associate with paladins since they actively work to persecute summoners for their blasphemy. Role: Summoners can redefine their role in an adventuring party depending on the Aeons he aligns himself with. Their potent abilities are always useful in combat, but what those abilities are and what strategies they employ when using them depend on the Aeons he chose. As with any class, the race, alignment, and ability choices made upon character creation influence future choices. The summoner class, however, offers a special opportunity to break free of a spell caster’s typical boundaries. Game Rule Information Summoners have the following game statistics. Abilities: Summoners depend on charisma for their ability to summon their Aeons. As with all spell casters, a high dexterity would aid in the summoners armor class, and a high constitution would add much needed hit points. If the summoner wants to be more melee-active, a high strength would aid him in combat. Alignment: Any lawful. Hit Die: d6 Class Skills The summoner’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), and Profession (Wis). Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4 Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier Class Features All of the following are class features of the summoner. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Summoners are proficient with all simple weapons and all light armor, but not with shields. Summon: In order to call upon the power of her patrons, a summoner must make a pilgrimage to a shrine (minor Aeons), a chapel (major Aeons), a monument (greater Aeons), or a temple (superior Aeons) to ask for the help of a particular Aeon. A 1st level summoner begins play with a single minor Aeon. She is assumed to have studied her craft at a nearby shrine. The summoner may petition a new Aeon at every new level, but must make the pilgrimage to said Aeon. In order to summon an Aeon, a summoner must take a full-round action to mentally call out to the Aeon ask for its help. At the end of the meditation, the summoner must make a Summon attempt. This is a charisma based check that the summoner adds his level to. The DC is dependent upon the Aeon. Summoning an Aeon is an action that provokes an attack of opportunity, and can be disrupted by attack (thus requiring a Concentration check by the summoner). A particular Aeon is reluctant to be summoned more than once in a day; therefore, any attempt after the first to summon an Aeon in one day has its DC increased by 2 (+2 for the second, +4 for the third, +6 for the fourth, etc.). The Aeon remains summoned for a number of rounds outside of combat for a number of rounds equal to the summoners level plus its charisma modifier, and a number of minutes outside of combat equal to her level plus five times her charisma modifier. A summoner is encouraged to summon her allies outside of combat for the good of the people. The summoner may not dismiss her Aeon prematurely. An Aeons abilities are dependent upon the Aeon. Favored of the Summoner: At second level a summoner can designate any of her Aeon companions as a “favored” summon. These Aeons take only a standard action to be summoned, have their Summon DCs reduced by 2, and the summoner can dismiss this Aeon after only three rounds. She gains another Favored Aeon at 7th, 12th, and 17th levels. Eidlform: A summoner’s connection to her Aeons and their native plane cause her to become more attune to their bodies. At 4th level a summoner no longer needs to eat to stay alive, and is immune to nausea effects. At 8th level a summoner loses the necessity to sleep and is immune to sleep effects. At 12th level a summoner losses the necessity to breathe. At 16th level a summoner becomes immune to poison and magical and non-magical diseases. At 20th level a summoner becomes so attune to her Aeons that she gains the spell resistance of the Aeons natural form. The summoner gains spell resistance equal to 30 plus her charisma modifier. Attack Fort Ref Will Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Summon(minor) 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Favored of the Summoner, 1st 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Eidlform(eat) 5th +3 +1 +1 +4 6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Summon(major) 7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Favored of the Summoner, 2nd 8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 Eidlform(sleep) 9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6 10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Last Breath 1/day 11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7 Summon(greater) 12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 Favored of the Summoner, 3rd Eidlform(poison and disease) 13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9 Last Breath 2/day 15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +10 16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Summon(superior) Eidlform(breathless) 17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Favored of the Summoner, 4th 18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11 19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Last Breath 3/day 20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Eidlform(spell resistance) Last Breath: At 10th level the summoner gains the ability to summon one of her Aeons as a swift action and use its Final Call ability in the same round once per day. This still counts as a summon so the summoner must make a successful Summon attempt, and all further attempts to summon the Aeon for the remainder of the day fail (due to its Final Call). If the check fails, this still counts as a use of the Last Breath ability, but not as a use of the Aeon’s Final Call (and therefore the Aeon may be summoned again during the day). At 14th level and 19th the summoner gains an extra use of this ability. Aeons Prerequisite: Most Aeons require certain things of their summoners some prerequisites are met in order to reach the Aeon (such as swimming across a small river with a swim check DC of 15), but then some requirements are inherent in the summoner (such as she must be of a good alignment). Limitations: Some Aeons have special limitations to when and where they can be called. Aeons of a water type might only wish to be called in or near water. Some Aeons might have a particular aversion to other Aeons, and therefore will refuse to come if called after that particular Aeon. Overcall: This represents an overexposure to the Aeons power in a single day and allows the summoner a modicum of power to use even when the Aeon is not present. Each Aeon’s Overcall has different requirements and different conclusions. Since the Aeon is not present to grant the power itself, the save DC for any ability granted to the summoner is reduced by 2. (Normal: Save DC = 10 + ½ the summoner’s level + her Charisma modifier). Type: An Aeon may have 2 types: Combat and Support. Combat Aeons are also split into melee and ranged, these usually enhance the combat prowess of their summoner while allowing them to enter the fray and assist with their own somewhat limited array of abilities. Support Aeons are not able to enter combat themselves, but offer their summoner a list of abilities to use during combat. Spell-like/Psi-like Abilities: Some Aeons imbue their summoner with spell-like or psi-like abilities. These abilities are cast as a sorcerer of the same level as the summoner and may be used (collectively) a number of times per summon equal to one plus the summoner’s charisma modifier. Final Call: This ability represents the full power of the Aeons, and each Aeon has one. This ability is only useable on the final round the Aeon is present on the field. The usage of this ability is so draining to the Aeon, though, that they are not capable of being summoned for the remainder of the day; however, this does not negate possible abilities the Aeon has previously bestowed (from use of the Overcall ability or other various abilities). So I don't have any Aeons typed up yet, but I have ideas for a few. I just wanted to know if I should even bother to pursue it enough to make Aeons.
Squall255 12-27-06, 03:03 PM	Sounds interesting. I'd like to see what you've got in store as Aeons, as well as wondering if your Aeon's could increase in power, as opposed to having to select stronger Aeons at higher levels.
Cade_Shadowfox 12-27-06, 07:13 PM	I planned on doing a small amount of scaling, but, hopefully, it'll be something in proportion to say a spell. Like, for example, magic missile, it does get better as the spell-caster levels, but evetually caps. I hope for the Aeons to do something like that, still be useful to use in later levels, but will eventually be passed up for something that's better with less effort.
Soel Griffin 12-27-06, 07:57 PM	I like the looks of this so far. I've been wanting a base summoner class, but the binder is something different, and nothing using the summons spells seems to satisfy. Waiting for more...