Hussar
Legend
The difference is largely academic though. It’s not like there’s a massive difference.
D&D 5E Am I missing something about Conjure Animal
The difference is largely academic though. It’s not like there’s a massive difference.
In a setting based on Europe, bear in the woods yes, giant hyena no. If it's not a monster that one could randomly encounter, then it's probably not findable in that specific terrain.
Bear is adequate, for most combat purposes. Dire wolf has Pack Tactics and knockdown, so some players and some DMs will take interest in the difference. If you can Conjure a pair of dire wolves, then wildshape into dire wolf, you and your summoned critters can Pack Attack with each other. Again, whether that's fun just for the caster, or for other players as well, is my priority, rather than which has higher DPR.
Bear is adequate, for most combat purposes. Dire wolf has Pack Tactics and knockdown, so some players and some DMs will take interest in the difference. If you can Conjure a pair of dire wolves, then wildshape into dire wolf, you and your summoned critters can Pack Attack with each other. Again, whether that's fun just for the caster, or for other players as well, is my priority, rather than which has higher DPR.
the Jester
Legend
This is one reason I prefer to run "Everyone Starts at First Level" (ES@1) campaigns- there's no question as to what giant animals your character has encountered over his career.
[MENTION=4682]Eric Anondson[/MENTION] I have found that simply running the animals as narrated NPCs works really well. There is no way that I am dragging out the fight and delaying real players turns by either having the druid roll a million dice or doing so myself. If they summon a pack of wolves. I just take the average to-hit chance and average damage and narrate what happens. E.g. "The wolves surround the two orcs at the back, one is dragged down and seems to be losing badly, the other is holding them off and will probably prevail" so effectively the spell took 2 enemies out of the combat.
This stops the druid's one spell becoming the focal point of the combats while at the same time keeping it powerful and effective. I also tend to have animals act like animals if the druid is not actively controlling them. Most animals spend a turn confirming the kill with a bite to the neck. Most animals will chase the guy that is running away, even if other valid targets exist. By default they will go for the isolated or weakest enemies.
This stops the druid's one spell becoming the focal point of the combats while at the same time keeping it powerful and effective. I also tend to have animals act like animals if the druid is not actively controlling them. Most animals spend a turn confirming the kill with a bite to the neck. Most animals will chase the guy that is running away, even if other valid targets exist. By default they will go for the isolated or weakest enemies.
pming
Legend
Hiya!
I run the animals with their stats high on the list of important things to consider regarding the Druid's commands. Yes, the animals are "fey spirits", but figure they are the same 'animal type', but just a fey from the Happy Hunting Grounds or, what is it..."Feywild" or something? Anyway, a Summoned Panther still has the stats of a Panther; meaning it has a 3 Int. It can follow simple commands. I figure anything that a well-trained dog could do, it can do. So "Stay", "Guard", "Fetch", and slightly better like "Go Home", "Carry this", and such. But there is no way in H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks I would let the Druid player get away with "Protect the entrance here from any goblins or bad guys. Come get us if you see more than 4 getting close to you". If an Elk was given that command...it'd walk over the the entrance and start eating grass. That's about it. It might bellow if something got close to it, like a squirrel or something, but numbers of creatures, specific creatures and any 'additional info' past the first few words would be lost/forgotten by it in short order. It's an Elk with a 3 Int. It's not Hannibal with the linguistic capabilities of Shakespear.
So...yeah. Never been a problem in my games. I should also note that I DM in a very "INTENT of the PLAYER" sort of way. If I see a player trying to use Summon Animals to basically "avoid any challenge/danger...and then claim all the rewards", then I am very harsh in my ruling. But if a player uses it to add a cool element to the feeling of the game or the story at hand, without regard for trying to "game the system", then I am very lenient. "I'll summon 8 animals and tell them to attack the bandits! We can then go in and clean up!"...er...not gonna work out very well. "I'll summon an animal to take the note to Amrissa"...will work out pretty much as desired. This usually means that it ends up somewhere in the middle. "I'll summon some animals to attack as a distraction so that we can get closer to them before they notice us"...yeah, that will likely work decently enough; the animals aren't doing "all the work", so to speak.
It's a fine line and it is only this way because I've been playing with most of the current group for almost two decades now. We "know" how we play and what is/isn't considered 'gaming the system' (or, in our parlance, "shenanigans").
Once you (OP) start to make consistent rulings on what a spell is likely to be 'able to accomplish', the group will start to jell and you won't have this type of "gaming the system" situations come up very often at all. In the end, IMHO, the game is better for it.
YMMV.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
I run the animals with their stats high on the list of important things to consider regarding the Druid's commands. Yes, the animals are "fey spirits", but figure they are the same 'animal type', but just a fey from the Happy Hunting Grounds or, what is it..."Feywild" or something? Anyway, a Summoned Panther still has the stats of a Panther; meaning it has a 3 Int. It can follow simple commands. I figure anything that a well-trained dog could do, it can do. So "Stay", "Guard", "Fetch", and slightly better like "Go Home", "Carry this", and such. But there is no way in H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks I would let the Druid player get away with "Protect the entrance here from any goblins or bad guys. Come get us if you see more than 4 getting close to you". If an Elk was given that command...it'd walk over the the entrance and start eating grass. That's about it. It might bellow if something got close to it, like a squirrel or something, but numbers of creatures, specific creatures and any 'additional info' past the first few words would be lost/forgotten by it in short order. It's an Elk with a 3 Int. It's not Hannibal with the linguistic capabilities of Shakespear.
So...yeah. Never been a problem in my games. I should also note that I DM in a very "INTENT of the PLAYER" sort of way. If I see a player trying to use Summon Animals to basically "avoid any challenge/danger...and then claim all the rewards", then I am very harsh in my ruling. But if a player uses it to add a cool element to the feeling of the game or the story at hand, without regard for trying to "game the system", then I am very lenient. "I'll summon 8 animals and tell them to attack the bandits! We can then go in and clean up!"...er...not gonna work out very well. "I'll summon an animal to take the note to Amrissa"...will work out pretty much as desired. This usually means that it ends up somewhere in the middle. "I'll summon some animals to attack as a distraction so that we can get closer to them before they notice us"...yeah, that will likely work decently enough; the animals aren't doing "all the work", so to speak.
It's a fine line and it is only this way because I've been playing with most of the current group for almost two decades now. We "know" how we play and what is/isn't considered 'gaming the system' (or, in our parlance, "shenanigans").
Once you (OP) start to make consistent rulings on what a spell is likely to be 'able to accomplish', the group will start to jell and you won't have this type of "gaming the system" situations come up very often at all. In the end, IMHO, the game is better for it.
YMMV.
^_^
Paul L. Ming
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