Divine Summoner Concept- Help Needed

[Sound of Azure]

I've been invited to join in on a friend's homebrew game, and I wanted to create an interesting character to join in on the action. The party's 9th level, and were made with 36 point buy (due to the difficulty of the game, apparently).

The DM specifically asked me to make a character that would have a compelling reason to go to the area he wants the party to be travelling to, and a character that wouldn't cause the rest of the group to mistrust on plain sight.

What I decided on was a divine summoner type. She's the wife of a famous slain paladin who had gone on a quest to the next campain area. She'd initially cloistered herself away in grief, but eventually decided to try to complete her husband's quest. Her faithfulness and devotion to her husband's memory is what gives her her divine power. It's on this path that she meets the rest of the party.

With this in mind, I wanted to ask some advice on making a divine summoner. I was thinking that it would be appropriate to use the cloistered cleric class, and to take the Thaumaturgist class (perhaps her deceased husband could be the planar cohort, called from his eternal reward?). Similarly, the Summoner Domain from Complete Divine seems like a no brainer.

I'll likely be using the "specific summoned creatures" variant from the DMG.

Any ideas on other feats and classes to maximise the potential of summoning and related goodies? I'd prefer for the character to be Good and not Neutral. Evil isn't allowed in this DM's group.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pinotage]

Does it have to be a cleric? Can't you just go druid? Druids make the best divine summoners in the game.

Pinotage

 

[brehobit]

Augment summoning is pretty obvious. I think there are also feats that improve on that and a metamagic one that lets you speed up the summoning a bit.

Depending on the min-maxiness of the party, there are lots of really broken summoning things out there. Greenbound summoner is one of them, but I'd just avoid the lot of em unless the DM is one that tends to allow anything and you'd need it to keep up.

I'd also look at "touch of healing" to make it so out-of-combat healing isn't quite so draining of your spells.

Oh, finally, there is are a few documents people have put togeather of summonable creatures and their stats (assuming augment summoning and not, etc.). Summoners, like those playing Bo9S characters, need to show up prepared or the game will drag and drag.
Mark

 

[SelcSilverhand]

I have a saved link to a list of summoned monsters by ability if it helps.


Link

 

[Set]

Random Summoner-related things to look at;

Feats
Augment Summons (PHB)
Imbued Summons (PHB2)
Beckon the Frozen (Frostburn)
Arcane Thesis (PHB2, only useful if you've got one particular Summon spell you use a lot)
Child of Winter (Eberron Campaign Setting, Druid only)
Ashbound (ECS, Druid only)

Spells
Summon Desert Ally line (Sandstorm)
Conjure Ice Beast line (Frostburn)

Spells to synergize with hordes 'o minions
Bless, Bane, Darkness, Obscuring Mist or Fog Cloud (combined with critters that have blindfighting, scent or tremorsense), Desecrate (for undead), Prayer
Elation (BoED)
Recitation (?)
Bard song
Adrenaline Burst

Effects to throw on that one big minion;
Bear's Endurance, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Shield Other, Animal Growth, Magic Fang, Greater Magic Fang, Giant Vermin, Barkskin, Haste, Displacement, Blur, Protection from Arrows, etc.
Bear's Heart

Check Domains to see if they, A) help out directly with Summoning, like with that Summoning Domain, or B) offer other neat Domain abilities (such as the Planning Domain's bonus Extend Spell metamagic feat), or C) grant spells that you might like using (like the above spells, some of which are typically only Druid only)

I'd avoid the Thaumaturgist PrC completely, personally.

A Wand of Dispel Magic is always a good idea, when you are relying on Summoned critters, since a Magic Circle of Protection vs. Whatever is your worst nightmare.

 

[Rackhir]

Something along the lines of the Rapid Summoning variant from Unearthed Arcana makes a huge difference for the viability of summoning.

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/unearthedSpecialist.html

Obviously you're not using a wizard, but if you have a DM who is willing to work with you should be able to work out something.

I've found that the enhanced Augment Summons in this variant can also make a big difference. The summoned Large Elementals my wizard in Shilsen's campaign gets are almost as tough as the Huge elementals the Druid summons.

Some other things we've come up with for my summoner wizard are
Usurp Authority - He gets a check to take over creatures summoned by other people.
Improved Summons - Gets 2 creatures off of the same level list and 1d4+1 for creatures off of the lower level lists (instead of 1, 1d3 and 1d4+1 for same, -1 levels and -2 levels).

A couple of other tips for running a summoner.

Make sure you've got lists with the info for your summons. Preferably with the augment summons bonuses added in. The key piece of info to remember is that you get +2hp/HD from the con boost, but don't forget the fort save also gets bumped by +2. Poisons and other special abilities may have their save DC increased by the bump to con.

You are generally better off with 1d3 creatures off of the -1 level list than you are with a single creature from the same level list. At least until you hit the Huge Elementals, but that's not until SM VII.

With augment summons it can be a slight advantage to pick creatures with a single attack since that is considered the same as wielding a 2H weapon and so you get +3 damage (times 1.5) from the +4 str with the Augment Summons.

 

[Andion Isurand]

I believe there is a feat in one of the Eberron books, that advances elementals you summon by 2 HD.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some more fun with Conjuration (both general and specific):

Cloudy Conjuration feat: conjurations accompanied by a cloud of sickening smoke (CompMage p40). The cloud is similar to a Fog cloud spell, and doesn't affect creatures summoned by the spell.

Dimensional Reach reserve feat: if you have a 3rd lvl or higher conjuration spell, you get an at will mage hand effect, and you also get +1 bounus to caster level for conjuration (summoning) spells. (CompArc p41)

Summon Elemental reserve feat: lets you briefly summon elementals, and also givs a +1CL on summoning spells. (CompArc p47-8)

Abrupt Jaunt Alternative Class feature (ACF): a 10' at will teleport (PHB2 p70)

Focused Specialist ACF: give up 1 additional school of magic and one spell slot per level and gain an additional +2 spells in your specialty school (in addition to your initial +1 spell for specialization). That's 3 per level within your specialty.

Rapid Summoning ACF: Give up familiar to drop SUmmon Monster casting time from 1 full round down to 1 standard act. (UA p60)

Enhanced summoning ACF: give up Scribe Scroll and Wizard bonus feats to gain Augmented summoning and have tougher, stronger, less dispellable creatures (UA p60)

Metamagic School Focus: 3x day, reduces the cost of applying a metamagic feat to a spell by 1 level- +2levels becomes 1, 1 becomes zero, etc. (CompMage p45)

Resitual Magic tactical feat: lets you apply a single metamagic feat for free to a spell that follows a spell that had been cast with that metamagic feat (CompMage p46). That would let you get a metamagically enhanced summons spell for its usual cost.

There is also the Domain Wizard ACF from CompChamp which gives you a clerical domain's granted power, and full access to the domain if you are already a cleric. Consider a multiclassed Cleric/Wizard with this taking one of the summoning-heavy domains (Animal or the 4 elemental domains) with this ACF- she'd have 3 domains worth of powers & spells, including options down the road like some of the summon nature's ally spells and Elemental Swarm.

UA also has at least one other ACF for Conjurors, but I don't have that book in front of me at the moment.

Yes, I know a lot of that stuff I listed above applies to Specialist Wizards, but there's nothing to say that you can't multiclass, and/or weren't divinely inspired to take up the mantle of wizardry (possibly alongside that of divine casting).

For PrCls, I'd either go for a Mystic Theurge (for the double spell advancement) or a Contemplative (for the 2 bonus domains).

I'd lean mostly towards the latter- combined with a Domain Wizard, you're talking access to up to 5 Domains (and as mentioned by others above, the Summoning Domain is simply a must). That's 5 sets of powers, 5 bonus spells per level to choose from.