D&D 5E Conjure Random Creatures

[Gwarok]

Personally, I've always thought that the idea the DM and not the player gets to pick the creatures is stupid. Why would I use a spell, a nice 3rd level no less, when I wasn't sure what the results would be? As a DM I've always been of the mind that the players already have a lot of limitations in their framework in how they interact with the world, and I don't, so why would I take away any reasonable choices that the rules leave them? I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where letting the players pick the creatures summoned would unbalance the game in any way I couldn't deal with as the DM, so I let them pick.

 

[Sunseeker]

Yes. For a better perspective on how summons should be played see the Gloomhaven game. In a nutshell, the summons gets a turn right before the summoner, and they execute a basic move and basic attack on whatever monster is closest to them, they are on auto-pilot. The player then gets their turn, wherein they can act or direct their summons to attack again or move to a different target.

Obviously D&D is a little different. But that system works also.

Right, I do tend to enforce a little bit of "these are animals you're controlling, not tactical squads". Summoning can really slow down the game.

 

[pukunui]

Personally, I've always thought that the idea the DM and not the player gets to pick the creatures is stupid.

The impression I get, which I admit could be wrong, is that they did it this way so the DM could say, "No, you can't summon a walrus in the middle of the desert."

Now, if the spell were summoning real creatures, that would make some sense. However, it is actually summoning fey spirits that take the form of beasts, so why couldn't you have one take the form of a walrus even if you're in the middle of the desert? "Because it's magic," you might say.

I'm not too fussed on that front.

My biggest beef with these spells - and I see that I am not alone here - is their propensity to a) slow down the game and b) swing things too much in the PCs' favor, especially if the highest CR creatures are always being picked.

It was definitely a challenge for me to keep things challenging for the PCs when the druid in my Tyranny of Dragons game would summon up two big CR 2 bears to help them out. He ended up with a massive Con save modifier, too, so it was nearly impossible for the bad guys to get rid of the bears by disrupting his concentration.

 

[guachi]

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.

My preferred method is players don't cast a spell that slows the game down like summon spells can.

However, I'd come up with a list of creatures appropriate to various terrain types and them randomly roll. I'd try to have a minimum number of options per terrain type so that there is some randomness to the results.

 

[pukunui]

My preferred method is players don't cast a spell that slows the game down like summon spells can.

That is my preference too, but the player in question is mad about "pets", so I didn't want to just ban them. He has promised to only ever choose the one or two beast options, though, which is kind of him.

However, I'd come up with a list of creatures appropriate to various terrain types and them randomly roll. I'd try to have a minimum number of options per terrain type so that there is some randomness to the results.

What do you think of the tables I posted here? The player says they're perfect, which is all that really matters, I suppose.