Is summoning creatures to spring traps an evil act?

[Fauchard1520]

So, paradoxically, summoning an Evil creature just to kill it is an Evil act, and summoning a Good creature just to kill it is a Good act. I'm perfectly okay with that.

That is, in my humble opinion, freaking weird.

 

[toucanbuzz]

If I cleave a sentient living creature in half with my axe, it's OK.

If I methodically tear apart the brain of a creature with psychic nightmares courtesy of Phantasmal Killer, it's OK.

If I sink my dagger repeatedly into the flesh of an enemy until it doesn't move anymore, it's OK.

So you're asking if I'm going to have in-game moral quandaries about summoning monsters to trip traps?

But, for the player or DM who is concerned, it's all about how you view the spell. If you perceive the spell as a form of Slavery, then yeah, summoning unwilling beings to impale themselves in painful ways is evil, as would be sending them into battle to suffer blade, fire, and fang for you. That appears more in line with demon-summoning.

So view it as a contract (and maybe it'd be an adventure to find the original contract?) The Outerplanar realms have contracted that their entities may be summoned for your use, so long as they are not permitted to die as a result. It's obvious what you, the caster, are getting, but it'd be up to the imagination of the DM what the summoned creatures get. So go with that if there's a quandary in place. Maybe it's one of the great mysteries of the arcane and divine world.

 

[Pauper]

So if sending Summoned animals in to check for traps is Evil, then so is calling them up to fight against unwinnable odds.

I disagree, at least within a Fifth Edition context, and think this explanation misses a key point in the original question.

If you are summoning creatures to "fight against unwinnable odds", the key determinant as to whether the act is evil or not is whether or not the summoner is part of the fight -- summoning creatures and pitting them against other creatures where the summoner is not part of the fight (a.k.a.: a Pokemon battle) is very likely evil, or at best the actions of a Chaotic Neutral ("...holding their personal freedom above all else." 5E Basic Rules 3.4, p.34) This puts the summoner in the same light as if he were summoning creatures to trigger traps -- he doesn't have the skill to disarm the traps or the cleverness to evade the trap any other way, so he's creating 'minions' to suffer the effects of the trap in his stead. While this might still count as 'clever' in some circles, it's also pretty clearly Neutral Evil ("...the alignment of those who do whatever they can get away with, without compassion or qualms." Ibid.).

Note as well that the particular spell used can also have an impact, as in 5E, some spells summon forth "spirits that take the form" of the creatures you've conjured, while others conjure an actual creature ("You summon a celestial of challenge rating...", Conjure Celestial; "You call forth an elemental servant." Conjure Elemental; "You summon a fey creature of challenge rating...", Conjure Fey; "You summon fey creatures..." Conjure Woodland Beings, all from 5E SRD v1.1). The Basic Rules are silent on the topic of whether the same creature can be re-summoned after it 'dies' in a previous summoning, but the description of the Conjuration school does state that Conjuration "involve the transportation of objects and creatures from one location to another." (Basic Rules, p.80), which leaves open the possibility that actually summoned creatures (rather than spirits taking the form of creatures) actually die if they die while summoned.

Lastly, as Celebrim points out, a DM can modify the underlying workings of specific spells or magic or the world in general to fit the parameters of her campaign -- so a world in which all summoned creatures are actually shells of trickster spirits that are trying to tempt their summoners to serve their own ends, the alignment consequences may well be different to that of a campaign where lesser angels are being summoned to step into the grinning devil face on the wall.

The example provided in the original source, though, is pretty clearly evil -- that's why the comic is funny, after all.

--
Pauper

 

[Greenfield]

Well, per the 3.5 rules cited earlier, since the summoned creatures aren't "real" and aren't actually killed, then the answer is no it's not Evil.

At least, no more Evil than sending a Fireball to blow open a door: The poor fireball gave its all to save the caster the trouble of turning a doorknob.

As a side note, I looked up and read the full section cited earlier, and it answers another question: Can a caster use Summon Monster to call up a Genii and get free Wishes?

The answer is no. That section of the rules also says that summoned creatures will refuse to use spells or spell like abilities that cost Experience points.

In our campaigns we've allowed it, but the someone (usually the caster) had to provide the Experience points. The Wishes weren't "free", they had to be paid for.

So thanks for the reference.

 

[Deset Gled]

That is, in my humble opinion, freaking weird.

That's fair. It's also the same way real life works sometimes.

Say you hate Kim Kardashian. Someone asks you to explain why you hate Kim Kardashian, citing examples of things she's done. In order to give examples, you use posts in her Twitter feed, Instagram, Youtube channel, etc. But social media is fueled by views, shares, and activity. So by showing these things to others in order to convince them that Kim Kardashian is a bad, you are literally feeding her income.

Let's go a step further and say you realize this conundrum. So, the next time the topic of Kim Kardashian comes up, you choose not to link to her directly; you use examples from newspapers, TV news, or other websites. But all those other media sources now know that stories about Kim Kardashian increase viewership (and ad revenue), so they now focus more stories on her. Again, you have strengthened the presence of Kim Kardashian.

Let's go even further than that, and say you avoid linking to, or even reading, any media featuring Kim Kardashian. But a friend shares something on FaceBook about her, so you comment that you don't think she's a good role model. Again, because FaceBook tracks what topics generate the most posts, the mere act of talking about her (even when you didn't start the conversation) raises her trending level on Facebook. Heck, even by using her as and example in this posts, at some level I am feeding the power of Kim Kardashian.

Now, replace Kim Kardasian with any modern political pundit. Or anti-science groups like the flat earth movement. If no one paid attention, they would fade away. But even opposing them makes their presence stronger.

According to the 3.5 rules, that's basically how summoning Evil creatures works. You may think you are are summoning them for the sole purpose of destroying them. But the very act of casting the spell and the manifestation of the creature strengthens Evil in the world. The summoning justifies the Evil creature's existence and normalizes the presence of Evil in the world.