CR ranges for Summon Monster I-IX?

[Thanee]

An enhanced Empowered summon monster IX ...

That's just... desperate... empowering the d3 of a summon monster spell.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Thanee]

Erm, you know that one simple Magic Circle will completely cripple your little army there?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Don't underestimate the power of having cannon fodder to drain off enemy attacks...

 

[JackS]

Best Route

Best route would be attempting to do so with a Druid then casting a quickened 'Animal Growth'... Voilá You got yourself big, your companion big and 1d3 Summoned allies IX biggie animals... Remember to customize them first...

 

[green slime]

Erm, you know that one simple Magic Circle will completely cripple your little army there?

Bye
Thanee

There are summonable creatures with ranged attacks, are there not?

Gez is correct in his listing of the CR's. However, it is a trifle risky just using CR's.

I have a complete listing of suitable monsters from the monster books I possess that I'd be willing to share. I'll post it other at the house rules forum.

 

[Pax]

Erm, you know that one simple Magic Circle will completely cripple your little army there?

Ah, well I've already thought of how to handle THAT, assuming they get the right Circle(s) up in time.

One issue is, you have to overcome the creatures' SR to hedge them out; with an SR of HDx2 (max 25), that won't be TERRIBLY hard to beat, but the occasional beastie will get through, nonetheless.

And for two: some of the golems and other constructs, Magic Immunity renders them un-hedge-able by a Magic Circle (Diamond golems, for example). Those creatures not hedged out, simply pick up and carry those that were, right into the protected area. The hedging is an aversion, not a physical barrier, remember - and once within the Circle, nothig is forced to flee ... ^_^'

Third, I could simply arrange it so that the enemy cannot get to ME, without "pressing" the circle against one or more of the creatures it wards against; if you do that wuth an abjuration, the whole spell collapses entirely (see PHB v3.5, page 172 - last paragraph under the header "Abjurations", middle of the right hand column). Which plays right into the comment by Ogrork, "never underestimate the power of having cannon fodder to drain off enemy attacks".

Fourthly, several of these creatures were chosen (second to their unusual nature - especially demons/devils, constructs, aberrations, vermin, and "what-the-heck-is-it's") for their capacity to make ranged attacks. Nyth and Phase Wasps can both fire of MM's nearly at will, for example; they could "sandpaper" the enemy to death, a small modicum of time; with an effective caster level, for SuMon spells at least, of "lots" (feats, classes, items, etc, etc, etc), they'll likely HAVE that time. Even the Neoghi can make a SORT of ranged attack: spit Neoghi Spawn into the circle, and let the wee bairns do their thing, as it were.

There's also always the simple expedient of having enough reach to stand outside the Circle, and still put a claw / tailspike / set of teeth / unnatural tentacular pseudopod through some vital bit or other of the enemy. Remember, again: aversion, not physical barrier. ^_^

And lastly ... a horde of suicidal Jovocs. They coup-de-grace each other, dealing massive damage through their too-nasty retributive Aura ... whose radius is greater than that of a Magic Circle.

That's just... desperate... empowering the d3 of a summon monster spell.

No, it's not really a desperation issue, IMO. 1d3 gives results of 1, 2, or 3. 1d3x150% gives results of 1, 3, or 4. Suddenly, the average result is equal to the maximum result. Not too shabby; odds are you'll get the benefit of a maximise, or better than that benefit. ^_^

Plus, I did point out the 150%-of-[1d4+1] option, too. 3, 4, 6, or 7 Helmed Horrors or Rogue Eidolons is a pretty good result for one 11th level spell slot, IMO. And that's without a MetaRod, too.

Best route would be attempting to do so with a Druid then casting a quickened 'Animal Growth'... Voilá You got yourself big, your companion big and 1d3 Summoned allies IX biggie animals... Remember to customize them first...

"Druid" and "Alienist" dont mix so well, any better than "Animal Growth" and "Type: Outsider" do. ^_^

 

[green slime]

Another comment Pax: I see you are suggesting non-outsiders in your summoning. Is this accepted by the DM? As far as I can see, the summoning Monster lists from the PHB only listed outsiders.

Well... Good luck!

 

[Pax]

They'll all BE outsiders. ^_^ Where a non-outsider is listed, assume it's eithr "fiendish" or "celestial" ... as an Alienist, they lose the Celestial or Fiendish template, and gain the Pseudonatural template, regardless.

Oh, and I happen to BE the GM, anyway. ^_^

Anyway, one of the UA examples (p138, if you have the book) includes "Ghast (extraplanar)" on the Summon Monster V list. So IMO it'd be fine to grab just about ANYthing, but it all gets the "extraplanar" tag if it's not already subject to Dismissal/Banishment/whatever.

 

[Thanee]

Ah, well I've already thought of how to handle THAT, assuming they get the right Circle(s) up in time.

Yep, at least one won't work against them all.

One issue is, you have to overcome the creatures' SR to hedge them out; with an SR of HDx2 (max 25), that won't be TERRIBLY hard to beat, but the occasional beastie will get through, nonetheless.

Actually not, unless the caster has a caster level of below 24. I don't think a 1 is a failure there.

And for two: some of the golems and other constructs, Magic Immunity renders them un-hedge-able by a Magic Circle (Diamond golems, for example). Those creatures not hedged out, simply pick up and carry those that were, right into the protected area. The hedging is an aversion, not a physical barrier, remember - and once within the Circle, nothig is forced to flee ... ^_^'

LOL, clever, but it would still prevent bodily contact, I suppose.

Also you would need such a golem, but I guess that's not really a problem at this level.

Fourthly, several of these creatures were chosen (second to their unusual nature - especially demons/devils, constructs, aberrations, vermin, and "what-the-heck-is-it's") for their capacity to make ranged attacks.

Don't forget, that the spell only summons extraplanar creatures!
Are there any extraplanar constructs?

But there are quite a few with ranged attacks, of course.

There's also always the simple expedient of having enough reach to stand outside the Circle, and still put a claw / tailspike / set of teeth / unnatural tentacular pseudopod through some vital bit or other of the enemy. Remember, again: aversion, not physical barrier. ^_^

That won't work, sorry. Natural weapon attacks simply fail.

And lastly ... a horde of suicidal Jovocs. They coup-de-grace each other, dealing massive damage through their too-nasty retributive Aura ... whose radius is greater than that of a Magic Circle.

Summoned creatures do not die, they simply vanish.

No, it's not really a desperation issue, IMO. 1d3 gives results of 1, 2, or 3. 1d3x150% gives results of 1, 3, or 4. Suddenly, the average result is equal to the maximum result. Not too shabby; odds are you'll get the benefit of a maximise, or better than that benefit. ^_^

Compared with maximise, it's surely ok.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Pax]

Actually not, unless the caster has a caster level of below 24. I don't think a 1 is a failure there.

ELH, open-ended rolls variant. Yes, a 1, followed by a low-ish roll, would fail.

LOL, clever, but it would still prevent bodily contact, I suppose.

That, actually, depends - if the person thenmoves (or is MOVED) towards one of the creatures - that voids the spell. ^_^ Remember the bit about pressing a hedging abjuration against somethgnit wards against ... ^_^

Don't forget, that the spell only summons extraplanar creatures!
Are there any extraplanar constructs?

Pseudonatural, baby. and yes - any construct not on it's home plane is inherently "Extraplanar". Plus, there's one already like that in the BoED, and the UA examples show one creature simply having the "extraplanar" tag appended to it with no other effect.

But there are quite a few with ranged attacks, of course.

Big enough summons = total cover. ^_^

That won't work, sorry. Natural weapon attacks simply fail.

Got a rules quote on that? Because the PHB says nothig of the sort.

Besides, Helmed Horrors arrive armed. ^_^

Summoned creatures do not die, they simply vanish.

Yes, but they take the damage normally required to kill them ... and that triggers the Jovoc's aura, which in turn hurts the enemy. ^_^