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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 7045590" data-attributes="member: 6669384">Summon spells are generally somewhere between "Okay" and "Useless" at lower levels.  First levels casters spend a full round to get a single CR 1 critter to aid for one round. As level go up, the duration becomes more practicable.  But, as caster levels rise, the CR of the critter falls farther and farther behind, essentially limited to 1/2 the caster's level, rounded down.Adding 2 to a summoned monster's CR ( as opposed to summoning a higher CR monster) doesn't look unreasonable, on the face of it.  Kind of broken at lower levels, when a 1st level caster can call on a 3rd level animal to fight for him.  Less out of hand at 2nd and 3rd level, and simply falling behind at a slower rate from then on.Looking over the spell, and the feat and the template, I suspect that the player who pulled this on the group *didn't* look those things over very well.That being said, the feat is considerably more powerful than other summoning-based feats like Ashbound, Spell Focus, Augment Summoning, etc.Moreover, looking at the template, I have a hard time swallowing that as a +2 CR.Reviewing the above:1)  99% of all animals (subjects of the Nature's Ally spells) already have D8s for hit dice.2)  Adding +6 to Natural armor is a pretty hefty bump.  Troglodyte has a comparable Natural armor, and is a +2 ECL, but that and the stench are about all they have.3)  The addition of a Slam attack isn't much.  It's rarely an addition, in fact.4)  Spell like abilities are a thing.  For a Summoned creature, the 1/day powers are essentially "At Will", since they won't be around long enough for that limit to matter.5)  DR 10/Magic and Slashing counts for more than a little.6)  Fast Heal 3 is significant, for a creature with damage reduction and a relatively high AC.  7)  Grapple Bonus can be ugly, if you Summon a grapple-specialist creature.  Grapple rules can be kind of broken as is.8)  10 point Resistance to cold and electricity can be significant as well.  Comparable to the Fiendish template for high Hit dice creatures.  Part of a +2 CR package/template that also includes DR 10/Magic.9)  Strength +6 means +3 to Hit and Damage.  Dex +2 adds another AC point.  Con +4 means +2 HP per dice.  On average, that turns the D8 HD to D12s (average 6.5).  CHA +4 may affect some special abilities, depending on the creature.  Call that one a wash.10) Tremorsense means that opponents can't hide from Greenbound.  That's pretty huge.11) +16 on Hide checks?  Again, pretty huge, almost as good as Invisibility and not subject to See Invisible or Invisibility Purge.From what I can see, pretty much everything after about point 3, with maybe point 5 excluded, is above and beyond what a +2 CR template normally gives.  How far astray am I?</blockquote>

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