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.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It makes me a wee bit sad to see that the archetype of the demon-summoning wizard can't get support without 80% of folks screaming WARLOCKS MUST HAVE THIS.

Not that I entirely disagree, mind you!

 

[Azurewraith]

Time to go beg my Dm to let me re-roll to a demon summoning nut job!

 

[Azurewraith]

Nothing like summoning 32 demons to gum up game for a while (Conjure lesser demon, at 8-9th level). That just seems like reckless spell design (which I assume is what they want feed back on). It is certainly possible to have clever ways for a good DM to handle it, but for many games it seems like handing people more then enough rope to hang themselves with. It's the sort of thing that could be really funny once, but once the humor wears off (and it may rather quickly depending on the group) I feel this creates a mess that will be more trouble than it could possibly be worth.

[obviously this isn't the main point of the spell, etc, but it's on the sheet, so it exist to tempt people to do this...]

Could all ways use the Mob rules(sorry not got my book for ref atm)

 

[Li Shenron]

I like how these new summoning spells each have its own quirks.

It's possible that they didn't add them to the Warlock list on the ground that they will be usable more often than intended, because Warlock spells 'refresh' on a short rest (except the 7th level one). But it might also just be an oversight, and they are fine also as Warlock spells.

As for them being rituals, I think they are not meant to be. All these summoning spells are clearly meant to be used in combat, when you can't cast rituals. Having them as rituals means that out of combat you can potentially cast them an unlimited number of times. So most likely they are not needed out of combat and the designers did not want these spells to be available without expending a spell slot anyway.

The problem is that we are commonly thinking "this should be a ritual" just because of the image of a certain spell, but that's wrong.

 

[Azurewraith]

To all those and there mystic obsession the next time you will see the mystic will be in a hardcover book. Called it.

 

[CapnZapp]

I like how these new summoning spells each have its own quirks.

Yeah, it makes it itch!

Anyone have a summary of the main template with the various customizations for individual spells?

Or is it really two templates; the summon uncontrollable for 10 minutes, and the summon controlled (1 hour; concentration; protection hexagram; once summoned creature is butthurt, control and concentration goes away)

 

[RSIxidor]

I really need to revive my conjuration guide...

EDIT: After reviewing the thread, I have to agree with those that suggest Warlocks get some of these spells as invocations only. They currently get Conjure Elemental this way. On the other hand, they do get Conjure Fey on their spell list but most of the Fey options are not that great and the beast options aren't quite as strong as a Shadow Demon.

Conjure Lesser Demon doesn't actually seem all that good, unless I'm missing something important. You don't have control and they Manes and Dretches both have terrible attacks (+2 to hit? Ick!). The main draw is their resistances and immunities. At least they'll be just as bad at hitting you as hitting anyone else. Anyone who seriously wants to conjure stuff should probably stick with Conjure Animals.

The other spells look like fun times, though. Even though Conjure Barlgura has the same downside as Conjure Lesser Demons, it at least can hurt things efficiently.

 

[Larrin]

Yeah, it makes it itch!

Anyone have a summary of the main template with the various customizations for individual spells?

The general template seems to be concentration (up to an hour) and as part of the spell you can protect your square with a blood circle of protection. you summon creatures with their own initiative and their own actions.

the variations seems to be:
Barlgura: attacks any non-demon, no further control offered.
Hezrou: increasing CHA checks to keep control and give orders to, giving him food helps keep him happy
Lesser demons: attack everyone, no control offered.
Shadow demon: as long as you keep it attacking and out of bright light, it is under your control. If not, you need to make CHA check.
Vrock: Like the Hezrou except its gems instead of food

 

[TwoSix]

It makes me a wee bit sad to see that the archetype of the demon-summoning wizard can't get support without 80% of folks screaming WARLOCKS MUST HAVE THIS.

Not that I entirely disagree, mind you!

To be fair, it's mostly because I dislike the archetype of the "do everything" wizard. I like my caster classes focused.

 

[Ath-kethin]

I'm actually a little surprised by the rather dark nature of this Unearthed Arcana article. I'm happy with it, and its approach, because I think summoning demons should be an event, not just an every-battle occurrence. I'm no fan of tieflings, but I think the spells are worth the price of admission alone. It reminds me of the old summon fiend spell from 2nd edition, though these new ones are more focused and the demons don't have a built-in mechanism for requiring a task from the wizard, like they did in 2e.