How does one handle a Summoned Creature that suffers complete memory loss?

[Wolfix]

Ok so this situation came up:
A cleric summons an Ice Mephit while fighting a Maelephant (Fiend Folio). The Maelephant uses it's breath weapon on the mephit and it fails it's save.

The effect of the breath weapon is that the victim suffers complete memory loss: this suppresses all of a creature's ranks in it's skills and feats, and prevents the use of any class abilities (including spellcasting). Racial abilites are retained. Additionally, the viction no longer knows who it's friends and enemies are, doesn't remember its past, and can't even remember it's name.

Now, is the cleric still able to command the mephit you think? Or would it be doing something else?

 

[GimbleRaulnor]

I think the reason why the memphit listens to the clerics commands is the magic of the summoning spell, not just the memphits realisation of 'having to obey'. I can't find rules on this subject, but this is how I would rule/explain it.

Edit: Looks like I misread your post. Edited my post to make sense as a reply

 

[noeuphoria]

Summoned creatures must obey the summoner. If the priest can communicate with the mephit, he can still tell it what to do, and it has to obey. If not, the mephit will still try to help the priest "to the best of its ability". So that's up to the DM as to what an amnesiac mephit would do.

 

[Vargo]

Actually, it's the mephit that's forgotten, not the Cleric.

But I'd say that the mephit is still under compulsion - the magic of the summoning spell is where the obediance comes from, not from any particular memory.

 

[GimbleRaulnor]

Actually, it's the mephit that's forgotten, not the Cleric.

But I'd say that the mephit is still under compulsion - the magic of the summoning spell is where the obediance comes from, not from any particular memory.

Ahh, I misread. Edited my post accordingly.

Looks like we're having the same oppinion on this

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

I'd go with:

It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn. It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. If you can communicate with the creature, you can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.

The summoning spell causes the creature to automatically attack your opponents to the best of its ability, with the caveat that you can order intelligent things to do other stuff.

After the Mephit gets hosed down, it forgets the commands (if any) the cleric has given, so it reverts to "attack to the best of its ability" - with "the best of its ability" modified by the breath weapon's effects (i.e., forgets how to hide, etc.).

The cleric should feel free, at any point (as speaking is a free action doable at any time), to command the mephit to do otherwise, including reminding it of any abilities it may have forgotten (assuming that the breath weapon allows such things).