Summoned creature psychology

[shilsen]

Two examples from storyhours come to mind:

Seasong's, where a summoned lightning-hawk type creature considers being summoned a great fun game.

Sepulchrave's, where in one scene summoned angels weep as they are forced to attack the PC Paladin.

john

I've done the latter in my campaign, where a LN cleric making the shift to LE summoned a hound archon to fight the PCs. The archon apologized throughout the fight, while fighting to the best of its ability, and thanked them as it was "slain". Always steal from the best

 

[Dogbrain]

The comedic aspects of summon cross my mind from time to time. Imagine what a summoned being was in the middle of when summoned away from it.

 

[Evilhalfling]

I played a Sorcerer whose favorate spell was summoning - A Mount!
he used them for cover, for finding traps, for baiting sharks and for crossing pit traps. We played that it was always the same creatures, each could come 1 per 24 hrs. His three horses knew and feared him, one would show up and immedatly panic, and one had a resigned attitude, and would mostly refuse to do anything, and the last and least used was just slightly skittish but would occasionally calm down. Assuming I did'nt get it killed right away.

He could throw fireballs but what I really rember were the horses. - He got eaten by ratmen eventually - not bad for int 7, wis 7

 

[Kahuna Burger]

While it doesn't effect wizards, clerics are confined by allignment to some extent in summoning: "When you use a summoning spell to summon an air, chaotic, earth, evil, fire, good, lawful, or water creature, it is a spell of that type." I think that as a story element, I would likely make summoned creatures aware of ther summoner and repeated or highly egregious cross allignment summonings would likely result in some planar retribution. Thats just me. To add in a little more psychology to the summoning process, one could have summoned creatures be able to make a presence check (say d20+hd+cha against dc 25) to remain present and fully autonomous after the spell's duration ran out. It might lead to them striking against their summoner, helping out a little longer if the cause was just, or just taking a moment to bitch about being summoned.

Evilhalfling : the cleric in my old group used celestial orca whales for such purposes. it was very disturbing.

Kahuna Burger

 

[eris404]

I realize that there already are Summon spells in the PHB, but I just didn't like the psychology of forcing another creature to do my bidding (in fact, as written and evil wizard can force good summoned creatures to do her bidding). Shadow magic was a special case. I am still not sure whether shadow-created creatures are real shadow-creatures, wearing the "masks" of whatever they are duplicating, or whether they are "created" wholly from shadowstuff on the spot. If the former, would they remember the various creatures they pretended to be? Would it be like an acting gig?

Does anyone else think this way, or am I unique in worries about the psychology of summoning?

I think this thread has uncovered a missed opportunity for role-play and creativity. Lots of really good ideas here. I think when I next DM, I'm gonna make the players who use the Summon spells a lot come up with their own philosophy and explanation of how summoning works.

One idea I like for good-aligned casters, especially clerics, is that maybe they feel compelled to make some kind of penance for summoning a creature, especially if it dies. Or making little deals with intelligent creatures, sort of like the planar ally spells except not as serious or as binding (especially if its the same creature that gets summoned over and over). This might make an interesting trait for a character I'm playing now (a bard/cleric of Oghma).

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

On reading the title of this thread, I was siezed with the idea of a group of beings elsewhere in the cosmos, penning up creatures in a massive farm that sits at the intersection of various mystical ley lines. All summoned creatures originate from this place, and the keepers of the beasts capture the psychic anguish that the animals feel upon being "killed" and trade it to other strange beings. Kind of like Liquid Pain from the BoVD.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I've always had that spell function very similiarly to astral construct.... Or to say, these creatures aren't creatures that exist elsewhere and come to your aid, but that they are constructed by magic, take the form of the animals in question, along with certain basic functions, but they aren't real... at the end they don't go away or return anywhere if alive, instead they simply evaporate... redispersed into the ether, lose their form and function as the magic that holds them together dissipates.

Thereby neatly avoiding any moral conflicts of using the creatures.

I do similar, although the creature summoned is composed of the energy of a plane (thus why they have their planar traits, alignment, etc.).

Except for the fact that the first sentence of Summon Monster says this: "This spell summons an extraplanar creature (typically an outsider, elemental, or magical beast native to another plane)."

Sometimes a little eraser goes a long way.

 

[barsoomcore]

On the other hand, it's interesting to posit a world where summouning DOES in fact bring an existing creature to the caster against its will and compels it to obey.

The philosophical ramifications are interesting. I don't think good-aligned characters could ever use such a spell. And there would be a chance, I guess, for summouns to affect any particular creature at any particular time.

But then, I'm the one whose homebrew magic system inevitably drives spellcasters insane, sucks Constitution out of everyone around (with no saving roll) and works best if you're undead. So my milage is probably different from yours.

 

[Gez]

Well, there's the planar binding and planar ally spells for that aspect.

The summon spells are merely bringing in a projection of the creatures.

To them, it is but a dream, IMC.

 

[barsoomcore]

Well, okay, if you want to define it as not interesting, then yeah, it's not interesting. I just thought it was kind of interesting if you defined it as interesting.

Er.