[Final Fantasy] - Revised Summoners/Callers - Feedback Please

Angelsboi

First Post
What do you think?

Idea 1
Summoner is a cleric with the Summoning Domain and all Summon Monster Spells arent available to anyone unless they have the Summoning Domain

Idea 2
Have the Summoned Creatures be Astral Constructs. Summoners/Callers arent Psionic but they use the Astral Construct powers as their summons.
 
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I assume that we're talking about Aeon summoning, but then again, my early FF is really rusty. If we're talking about Aeons, then these creatures should be something entirely different from the normal summoning spells, and there needs to be a limitation on who can call them -- something that not everyone can get, or that someone needs to think about at first level. It might be a good idea to make this a 1st-level only feat.
 

Summoning has been an inherited (or highly limited) trait in all FF games since FFIV. FFV doesn't count because you're calling on the powers of an ancient Summoner hero, just like the characters gain all their other abilities in that game. No reasonable conclusion can be drawn about how FFV summoning works normally because of that.

I think to correctly capture the "Feel" of FF summoning you would need to design a separate magic system for it, unreleated to Arcane AND Divine magic. The games have universally treated it as a separate branch of magic from "White" and "Black" (And "Time," "Numeric," and "Song" magics where available.) I would probably do something similiar to the Psionics system where summons cost a specific amount of PP. Make it a prestiege class. Then to emulate "White Summoners" (PSX games) and "Black Summoners" (Rydia of FFIV), simply start a career as a Divine or Arcane caster, as appropriate, then become a Summoner.

I think it needs to be noted that D&D is a poor tool for making a pen & paper game emulate the systems in the 32-Bit FF games generally. The FF ruleset in the later games is simply too fluid to adapt properly without making things far more complicated. You might be better off investigating another game to adapt.
 

Erm, I hope this helps-in the In Character section we have a game called Heroes of the Worlds and here was my (somewhat shaky) conversion of Yuna from FF X (her 'deity' is considered to be the Fayth).

[color=sky blue]Yuna, female human Clr5/Summoner 2: CR 7; ECL 7; Medium-size Humanoid (human); HD 5d8+2d4+7; hp 55; Init +1; Spd 30 ft; AC 11 (+1 Dex); Melee Rod of Roses +4 (1d6); SA spells, turn undead; AL LN; SV Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +12; Str 8, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 19 (21 with periapt of wisdom), Cha 16.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +11, Diplomacy +25, Knowledge (The Fayth) +15, Move Silently +11 (no ranks, +10 from boots), Sense Motive +13, Speak Language (6+2, Abyssal, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Infernal, Terran), Spellcraft +8; Augment Summoning, Extend Spell, Skill Focus: Knowledge (The Fayth), Spellcasting Prodigy, Spell Girding, Spell Thematics (Summoning spells/Powerup and Colorful Lights during summoning).
Cleric Spells Prepared (6/6/5/3/2+1*):
0-Detect Magic (4), Read Magic, Resistance
1-Protection from Evil (2), Sanctuary (2), Shield of Faith, Summon Monster I
2-Hold Person (2), Silence, Summon Monster II (2)
3-Dispel Magic, Magic Circle against Evil, Summon Monster III
4-Dismissal, Summon Monster IV, Summon Monster V*
Domain Spells (Summoning and Magic)-
1-Summon Monster I
2-Summon Monster II
3-Summon Monster III
4-Lesser Planar Ally
Equipment: Rod of Roses (+1 Club, Bless as a 1st level cleric at will), NulBlaze Ring (Ring of Warmth), Faerie Ring (Ring of Feather Falling), Travel Cloak, Boots of Elvenkind, Necklace of Wisdom +2, Courtier’s Obi, Eversmoking Torch, Wand of Cure Light Wounds (50 charges), Gold Holy Symbol (Adorning the Rod), 2 flasks of holy water, beltpouch, spell component pouch, 54 Gold left.

*Bonus Summoning spells
Metamagic Feat choices for my summoning spells are: Grand Summoning*

*Notice Spell Thematics is the errata'd version, it makes spellcraft checks DC +5 for my summoning spells for enemy spellcasters to identify the spell I cast, it also grants a +1 caster level bonus for my summoning spells (net +2 rounds due to the summoning domain on the duration for Summoning spells), the spells for each level are Summon Monsters I-IX, respectively. Its visual effect is the summoning part used by all FF summoners and it makes the apperance of the monster to a Aeon apperance if there is one corresponding. Aka, Imps can look like Master Tonberries, Ice Paraelemental looks like Shiva, etc...

NOTE:
*Yuna can only use elemental and the shadow template from Manual of the Planes, forgoing Celestial/Fiendish templates.*

Misc. Facts:
Age: 17
Height: 5'3''
Weight: 101 lbs

Grand Summoning [Metamagic]
Usable only on a Summon spell that summons a single creature.
Benefit: Summoned creature gains maximum hit points per hit die, a +4 bonus to attack and damage, and is hasted for its duration. A Grand Summoning spell uses up a spell slot four levels higher than the spell's actual level.[/color]

Hope this helps, I have a conversion of a summoner similar to FFII (U.S., FF V in Japan) somewhere in my notes if you'd like that, but it was one of my first core classes made so it isn't very balanced ;)
 
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How one goes about converting a Final Fantasy summoner to D&D depends on what one is trying to do. Are you trying to convert the summoner only, or do you wish to convert an entire Final Fantasy campaign world? The game mechanics will likely be considerably different if one is doing an entire jobsystem with the summoner as a higher-tier class (ala Final Fantasy Tactics, for example) than if summoner is intended to stand alone.

It also depends on what version of the summoner one is using as a base--Summoners (in one form or another) have been a Final Fantasy staple ever since the third Final Fantasy game (which was never officially released AFAIK outside of Japan). With you talking about possibly restricting the summon monster spells, and the summoner possibly being some sort of cleric, I would assume that you are trying to convert either the FF9 or FF10 summoner.

Personally, I would leave the standard summon monster spells alone and have the ability to summon unique creatures be a class ability or a feat. I came up with the following metamagic feat for my campaign, which represents something of an adaptation of an optional rule in the Dungeon Master's Guide into feat form:

Specific Summon Monster [Metamagic]
Your summon monster spells can summon specific creatures if you know the creature's true name.
Benefit: A summon monster spell cast with this feat summons the specific, named elemental or outsider whose true name is known by the caster instead of a random creature. The creature's "summoning level" cannot be higher than that of creatures that can normally be affected by that summon monster spell. When cast this way, only one creature may be summoned at a time. If the creature's level is too high, the creature has been permanently killed or is otherwise unavailable, or the creature has been summoned by any spellcaster in the past 24 hours and the summoning has ended abnormally (with the dispelling of the summons, or the killing or banishment of the summoned monster), the spell simply fails, giving no indication of what went wrong.
Benefits abound to being able to summon a specific creature instead of a random one. One benefit is that a creature can be summoned, sent ahead on a scouting mission, then summoned again when the duration has expired to report on what it has seen, without needing to worry about the scout having to return by mundane means (and potentially leading enemies to the party). Another benefit is that the caster need not risk summoning a creature that is near-useless due to poor rolls for hit points or other random qualities. If called using a spell such as planar binding or gate, the creature can be given magical items or masterwork equipment to increase its power. Summoned monsters can even be used as messengers (with one caster summoning a monster, giving it a message, dismissing it, and a second caster summoning the same monster to receive the message). Finally, there are unique creatures having abilities different from those of the standard summoned monsters that can't be summoned quickly any other way.
This feat doesn't by itself bestow knowledge of any true names; these must be acquired seperately.
A specific summon monster spell uses up a spell slot of the spell's normal level, modified by any other metamagic feats. No feats such as Augment Summoning or other effects that modify summoned creature's abilities will operate on a specific summon monster.
Normal: Creatures summoned by the summon monster spells have their stats randomly determined at the time the spell is cast. There is no way without this feat to summon creatures with unusual equipment, or to summon the same creature again.

Now, as for getting ahold of the true names the feat requires... There are basically two different ways of getting a creature's true name, both of which are in keeping with the main Final Fantasy ways of obtaining summoned monsters: free will and force.

Praying to a Fayth would esentially be a means of persuading a creature to give its true name so that it may be called to the aid of the spellcaster. The sylphs in FF4 allowing Rydia to summon them in place of Yang rejoining the party, Golem in FF5 giving you his summon when you save his life, and Ramuh testing Garnet in FF9 would all fall into this category as well.

The other method would basically consist of beating a creature senseless, showing it that the summoner has the power to kill it if she desires to do so, and demanding that it reveal its true name or die. Since summonable creatures are elementals and outsiders and thus can't be revived if slain, obviously it would be better to be summoned than to die. In most of the Final Fantasy games, one had to defeat creatures in combat before you could summon them.

If you want players to be able to buy summoning spells like in FF5, you could always have NPC spellcasters who do the hard work of calling and browbeating the monster and then sell its true name.
 

What I did to create the caller was actually to make them wizards (or sorcerers more likely) and have their spells limited to spells which could be "called" creatures. Have them take lots of summoning spells (especially using the summoning particular creatures house rule, from Dragon I think).

For example, a caller wouldn't learn fireball. She would learn to call Jinn. It allows flavor without having to reinvent the wheel. And the sponteneity of the sorcerer works well for it.

DC
 

What you're suggesting, DreamChaser, is something similar to Al-Qadim sha'ir from 2E; using your power to get other creatures to do things for you.
 

I'd think Summoners are a prestige class for Clerics/White Mages to take, and have their own spell progression and so on.
 


Relics and Rituals 2 has an easy system for unique summonings, you can summon a creature = to 2 x spell level in CR to serve you (summoning a specific CR 3 or 4 creature is a 2nd level spell), although its available only for sorcerers/wizards and you need a specific spell per creature.
 

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