I was just reading summon monster and it mentioned that if you summon an evil creature it's an evil spell and if you summon a good creature it's a good spell. does that mean a good character can't (or at least shouldn't) summon an evil creature? same thing for evil creatures? if my drow summons a celestial hawk is he commiting a good act? how should he feel about that, will his other drow mages make fun of him?
summon creature evil? good?
- Thread starter fl8m
- Start date
That's only really important for clerics.
Good clerics, and clerics of good deities, cannot cast evil spells. The reverse is also true.
If you have the Good domain, you cast spells with the [Good] descriptor at +1 caster level. If you have the Evil domain, you get that bonus on [Evil] spells.
Wizards can pretty much summon whatever they want.
Good clerics, and clerics of good deities, cannot cast evil spells. The reverse is also true.
If you have the Good domain, you cast spells with the [Good] descriptor at +1 caster level. If you have the Evil domain, you get that bonus on [Evil] spells.
Wizards can pretty much summon whatever they want.
fl8m said:
Good clerics can't summon evil creatures, but good arcane casters can if they want. It is an evil act though, and if they make a habit of it, the DM can say that the magic is affecting their personality and start adjusting their alignment.
Yup.
Ashamed. Like less of a drow, using that pansy "good" magic.
Probably. And they won't let him play in any of the drow games either.
Seriously, I think that drow are pretty pragmatic and will use whatever fits their needs the best. But they would probably prefer to use "evil" spells rather than good ones, all things being equal. (Evil spell just "feel right" to them, without that icky taint of goodness.)
Laslo Tremaine
Explorer
My Conjurer is Neutral.
I keep track of what I summon to make sure that the number Good creatures is balanced by Evil creatures. Luckily, elementals are Neutral...
We also allow summoners to swap templates (Fiendish, Celestial, Axiomatic and Anarchic)...
I keep track of what I summon to make sure that the number Good creatures is balanced by Evil creatures. Luckily, elementals are Neutral...
We also allow summoners to swap templates (Fiendish, Celestial, Axiomatic and Anarchic)...
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Valmur_Dwur
First Post
I agree with Laslo
As a DM I would ask the player if he really wanted to summon an evil creature. If no he just wanted a whatever then I'll tell them to call for a celestial version. If they don't then they will see the error of their ways soon enough
Cheers!
As a DM I would ask the player if he really wanted to summon an evil creature. If no he just wanted a whatever then I'll tell them to call for a celestial version. If they don't then they will see the error of their ways soon enough Cheers!
lukelightning
First Post
"good" spells aren't nescessarily a good act
Remember that just because a spell has a "good" descriptor doesn't mean that casting it is automatically a "good" act.
Example:
Binky the sorcerer: I summon a monster to eat the cleric of Yondalla.
DM: That's an evil act you know...
Binky: But I'm summoning a celestial dire lion to do it...it's a "good" spell, so that balances it out to neutral, right?
If you summon a celestial dire bear ("good"), but have it eat some peasants, then it is obviously not a "good" act. While summoning a fiendish dire ape to rescue a peasant from a burning house isn't that bad. An evil sorcerer can not "improve" his/her moral standing just by summoning a bunch of archons.
The way I see it:
Cast a good spell to do good=good
Cast a good spell to do evil=evil
Cast an evil spell to do evil=evil
Casting an evil spell to do good=neutral
I also don't see it as some sort of magical taint that happens (as in: you cast a few evil summoning spells, you get 15 'evil points' which changes your alignment), but a personality assessment. If I were DMing and a character were to constantly cast spells with the evil descriptor, I would say "why is your character calling up infernal energies so much? What attracts him to evil like that? I don't think he's Lawful Good, like you have written on your character sheet, instead he's more neutral...")
Remember that just because a spell has a "good" descriptor doesn't mean that casting it is automatically a "good" act.
Example:
Binky the sorcerer: I summon a monster to eat the cleric of Yondalla.
DM: That's an evil act you know...
Binky: But I'm summoning a celestial dire lion to do it...it's a "good" spell, so that balances it out to neutral, right?
If you summon a celestial dire bear ("good"), but have it eat some peasants, then it is obviously not a "good" act. While summoning a fiendish dire ape to rescue a peasant from a burning house isn't that bad. An evil sorcerer can not "improve" his/her moral standing just by summoning a bunch of archons.
The way I see it:
Cast a good spell to do good=good
Cast a good spell to do evil=evil
Cast an evil spell to do evil=evil
Casting an evil spell to do good=neutral
I also don't see it as some sort of magical taint that happens (as in: you cast a few evil summoning spells, you get 15 'evil points' which changes your alignment), but a personality assessment. If I were DMing and a character were to constantly cast spells with the evil descriptor, I would say "why is your character calling up infernal energies so much? What attracts him to evil like that? I don't think he's Lawful Good, like you have written on your character sheet, instead he's more neutral...")
Kwalish Kid
Explorer
The [Evil], [Good] and other alignment descriptors on spells are a sign relating to a) cleric access and b) domain bonuses. They do not indicate any view of the act of casting the spell. You will find mention in the text of the spell if casting the spell is always an evil act.
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