New Wizard Summoning Spells!

[Klaus]

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Wizards)

Several spells that summon specific creatures, from "Summon Dretch" to "Summon Balor" (!!!), these spells have two new lines in their blocks:

Instrinsic nature: what the summoned creature does when you don't give it any command. For instance, if you don't give your Balor any commands and you are within its reach, the Balor makes a melee basic attack against YOU!

Symbiosys: the presence of the summoned creature alters your attacks in a subtle way, like adding fire damage or somesuch.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I like the flavor, though I wonder if Intrinsic Nature isn't too easy to avoid. Probably depends on how often you like to daze and stun your Wizard.

 

[Rachel]

Unfortunately, I can't read the article but Intrinsic Nature and Symbiosys both look very interesting to me. Since I have a homebrew summoner class, I may have to look at something similar. Very cool.

 

[MrMyth]

I like the flavor a lot. I think the 'Intrinsic Nature' hits a good balance point between regular summons (which the caster needs to keep activating on their own) and the druid summons (which have similar instinctive behavior, but with no real downside.) Allowing free attacks but at some cost to the Wizard makes sense.

The only one I have a real issue with is the Succubus. A free dominate for every round of an encounter would be rather crazy strong in its own right; the ability to get those dominates without spending actions is especially bad. Other than that, though, everything seems flavorful and balanced!

 

[FreeXenon]

Symbiosys

I like the spells too, but the wording on Symbiosis makes not sense at all. Either you get the effect when the summoned creature is here or you do not. I have read over this a few times and I still do not get it.

Either it should be worded as an 'until end of encounter effect' or 'while summoned creature is here' effect.

I think that they may need to really rewrite the spells for that section... very confusing.

Perhaps someone can correct me.

 

[Mort_Q]

The only one I have a real issue with is the Succubus. A free dominate for every round of an encounter would be rather crazy strong in its own right; the ability to get those dominates without spending actions is especially bad. Other than that, though, everything seems flavorful and balanced!

It's a Standard Action, is it not?

Perhaps someone can correct me.

The sidebar on page 77, says:

Symbiosis: Each power includes a symbiosis effect. The symbiosis entry grants you a particular effect for which you gain the benefit as
long as the summoned creature is present. Summoned creatures (and their attacks) can never benefit from the symbiosis effects of summoning powers.

 

[FreeXenon]

@Mort_Q, Yea, I read that and that makes sense, but what is confusing is the wording in the powers themselves. Lets take a look at the Dretch's Symbiosis entry:

Symbiosis: Each creature you hit with a basic or at-will attack
takes 5 damage if it makes an attack before the end of
its next turn. While the summoned dretch is present,
each creature you hit with a basic or at-will attack takes 5
damage if it makes an attack before the end of its next turn,
after it makes the attack.

A whole lot of confusing redundancy. They only really need the second sentence. The first one does not add anything. If they ripped out the first sentence on all of the entries except one, everything would be fine.

=)

 

[mneme]

(re Succubus) It's a Standard Action, is it not?

The succubus will continue to dominate enemies on her own as an instinctive action (at a cost of dazing you). I think that's a reasonable enough cost aside from the crazy strongness of dominate at will in the first place--it does let you bust out with the crazy, but you either pay your standard action this turn or you yield combat advantage and pay your immediate, minor, and move actions next turn (and you're dazed). The fact that you have to pay standard action to -stop- being dazed keeps it at least vaguley in line--the succubus can, quite literally, get you killed if you misplay her.

I like the summons in general. They're a bit over the top -- with a good attack power, the symbiotic ability to act as an alternative to using the power, and that interesting option to let them run wild for a bit and eat (or mitigate) the cost provides cool tactical options. They're very much striker summons (as opposed to the AP summons, which were very much defender summons), but since striker and defender are the secondary roles of the summoning wizard, that's groovy.

Regarding the wording of the Symbiosis abiliities, yes, it's messed up. Each summon has its ability stated two ways -- first, it's got the ability (with the text on "Symbiosis" giving it a "while the summoned creature is present" qualifier). Then they've got the entire ability -again- with the Symbiosis text included. One should just ignore one or the other.

 

[Mort_Q]

Looks like an editting error. Needs a bit of cleaning up, I agree.

 

[FreeXenon]

@mneme - Exactly. It is good to know I am not the only one.

I really like these summoning spells. Cool and evocative.

I can just picture the forces of the summoning spell tethering the creature to the summoner as the wizard struggles to maintain control. Primal forces surging about him creating a small tethered vortex of lashing energy as long as the spell is effective.