Neo Phonelobster Prime wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2022 9:24 pm
What happens when someone decides to go to an inn and rent out the services of their summoned demon who conjures sentient flying daggers?
The GM roleplays the reaction of NPCs? What else should happen?
~
I've been thinking about how I would build a FF style summoner class, and decided to put together a little write up.
While the easier, lazier route is to create a warlock subclass, summoner should probably be its own class, even if that entails adding in some padding and acknowledging class support will be thin since its homebrew. But so what! If the subclass ends up being good enough, it can get spun out as a separate class, besides WotC will continue to provide support for a subclass since they will continue to release warlock options.
The Summoner
You have made a pact with a primordial spirit, an ancient essence inextricably tied to a particular type of creature. Such primordial spirits often take on the tropes expected of such creatures, but can sometimes exhibit surprising contradictions or beliefs far alien to mortal matters. They give free reign to mortals who form pacts with them, concerning themselves very little with their short, mundane lives, but have been known to take a keen interest or even directly intervene with summoners that find themselves in situations that specifically impact the concerns of the primordial spirit and the creatures under their domain.
Chose your partons kind or determine it randomly, using the Spirit Creature Type table.
Spirit Creature Type
d8 Type
1 Aberration
2 Beast
3 Celestial
4 Dragon
5 Fey
6 Fiend
7 Monstrosity
8 Undead
Expanded Spells
Aberration
1 Chaos Bolt, Longstrider
2 Alter Self, Spider Climb
3 Blink, Water Breathing
4 Evard’s Black Tentacles, Polymorph
5 Cloudkill, Telekinesis
Beast
1 Beast Bond, Speak with Animals
2 Beast Sense, Summon Beast
3 Conjure Animals, Haste
4 Dominate Beast, Locate Creature
5 Awaken, Commune with Nature
Celestial
1 Divine Favor, Heroism
2 Calm Emotions, Zone of Truth
3 Blinding Smite, Clairvoyance
4 Arcane Eye, Death Ward
5 Destructive Wave, Summon Celestial
Dragon
1 Absorb Elements, Mage Armor
2 Dragon’s Breath, Magic Weapon
3 Glyph of Warding, Protection from Energy
4 Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere
5 Legend Lore, Summon Draconic Spirit
Fey
1 Disguise Self, Faerie Fire
2 Enlarge/Reduce, Nystul’s Magic Aura
3 Nondetection, Summon Fey
4 Conjure Woodland Beings, Freedom of Movement
5 Modify Memory, Treestride
Fiend
1 Dissonant Whispers, Ice Knife
2 Detect Thoughts, Scorching Ray
3 Fireball, Stinking Cloud
4 Confusion, Wall of Fire
5 Immolation, Cone of Cold
Monstrosity
1 Earth Tremor, Fog Cloud
2 Barkskin, Maximilian’s Earthern Grasp
3 Erupting Earth, Lightning Bolt
4 Stoneskin, Storm Sphere
5 Maelstrom, Wall of Stone
Undead
1 Inflict Wounds, Ray of Sickness
2 Blindness/Deafness, See Invisibility
3 Animate Dead, Bestow Curse
4 Death Ward, Leomund’s Secret Chest
5 Antilife Shell, Contagion
1st-Level
Invoke Soulbind
As an action, you can expend one of your Warlock Spell slots to summon an exemplar of your patron, Its CR must not exceed your maximum Summon CR from the Summons CR Table. You temporarily recede from existence and in your place, within 30 feet of your last location, your pact summons appears and acts immediately. The summons last a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. After the summons ends its turn on its last round, it disperses leaving you in its place unable to act until the beginning of your next turn. Once a summons of a particular CR is determined it continues to be the same creature. A summons with legendary actions performs them as normal. Summons with lair actions do not get access to these powers when summoned.
If the summons is reduced to zero or less hitpoints, it vanishes and you reappear in its place, incapicated until the beginning of your turn. In addition, at the beginning of your turn, make a constitution saving throw, DC is equal to the summons CR + 5, or gain a level of exhaustion. You cannot summon the same creature again until after a long rest. Any effects that would outright kill, destroy, or permanently disable a summons (such as being petrified) instead is treated as if it was reduced to 0 hitpoints.
During your travels, you may form a summoner's pact with creatures of the appropriate type, summoning them when you invoke your soulbind, as long as you have not already reached your maximum pact size.
Start play with an appropriate summons of your choice. As long as you have an available pact slot, you can attempt to form a blind summoners pact. the GM will determine a suitable creature from the region to answer the call of you and your Patron, you may immediately reject the soulbind, in which case the creature vanishes and you lose your action, otherwise all summoners pacts are permanent and can only be undone with the power of a deity, your patron, or the lasting death of your summons.
6th-Level
Summoner’s Companion
Any summons equal to half or less of your Summon CR can instead be summoned for 1 hour.
10th-Level
Summoners Accord
You can communicate telepathically (60ft) with creatures that share the same type as your patron and they will not typically be hostile toward you. Mindless, insane, or similar creatures will tolerate your existence unless attacked.
14th-Level
Summoners Fate
You can communicate with any of your summons as if sending was cast without expending any spell slots. Summons can initiate the sending. Additionally, you can expend a warlock spellslot to teleport you and 8 others to the location of any of your summons. When before your summons, you cannot invoke another soulbind, and as you are in the presence of their true selves, they suffer the consequences of harm normally and can die. If such summons has lair actions they can perform them assuming they are in their lair. As long as you have not long rested, you can expend another warlock spellslot to return to you and 8 others to your original location.
20th-Level (alternative to Eldritch Master)
Master Summoner
You can select this ability as an alternative to the Eldritch Master class ability.
Once per long rest, you can call upon your patron to directly intercede. While a patron can refuse this request, it is exceedingly rare. Work with your GM on determining your patron, but the patron should be at least CR 25 or higher. Unlike invoking a soulbind, you do not recede when calling your Patron, nor do you directly control the actions of your Patron. The patron remains for 10 minutes and acts according to their desires, but is usually helpful. Summoning your patron often gains the attention of other power planar forces, especially the more often the Patron is called. If the Patron is reduced to 0 hit points or suffers an effect that permanently disables it, the Patron vanishes and you are impacted as you would be normally by a summons but on a failed constitution saving throw instead gain 3 levels of exhaustion, or 1 level of exhaustion on a successful save.
Summons CR Table
Level / Summon CR / Maximum Pact
1 1 1
2 3 2
3 4 2
4 6 3
5 7 3
6 9 4
7 10 4
8 12 5
9 13 5
10 15 5
11 16 6
12 18 6
13 19 6
14 21 7
15 22 7
16 24 7
17 25 7
18 27 8
19 28 8
20 30 8
Sample Table (Dragon)
# / Creature and CR / Level Obtained
1 Allowyn (Faerie Dragon (Red)) CR 1 / Level 1
2 Bvnurix (Gold Dragon Wyrmling) CR 3 / Level 2
3 Unibrix (Wyvern) CR 6 / Level 4
4 Vernon Esquire (Young Bronze Dragon) CR 8 / Level 6
5 Cavic Grace The Kingfisher (Adult Brass Dragon) CR 13 / Level 9
6 Emerik Elno Rivington (Adult Silver Dragon) CR 16 / Level 11
7 Father Gleam the Last Sultan Of Dracolyn (Ancient Gold Dragon) CR 24 / Level 16
8 Vincent, Scourge of the Bloody Depths (Brass Greatwyrm) CR 28 / Level 19
Eldritch Invocations
Hardened Heart
When your summons is reduced to 0 health, you are not considered incapacitated, and you make the constitution saving throw vs exhaustion with a +5 bonus.
Lasting Summons
When summoning a creature, double the length of time they are summoned.
Summoners Endurance
You can invoke a soulbind without expending a warlock spell slot. You can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
Summoners Managerie
Increase your Maximum Pact size by 2. You cannot change out this invocation if you would end up with more summons than Pact slots.
Twinned Souled
Prerequisite: 5th Level
When invoking a soulbind, you may decide to not recede, but remain, performing actions normally. You still suffer any effects from the summons being reduced to 0 health. You cannot invoke more than one soulbind at a time.
True Companion
Prerequisite: 7th Level
Select any Summons that qualifies for your Summoner’s Companion Ability, they instead begin a permanent cohort. You no longer need to expend a spell slot to bring the creature forth as they are always nearby (unless sent on some extended errand). When not nearby you can expend an action and warlock spell slot to teleport them within 30 feet of you. Companions are not counted as active soulbinds, allowing you to have your companion with you and summon another creature. Companions are treated as separate creatures, roll initiative and act independently.
Companions expect to be well treated, and rewarded for their services. Companions who drop to 0 health or suffer other calamities are entitled death saving throws and the like. You do not suffer the usual consequences if your companion drops to 0 health, instead, if the companion dies you gain 2 levels of exhaustion (no save). If a dead companion cannot be revived or raised, you lose your pact with that particular creature and this ability may be applied to a new summons. Otherwise, once determined, your True Companion cannot be changed. You cannot have more than one True Companion at a time
Greater Companion
Prerequisite: 12th level
Any summons CR equal to less than your level can instead be summoned for 1 hour. This improves your Summoner’s Companion Ability.