Unearthed Arcana Unearthed Arcana: That Old Black Magic

Random racial spells.... not my cup of tea but could be fun.

Summoning demons seem like fun spells. Reminds me of the instinctive actions of some 4e summons.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Well the spell rules say "disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends."

You know what? It turns out I somehow managed to not only misread the spells' descriptions, but to mix and match them in my head at the same time while looking at the pdf that described them. Go me.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I don't see anything in the rules that says you have to maintain concentration if you are unwilling to do so. The demon summoning spells are unique (so far) in 5e because losing concentration doesn't end the spell, it just ends your control of the creature. If you're comfortable behind your circle of innocent blood, I don't see any reason why you can't release the demon immediately. The spells last until the demon is killed or an hour passes, whichever comes first.

That's not unique--Conjure Elemental works that way too. Conjuring an elemental, making it attack a bad guy, and then dropping concentration to cast something else is a standard tactic. The elemental becomes "hostile" to you, but it's going to be hostile as well to the thing which is trying to rip its face off, and sometimes that's good enough.

 

[Mephista]

Hang on a sec - the demon summoning spells that start out as concentration spells, doesn't this mean you can poke the caster to get rid of the demon?

Meaning that if I were an evil NPC about to cast these spells at the heroes, I would want to fail the secret charisma check a.s.a.p. so the demon would stay and fight for the duration (I'm assuming it will eventually go down, rather than actually winning over the PCs)

That it would not be under my command is simply solved by casting it near a foe, then retreating as necessary.

I guess my question is: why can't the spell be cast uncontrolled already from the start, so I don't risk having to see my precious brute go poof just because a pesky hero decided to shoot an arrow at me instead of him?

There's a reason most caster optimization guides suggest warcaster and getting Con save proficency, and why hanging out with paladins, bards, and clerics with Bless is so popular. Breaking Concentration is a huge issue for a lot of spells with even the smallest damage.

Also, note high level Conjurer Wizard, Land Druid, and Chain Warlock abilities. You basically come with anti-conjured-monster-hate powers for this very situation. Nature Sanctuary prevents your beastly summons from turning on you. Focused Conjuraiton lets you ignore the damage aspects. And Chains of Carceri let you Hold Monster your summon, since warlocks cant' do mass-summon spells, only individuals. Sorcerers generally don't summon for some reason, but they're naturally good at Concentration checks.

 

[CapnZapp]

Well the spell rules say "disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends."

You know what? It turns out I somehow managed to not only misread the spells' descriptions, but to mix and match them in my head at the same time while looking at the pdf that described them. Go me.

Like Ath-kethin probably realized the mechanism for losing control is completely separate from the concentration mechanic.

If you stop concentrating, you don't lose control over the demon - you lose the demon full stop!

Losing control is a "secret charisma check". Losing concentration is, well, the usual Con save. They are not related and can happen completely independently.

So. Let's start over

Have anyone noticed how you would want to lose control as soon as possible, thus freeing you from having to concentrate on the summoning spell?

To me, this is hugely advantageous:
1) killing the demon can't be easily done by hurting the summoner
2) the summoner is free to cast a different concentration spell, such as a second identical summoning!

The disadvantage, having the demon be uncontrolled, is not too bad assuming it's one of the demons that simply attack the nearest foe.

(Vrocks not so much since the pesky heroes are probably richer than you, the evil cultist leader, are )