Conjuration specialist - a good idea?

[Mathew_Freeman]

I'm thinking about running a Conjuration specialist with a sideline in Transmutation...ie lots of summoned, buffed creatures

So - advice? Tales to tell about their effectiveness or lack thereof? Feats I should take? Feats that look promising but aren't? PrC's?

I have:

PHB, MM, DMG
Splatbooks
Quint Wizard
AEG Magic
MotP
D+Demigods
FRCS and MoF (but I don't want to use them, so no Spellcasting prodigy or Incantatrix or Archmage PrC)

The character might start at any level, depending on what campaign I'm playing in...so just general advice would be nice.

I'm already aware of Augmented Summoning (I think it adds HD to summoned creatures, not sure).

 

[Crothian]

Well, the Wizard in my group is a Conjuror and they key is to take the proper school as your banned school. Ban Evocation. You can also take the Summoner character concept from quint Wizard.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Why Evocation? I tend to lose Illusion and Enchantment first...

What are the choices for a Conjurer, forbidden-school-wise?

 

[Crothian]

Evocation because those are the most common spells people memorize. By losing it you are freeing yourself up for other spells, mainly summoning spells.

 

[Wippit Guud]

No way... Illusion would be sweet with that concept!

Summond d3 dire wolves.
Now, start making illusions of more dire wolves.
And then, mirror image a dire wolf.

Suddenly there's 40 wolves out there!

 

[Kaji]

There was also a very helpful article in last months Dragon on Summoning/Conjurer mage concepts. I would keep in mind that one Summon Monster I might not be all that great, but keep casting it for 2 or three rounds and take some of the support feats that enhance your summoned creatures and you're in good. Also, to add to the comments about dropping Illusion, there are really some great ptotective spells in there (mirror image, blur, invisibility...). I dropped in my most recent mage concept (he was an enchanter) and I found myself spending money to make up for theloss of some of those spells, something I would not have done for Evocation.

[Edit for spelling]

 

[Shard O'Glase]

you have to keep illusion jsut for invis, because summoning isn't an attack. So you stay invis, while you summon and considering the 1 round cast time that maans you might actually get this spell off now and then.

 

[Kaji]

you have to keep illusion jsut for invis, because summoning isn't an attack. So you stay invis, while you summon and considering the 1 round cast time that maans you might actually get this spell off now and then.

This is an awesome point that I failed to include in my post. Shard has shamed me...

 

[Ascending Crane]

As a DM that is about to have a summoner who will be calling his minions while invisibil, I'm very frightened.

He also has all the appropriate feats to make his summoned creatures supah-nasty.

Hold me, I'm scared.

 

[nameless]

I always lose evocation. IMO, 3E evocation spells got the shaft. Basically, hit points got a lot higher since 2E, and saves are probably about the same. But there are a lot more elemental protections around, and the evocation damage spells didn't really get any more damage. Basically, fireballs and meteor swarms aren't getting the job done anymore. 24d6 with no save still ends up being about 84 damage on average. That's decent, but not gonna get the job done at level 20. 5d6 save for half (a level 5 fireball) ends up with about 16 average, 8 with a successful save.

I could go on a rant about effective tactics, but I'll just give the answer I came up with: Fighters can go all day on weak opponents, with little problem. Fireballs also hurt weak opponents, and waste a spell slot. Fighters can't go all day against strong opponents, but wizards can usually beat (i.e. blind, paralyze, petrify or kill) those opponents from a range with just one or two spells. Basically, a wizard shines when it comes down to doing things that circumvent hit points. Fighters take away hit points, wizards do everything else.