pukunui
Legend
Hi all,
So in my Tomb of Annihilation game, the PCs have just hit 5th level. This means the druid can now cast conjure animals. Like the other spells that conjure random creatures, this one lets the player choose the number and max CR of the creatures they want to summon, but apparently it's up to me as the DM to decide what actually shows up within the given parameters.
Since the spell always says "CR X or lower", I could be a complete jerk and just always have CR 0 toads show up or something. Luckily I'm not a jerk. I could be a nice DM instead and always pick creatures of the max CR chosen. Or I could be random too and make it so he has to roll on a chart to see what he gets.
Or I could be super generous and just let him pick the creatures himself. I did that once before, because the last druid I GMed for had a bear theme going, and the player wanted to be able to only ever summon bears (and he only ever wildshaped into a bear as well). In this case, the player has expressed a (strong) preference for dinosaurs.
Fortunately for me, the player in question has also said that he'll only ever pick the one or two beast options, so that I needn't worry about cluttering up the battlefield with heaps of little critters. That will certainly make things easier to manage at the table, although it might also make fights a lot easier, if there's frequently going to be an extra CR 1 or 2 dino with the party.
To whit, my fellow DMs: What would you do in this situation? What is your preferred method for handling these spells? I would appreciate some constructive advice on this matter.
Thanks!
Jonathan
So in my Tomb of Annihilation game, the PCs have just hit 5th level. This means the druid can now cast conjure animals. Like the other spells that conjure random creatures, this one lets the player choose the number and max CR of the creatures they want to summon, but apparently it's up to me as the DM to decide what actually shows up within the given parameters.
Since the spell always says "CR X or lower", I could be a complete jerk and just always have CR 0 toads show up or something. Luckily I'm not a jerk. I could be a nice DM instead and always pick creatures of the max CR chosen. Or I could be random too and make it so he has to roll on a chart to see what he gets.
Or I could be super generous and just let him pick the creatures himself. I did that once before, because the last druid I GMed for had a bear theme going, and the player wanted to be able to only ever summon bears (and he only ever wildshaped into a bear as well). In this case, the player has expressed a (strong) preference for dinosaurs.
Fortunately for me, the player in question has also said that he'll only ever pick the one or two beast options, so that I needn't worry about cluttering up the battlefield with heaps of little critters. That will certainly make things easier to manage at the table, although it might also make fights a lot easier, if there's frequently going to be an extra CR 1 or 2 dino with the party.
To whit, my fellow DMs: What would you do in this situation? What is your preferred method for handling these spells? I would appreciate some constructive advice on this matter.
Thanks!
Jonathan
