Figurines of Wondrous Power!

[Scribble]

Hmmm.. I seemed to have missed that detail. I was taking it as "you spend a minor action, and the creature gets its' three actions". If that's the case, what's the point of using the creature if your own personal attacks are more likely to be better?

You basically get an extra "standard" for a minor. The only issue is getting it into place.

You're head to head with an enemy, spend a minor to move the conjured guy into place, trade your move to have it attack, and then attack with your own standard... (with the benefits of flanking!)

 

[frankthedm]

Hmmm.. I seemed to have missed that detail. I was taking it as "you spend a minor action, and the creature gets its' three actions". If that's the case, what's the point of using the creature if your own personal attacks are more likely to be better?

There is not much point. It is supposed to make you *think* you are gaining a benefit, when you aren't.

Though it lets someone put a second healing surge on the mat as a standard. The chance at turning an immediate action into a chomp is ~alright~, but hard to set up since the enemy will have his own full action allotment to outmaneuver the mutt.

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm perplexed by the fact that the text states that the conjured creatures lack basic attacks, while the stat block for the onyx dog lists the bite as a basic attack...

 

[frankthedm]

Also...

Minor action to draw out the item
Standard to use it,
Minor to put the item back away if you need both hands.

That’s an investment of actions than will take some time to recoup.

“Conjured creatures lack basic attacks and therefore cannot make opportunity attacks.” And yet the Dog has a listed.

 

[zoroaster100]

The summoning lasts 8 hours, so you can easily summon the dog outside of combat so as not to use up actions in combat to summon. You only need to worry about the minor actions you use during combat to control the dog.

 

[frankthedm]

The summoning lasts 8 hours, so you can easily summon the dog outside of combat so as not to use up actions in combat to summon. You only need to worry about the minor actions you use during combat to control the dog.

Good point.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

You basically get an extra "standard" for a minor. The only issue is getting it into place.

You're head to head with an enemy, spend a minor to move the conjured guy into place, trade your move to have it attack, and then attack with your own standard... (with the benefits of flanking!)

Most of the time, you should be able to get away with spending only one minor action on the critter each turn, since you can have it charge as a single (standard) action. The enemy could move exactly one square away to prevent a charge (by RAW, at least), but typically there should be another enemy to charge instead, if you don't want to spend the two minor actions to shift the critter in and attack.

But yes, in general, the idea is that you can trade the PC's minor actions for any type of action on the critter, subject to the normal action budget per combatant. On most turns, this should translate into an additional attack!

 

[Vanuslux]

Great, watch Animal Companions work in a similar way. Do real attack dogs have to be told over and over again to attack the same opponent? No...you tell them once, they keep attacking until they're told to stop.

 

[drothgery]

Great, watch Animal Companions work in a similar way. Do real attack dogs have to be told over and over again to attack the same opponent? No...you tell them once, they keep attacking until they're told to stop.

The obvious Hong quote applies here.

A real attack dog doesn't have to balanced in gaming system. Attack dogs created by magic items or summoning spells do.

 

[GnomeWorks]

The obvious Hong quote applies here.

Ah yes, the cry of "but it would be hard to make that work!"