Getting the most out of Summon Nature's Ally

[Phasics]

Been looking for a bit of guide on Summon Nature's Ally at low levels

I mean at level 1 is it even worth casting ? 1 round/level , I mean its here for a grand total of 6 seconds ! then gone before it has a chance to do much of anything ?

that to me seems like the biggest downside which dosent really get much better until you've got some levels under your belt. are there any feats etc that can help with this (at lower levels)?

Also with regards to summoning multiple lower level critters i.e. 1d3 or 1d4+1. At Summon 2 and Summon 3 is it worth summoning more lower level critters to get more damage out of them for the short time there are around ? I mean with a grand total of 2 or 3 rounds at this point does anyone care about Hit Points ?

and as far as buffing summoned critters again I can't really see the point since there gone before it will make any real difference.

So just a bit of advice for lower levels ?


on a side note would it be too overpowered to increase summoning from 1 round/level to 1 min/level? or even 10 mins/level. Perhaps costing a feat or even a summoning skill which increases duration by number of ranks in the skill ?

 

[Moon-Lancer]

dont use sna at level 1. use sna 2 for more wolves, then use sna 3 for dire wolf, then use sna 4 for more dire wolves. use sna 4 to summon a unicorn for healing. sna 5 or 6 for elementals is then really cool (large air). Pick up bad guys, left 110 feet, and drop for 10d6 damage before its level 10. This is also good for carrying away bad guys who are hurting allys.

 

[Dimensional]

Your right at lvl 1 SNA is difficult to use

though it can be used well to tie up an opponent for a round - block passages etc. but mostly it doesn't last long enough.

If you have ebberon Campaign setting the Ashbound feat doubles the duration of SNA spells and gives all summons a +3 Luck bonus to hit. I like the roleplaying flavour as well.

at lower levels the extra animals from a lower lvl SNA can be useful - extra flanking, extra targets that must be bypassed before the enemy can get to you that sort of thing.

mostly it's situational - sometimes you want one big hitter, sometimes you want a lot of targets to chew up an opponents defenses and tie up his mooks.

I loves my druids SNA abilities and I usedthem from the beggining of our campaign - though we did start at lvl 3

Jeremy

 

[Legildur]

If you have ebberon Campaign setting the Ashbound feat doubles the duration of SNA spells and gives all summons a +3 Luck bonus to hit. I like the roleplaying flavour as well.

Is there anything about Ebberon that isn't overpowered?

 

[Jack Simth]

Summon Nature's Ally II can be exceedingly useful - you see, the Dire Badger has a Burrow speed, and a note that it leaves a useable tunnel behind in anything other than particularly loose dirt. It can't get through solid rock, but anything softer than that. Great for getting past a castle wall, or out of a maze (not the spell), or making a defensible location to rest (pretty much only the one way in, and that with no cover or concealment, so no hiding), getting out of cheaply constructed prisons and dungeons, and occasionally getting the drop on someone (silly them, watching the door....).

 

[irdeggman]

Is there anything about Ebberon that isn't overpowered?

When compared to Forgotten Realms IMO it is about the same.

 

[brehobit]

Is there anything about Ebberon that isn't overpowered?

It is pretty high-power. That said, while that feat is _really_ powerful, the RP restrictions on it (which should be enforced IMO) are pretty huge. A hatred of Arcane magic limits party options and potentially magic item use. I personally rule that all non-divine magic counts as arcane for this purpose.

Ya want the power, ya gotta pay the price.

Mark

 

[lukelightning]

The unicorn trick of SNA is something that needs to be fixed. Ta-da! A 4th level spell that gives you cure light wounds 3/day, cure moderate wounds 1/day, and neutralize poison 1/day; no need to ever prepare neutralize poison! Plus a constant magic circle against evil. At least its greater teleport doesn't work (it only works in the unicorn's home...wherever the heck a summoned unicorn's home is, it certainly isn't wherever the druid summoned it).

 

[Wolfwood2]

Also with regards to summoning multiple lower level critters i.e. 1d3 or 1d4+1. At Summon 2 and Summon 3 is it worth summoning more lower level critters to get more damage out of them for the short time there are around ? I mean with a grand total of 2 or 3 rounds at this point does anyone care about Hit Points ?

It's not worth it at level 1. Around level 3 it starts getting useful.

The best creature on the Summon NA II list is hippogriffs because they get three attacks per round. Not very powerful attacks it's true, but they add up.

The best creature on the Summon NA III list is the dire wolf, for its insane strength score and free ability to trip opponents. It has a lousy AC but who cares? It has enough hitpoints to last a few rounds, and that's really all you need.

It might be worth summoning 1d3 hippogriffs instead of one dire wolf. It's definitely better to summon 1d3 dire wolves than anything on the SNA IV list. (Well, in terms of combat power. A unicorn is nice for spells.)

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Elementals are good for scouting; the air elementals are extremely fast, and the earth elementals can walk through solid stone. Just make sure your druid speaks Terran and Auran.