Clerics, Alignment and Summon Monster

[Krud]

Hi guys,

My character is a chaotic good cleric (of a Chaotic Neutral god). When casting Summon Monster 1 is there any restriction on the type of creature that I summon?

Specifically since it becomes a Lawful and Evil spell if I use it to summon a fiendish dire rat can my cleric still use it in this fashion?

Can someone point me at the passage in the PHB or DMG where it says I can't if thats the case. I've been digging around and haven't found anything yet.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jack Simth]

It's in the SRD, even:

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

So as a CG, you can't cast Summon Monster Y for a Fiendish anything, nor can you get, say, a lantern Archon.

 

[Krud]

Yep I just found it in the PHB under cleric after spending ages going through the Magic and Spells section <sigh>. Thanks

As an interesting aside this makes it even less optimal to be a cleric of a god that doesn't share your alignment as you'll be restricting yourself even more on spell selection.

 

[Hypersmurf]

As an interesting aside this makes it even less optimal to be a cleric of a god that doesn't share your alignment as you'll be restricting yourself even more on spell selection.

Well, that's only sometimes true.

Let's say you're a Lawful Good cleric. You can worship a deity who is LG, LN, or NG. It doesn't matter which you pick; you cannot summon Chaotic or Evil creatures. Your deity's alignment doesn't restrict you any further than your alignment already does.

It's only if you have a neutral component in your alignment that choice of deity might further restrict your choices.

-Hyp.

 

[frankthedm]

Well, that's only sometimes true.

Let's say you're a Lawful Good cleric. You can worship a deity who is LG, LN, or NG. It doesn't matter which you pick; you cannot summon Chaotic or Evil creatures. Your deity's alignment doesn't restrict you any further than your alignment already does.

It's only if you have a neutral component in your alignment that choice of deity might further restrict your choices.

-Hyp.

And if you cast too many spells that differ from your deity's alignment, you might becom an ex-cleric when your alignment changes.

 

[Infiniti2000]

And if you cast too many spells that differ from your deity's alignment, ...

In this example, that isn't possible. It's not that it's frowned upon, it says you "can't".

 

[frankthedm]

In this example, that isn't possible. It's not that it's frowned upon, it says you "can't".

whoops, posting with 1 hour of sleep is Fun!

 

[Hypersmurf]

In this example, that isn't possible. It's not that it's frowned upon, it says you "can't".

Even if you could, it presupposes that casting a [Lawful] spell is a lawful act.

Does a Neutral wizard who casts hundreds of Protection from Chaos spells become Lawful Neutral over time?

-Hyp.

 

[frankthedm]

Even if you could, it presupposes that casting a [Lawful] spell is a lawful act.

Does a Neutral wizard who casts hundreds of Protection from Chaos spells become Lawful Neutral over time?

-Hyp.

Yes.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Yes.

Got a source on that one?

-Hyp.