Summoner

There are realms even the sages know little of, realms where ideas take shape and the laws of nature have faces. Realms of concept, principle and epitome rather than physical substance. Humans and other races, with their capacity for thought and for imagination, create worlds within their minds, worlds crafted of tales, or of study, or of magic. Sometimes, a rare person comes along whose inner worlds touch these distant realms of abstraction. Who makes a bridge between the virtual and the real. Who opens gates for the spirits of meaning to manifest in the world of fact.

Summoners are people who by some sort of personal epiphany have made a channel in their souls that touches some other world. This power allows them to cast powerful spells by wielding the strength of eidolons, spirits that represent fundamental ideas such as a natural force like fire or a basic principle like death. This gives them access to very specialized but very powerful abilities.

Adventures:

The kind of power that summoners wield is ill-suited to everyday chores and hedge magic, rather like using an axe to cut your onions. The uncertainty and challenge of an adventurous lifestyle is one of the few ways summoners can really attempt to test themselves. They also see the constant change of a traveling life as a way to expose themselves to new ideas and concepts that may develop their bond with their eidolons or inspire new ones.

Characteristics:

The summoner wields extremely powerful spells at low levels, but cannot cast them very often, nor does he have a large repertoire. He has the potential to be a moderately strong fighter. Also, he gains valuable powers that can come in many forms from his connections to his eidolons.

Alignment:

Summoners come from many different outlooks, since their powers do not inherently stem from a particular philosophy or discipline. However, certain eidolons have personalities that restrict which summoners can bond with them. Summoners are slightly more often chaotic than lawful, and slightly more often neutral than good or evil.

Religion:

Most summoners have a difficult time with organized religion or popular deities. They have a very immediate and constant contact with the beyond through their eidolons, and rarely feel much need to appeal to something more distant and uncaring. Since many summoners travel a great deal, the most common deity for devoted summoners is Fharlanghn, god of roads, and a few worship Boccob or Wee Jas for their gift of magic. Some summoners also retain devotion to a god particularly attached to their race, such as Gruumsh or Corellon Larethian.

Background:

Summoners come from a myriad of backgrounds, since the only things required to be a summoner are serendipity and either a strong sense of the abstract or a really good imagination. A few conquered an eidolon's avatar and bonded it to them, and some have dreamed of a strange form so vividly that it still spoke to them when they awoke; but most summoners are people who saw a way their favorite symbols could be used to solve a problem that was very, very important to them.

Like sorcerers, summoners' newfound powers often make returning to their former life difficult. They are no longer understood by those around them, and the easiest thing for them to do is set out in search of self-discovery. They often learn from other summoners they may encounter, and have more group feeling than sorcerers, but have no internal order or society of summoners; their level of organization lies somewhere between sorcerers and bards.

Races:

Summoners are equally uncommon among all races. Because their approach is more intuitive than studied, strong powers of reason or an extensive education are not needed to wield the powers of eidolons effectively.

Other Classes:

Summoners feel most akin to other spellcasters, especially bards and sorcerers. At the same time, they sometimes find themselves in competition with such spellcasters, especially since they often cross the line between wizard magic and cleric magic. Clerics in particular find them theologically confusing. They get along fairly well with barbarians, rangers and druids, rarely have much issue with fighters, but occasionally have tiffs with paladin companions.

Game Rule Information

Summoners have the following game statistics.

Ablities:

Charisma is the single most important ability for a summoner, since it affects his ability to maintain good relations with his eidolons and to keep them from interfering with each other, and consequently decides his spellcasting ability. Like most spellcasters, they benefit from a high Dexterity or Constitution to help compensate for low hit points.

Alignment:

Any.

Hit Die:

d6.

Class Skills

The summoner's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str), and Wilderness Lore (Wis). See Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the summoner.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:

Summoners are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with shields or any type of armor. Summoners cast divine spells and do not suffer penalties for casting spells while wearing armor. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.

Eidolons, Spell Paths and Granted Powers:

Summoners have the ability to bond supernatural personalities called eidolons to them. These eidolons, being expressions of some transcendent archetype, can tap into the stuff of dreams and ideas and make it real, allowing the summoner to wield powers beyond the usual.

Each first-level summoner chooses one eidolon whose prerequisites she meets. At each summoner level divisible by five, she gains the ability to bond another eidolon, but does not get one automatically. She must encounter an avatar of an eidolon or find one within her soul on an inner journey in order to actually bond it. She must also meet the eidolon's requirements to secure its respect. See Bonding Eidolons for more information.

Each eidolon bonded to a summoner gives that summoner a granted power and one spell per level. For example, a first-level lawful neutral summoner chooses to start with an Alexander eidolon. She gains the ability to turn undead as if she were a first-level cleric, and can cast the second-level spell shield of faith twice per day.

Spells:

A summoner casts divine spells from her eidolon spell lists. She casts these spells without needing to prepare them beforehand or keep a spellbook. Summoners receive bonus spells for high Charisma, and to cast a spell a summoner must have a Charisma score at least equal to 10 + the level of the spell. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a summoner's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the summoner's Charisma modifier.

Recognition:

One more minor ability of all summoners is to instantly recognize when someone they meet has bonded any of the same eidolons that they have. A summoner with a Phantom eidolon and an Ifrit eidolon and a summoner with an Ifrit eidolon and an Olguth eidolon who meet will know immediately and indeceivably that the other has an Ifrit eidolon, but not anything else; neither will know whether the other has any eidolons in addition to Ifrit, or how many there could be.

Human, Dwarf or Gnome Summoner Starting Package

Armor:

None.

Weapons:

Quarterstaff (1d6/1d6, crit X2, 4 lb., large, bludgeoning).

Throwing dagger (1d4, crit 19-20/X2, 10 ft., 1 lb., Tiny, Piercing).

Skill Selection:

Pick a number of skills equal to 4 (human 5) + Int modifier.

Feat:

Extra Turning

Bonus Feat:

Iron Will (human only)

Eidolon:

Ramuh

Granted power:

Judgement Bolt.

Spells Known:

Shocking Grasp

Gear:

Backpack with waterskin, two days' trail rations, bedroll, sack and flint and steel.

Bell.

Thunderstone.

Gold:

2d6 gp.

Elf, Half-elf or Halfling Summoner Starting Package

Armor:

None.

Weapons:

Sling (1d4, crit X2, 50 ft., Bludgeoning).

Skill Selection:

Pick a number of skills equal to 3 + Int modifier, plus Perform.

Feat:

Dodge

Eidolon:

Siren

Granted Power:

Silent Voice

Spells Known:

Ventriloquism

Gear:

Backpack with waterskin, two days' trail rations, bedroll, sack and flint and steel.

Pouch with ten sling bullets.

Lyre (common).

Gold:

3d4 gp.

Half-Orc Summoner Starting Package

Armor:

None.

Weapons:

Sickle (1d6, crit X2, 3lb, Small, Slashing).

Skill Selection:

Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Feat:

Toughness

Eidolon:

Shiva

Granted Power:

Death Sentence

Spells Known:

Endure Elements (cold only)

Gear:

Backpack with waterskin, bedroll, sack and fishing net.

Tent.

Gold:

2d4 gp.

Eidolons

The spirits that give a summoner her power, called eidolons, are like archetypes that a summoner provides a path for into the realm of the actual. Without a summoner to focus their power, eidolons are eternally unchanging personality templates, with no memory of past events or potential for growth. When a summoner bonds with an eidolon, or finds it within himself, a new personality is created, neither the original eidolon nor the summoner, but a synthesis of the two; the summoner retains his own identity and thoughts, but also houses the eidolon's new personality within his body and mind. This personality experiences everything that the summoner does, but has little or no power to dominate the summoner's body or actions; it is "along for the ride," learning from the summoner's experiences and giving the summoner other points of view from which to understand things.

In exchange for housing the eidolon's personality with his body, the summoner can tap into the vast reservoir of power that is the eidolon's archetype, and with the eidolon's help, shape it to affect the physical world. As the summoner gains in experience, so does the eidolon, learning how better to tap the power of its archetype as the summoner becomes more able to channel that power. From the outside, the appearance is that the summoner is gaining the ability to cast more powerful spells.

While two summoners may bond with the same archetype, gaining the same powers, the eidolons in them will be slightly different, with variations in personality and appearance, and will not consider each other to be kin in any way; a summoner with an Ifrit eidolon has no inherent protection from spells cast by the Ifrit eidolons of other summoners.

Bonding Eidolons

The most common way for a summoner to bond with a new eidolon is to find it on a sort of inner journey. The summoner's body passes into a deep trance for 1d6 * 1d6 (1-36) hours, during which she and her eidolons travel through a mystic and unusual landscape somewhere between the physical realm and the eidolons' world of pure abstraction, encountering odd hazards and other eidolons. When a player chooses to have her character enter trance, she may declare an eidolon she is seeking; when the summoner emerges from trance, the game master tells the player which eidolon her character has bonded. Because seeking an eidolon is partly conscious intent and partly subconscious whimsy, the character may not always find what she meant to look for.

If the group is so inclined, the seeking journey can be role-played out: the dungeon master can create a fantastic landscape; the other players can take the parts of the summoner's eidolons, using character sheets created by the DM; and they can play out meetings with other eidolons and supernatural challenges, in whatever combinations people want to try and are willing to invest the work in.

Occasionally, eidolons may form avatars in the physical realm, seeking purpose. These avatars can sometimes be challenged in some way or otherwise persuaded to join with a summoner who encounters them.

Losing Eidolons

Occasionally, a summoner can come into conflict with one or more of his eidolons. Most often, this happens because of an alignment shift or other way in which the summoner no longer meets the eidolon's requirements. It also can happen when one of his eidolons develops a whim or curiosity that the summoner refuses to indulge. (The dungeon master can use this premise as an adventure hook occasionally, but should avoid being heavy-handed with it.)

The most common result of a conflict is that the eidolon sulks, denying the summoner its powers, until the summoner appeases it in some way, by meeting its requirements again or satisfying its curiosity. In extreme cases, an atonement spell may be required.

In cases where a summoner manages to offend all of her eidolons greivously, or for an extended period of time, the eidolons may gang up and attempt to subvert the summoner's personality. The summoner must make a Will save (DC 20 + the number of eidolons) modified by Charisma instead of Wisdom, or effectively perish as a player character. The eidolons left in possession of the summoner's body will face one of two possibilities - either one of them will become the new dominant personality and control the body, slowly losing its supernatural abilities, or they may fight among themselves for control, risking destroying the summoner's physical body or transforming it into a monstrous amalgam of eidolon attributes. Keep in mind that an eidolon rebellion is an occurence rare in the extreme.

Sample Eidolons

Each eidolon's description takes the following form:

Eidolon Name [Descriptors, similar to the descriptors of spells]

A brief description of the eidolon's portfolio and the appearance of its avatar. This avatar is how the summoner perceives the eidolon and often manfests in some way as part of the summoner's spells.

Requirements:

A summoner must meet an eidolon's requirements in order to bond it. Failing to meet the requirements of an eidolon you have already bonded may cause you and that eidolon to come into conflict.

Granted Power:

A continuous or invoked ability which the summoner receives as part of his bond to the eidolon.

Spells

The eidolon's spell list, one spell each of levels 2 to 8.

Alexander [Good, Law]

Alexander is a bastion of purity and righteousness, guarding the innocent and holy. It resembles a sort of enormous walking fortress, or sometimes a towering man completely concealed by a suit of armor. Its avatars are found in old temples or guarding shrines.

Requirement:

lawful or good alignment.

Granted Power: Holy Judgement.

Summoners with Alexander eidolons can turn and destroy undead in the same way as good clerics, with a turning level equal to their summoner level.

Spells

2. Shield of Faith
3. Remove Disease
4. Holy Smite
5. Mark of Justice
6. Raise Dead
7. Destruction
8. Holy Aura

Bahamut [Force, Sun]

Bahamut embodies force, release of energy. His breath is like the exhalation of a star, searing away everything. His avatars resemble ancient dragons, found only in the most remote and unattainable places. He will respect only the more powerful summoners.

Requirement:

10th level or higher summoner.

Granted Power: Gloryflare.

Bahamut summoners gain the feat Spell Penetration, and cast all spells, from any class, at +1 caster level.

Spells

2. Magic Missile
3. Fly
4. Deka Flare (This spell is identical to Lightning Bolt, except that the Electricity descriptor is changed to Force)
5. Hekta Flare (This spell is identical to Cone of Cold, except that the Cold descriptor is changed to Force)
6. Mega Flare (This spell is identical to Chain Lightning, except that the Electricity descriptor is changed to Force)
7. Giga Flare (This spell is identical to Delayed Blast Fireball, except that the Fire descriptor is changed to Force)
8. Tera Flare (This spell is identical to Meteor Swarm, except that the Fire descriptor is changed to Force)

Hades [Death, Evil]

The spirit of death presides over his black cauldron, brewing foul spirits and undead monsters. His avatars are wrapped in layers of robes and cloaks, so that nothing of him but his hands can be seen. He appears in graveyards, old battlefields and deep caverns.

Requirement:

evil alignment.

Granted Power: Voice of Gloom.

Hades summoners can rebuke or command undead like an evil cleric, using their summoner level as their turning level.

Spells

2. Chill Touch
3. Stinking Cloud
4. Animate Dead
5. Unhallow
6. Create Undead
7. Circle of Death
8. Create Greater Undead

Ifrit [Fire, Chaos]

Fire and rage are embodied in a bronze-skinned, red-maned ogre known as Ifrit. Ifrit avatars are sometimes encountered in volcanic caverns or the aftermath of forest fires. Because of Ifrit's unpredictable nature, lawful summoners cannot bond Ifrit eidolons.

Requirement:

non-lawful alignment.

Granted Power: Mad Rush.

This is the ability to rage once per day as a 1st-level barbarian.

Spells

2. Produce Flame
3. Bull's Strength
4. Fireball
5. Protection From Elements [Fire or Cold only]
6. Fire Shield
7. Flame Strike
8. Fire Storm

Leviathan [Water, Nature]

Leviathan is the great sea serpent, the maker of waves. He appears usually as a draconic sea creature but sometimes as a mer-lord. His avatars are found by the seashore, or out on the deep.

Requirement:

4 or more ranks in Swim.

Granted Power: Wave Heart.

Leviathan summoners are continually affected by a water breathing spell. This spell can be dispelled, but the summoner can renew it as a free action.

Spells

2. Create Water
3. Water Breathing
4. Water Walk
5. Control Water
6. Summon Nature's Ally VI (Aquatic creatures only)
7. Regenerate
8. Tsunami

Odin [Good, Death]

Odin is the oldest swordsman, the first warrior. He resembles a great armored man with a scimitar, often riding a six-legged steed. His avatars are found in ancient ruins and primeval wilderness. He will follow no one who does not wield the sword.

Requirement:

Base attack +3 or better and proficiency in at least one sword.

Granted Power: Iron Cleaver.

Odin summoners gain the Great Cleave feat as a bonus feat whether or not they have the prerequisites. Odin summoners whose base attack bonus is at least +8 gain the Improved Critical feat for any one sword as a bonus feat provided they have Weapon Focus for that sword.

Spells

2. Magic Weapon
3. Phantom Steed
4. Keen Edge
5. Greater Magic Weapon
6. Blade Barrier
7. Mordenkainen's Sword
8. Implosion

Olguth [Poison, Decay]

Olguth is the essence of putrefaction, the devourer of refuse and bringer of disease. It typically resembles a particularly vile otyugh-like creature, but is always disgusting. Its avatars are found in cesspits, swamps and times of plague.

Requirement:

non-good, non-lawful alignment.

Granted Power: Swamp Blood.

Olguth summoners automatically succeed at all saving throws against natural disease and the initial effects of natural poisons. They still suffer any effects accompanying a successful save. They save normally against the secondary effects of poisons, and against supernatural poisons and diseases.

Spells

2. Ghoul Touch
3. Stinking Cloud
4. Poison
5. Evard's Black Tentacles
6. Cloudkill
7. Acid Fog
8. Shambler

Phantom [Darkness, Illusion]

Phantom's nature is shadow and concealment. It typically resembles a billowing shroud or cloak filled with darkness, but occasionally resembles a black or smoky feline of some sort. Its avatars are found in shadowy hollows and places where the eye plays tricks.

Requirement:

4 or more ranks in Hide skill.

Granted Power: Fader.

Phantom summoners can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as they are within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, these summoners can hide themselves from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. They cannot, however, hide in their own shadows.

Spells

2. Darkness
3. Invisibility
4. Invisibility Sphere
5. Greater Shadow Conjuration
6. Greater Shadow Evocation
7. Shadow Walk
8. Screen

Phoenix [Fire, Healing]

Phoenix is the destroyer and the creator, omega and alpha. Phoenix fires burn away rot so that health can return. Phoenix appears as a great, ornamented bird like a fantastic peacock, in red and orange and gold, or occasionally as a shamanic figure in fanciful clothes decorated in phoenix feathers.

Requirement:

good alignment.

Granted Power: Flames of Rebirth.

A Phoenix summoner who dies automatically becomes the target of a resurrection spell. Ten minutes after death, the summoner is returned to life and full health in a burst of flame dealing fire damage equal to 2d6 + the summoner's Charisma modifer to any crature within 5' of the summoner's remains. The resurrection causes the summoner to lose 1,000 xp per character level (losing one level as a result), or one point of Constitution if the character is 1st level. These losses cannot be prevented or restored, although they can be regained through experience. A summoner who uses this power cannot use it again until she has gained at least one character level.

Spells

2. Burning Hands
3. Cure Moderate Wounds
4. Restoration
5. Healing Circle
6. Heal
7. Fire Storm
8. Resurrection

Ramuh [Lightning, Justice]

An elderly man in robes with a tall staff, some claim that Ramuh is the judge of the dead. His avatars are encountered in forgotten libraries or catacombs. His judiciary inclinations are incompatible with a chaotic mindset.

Requirement:

non-chaotic alignment.

Granted Power: Judgement Bolt.

Ramuh summoners may channel lightning energy to scourge or destroy evil undead and outsiders, much like a good cleric turning undead. The summoner makes a turning roll, using her summoner level as her turning level. Turned creatures are not actually turned, but instead scourged with lightning for 1d6 electricity damage plus 2 damage per level of the summoner.

Spells

2. Shocking Grasp
3. Resist Elements [Lightning only]
4. Lightning Bolt
5. Atonement
6. Chain Lightning
7. Shield of Law
8. Storm of Vengeance

Shiva [Cold, Death]

Shiva is the essence of ice, cold and dangerous. She resembles a fey female humanoid with ice-blue skin, naked or lightly clad. Her avatars are encountered on glaciers or icebergs, or during freak snowstorms. Good summoners cannot reconcile themselves to Shiva's nature - at best uncaring, at worst cruel.

Requirement:

non-good alignment

Granted Power: Death Sentence.

Once per day, a summoner with a Shiva eidolon may pronounce a death sentence on a living, conscious creature as a standard action. The death sentence is a sonic mind-affecting death effect which the target can negate with a Will save (DC 6 + the summoner's level + the summoner's Cha modifier). If the death sentence succeeds, every 10 rounds the target must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or gain one negative level. The death sentence lasts for 10 rounds times the summoner's level plus his Charisma modifier (if any), until the summoner dispels it, or until the target dies or is affected by consecrate, lesser restoration, negative energy protection, remove curse, or a more powerful version of one of these spells. Each negative level lasts a number of hours equal to the summoner's level, so these negative levels cannot result in a permanent level drain.

Spells

2. Endure Elements [Cold only]
3. Chill Metal
4. Protection from Elements [Fire or Cold only]
5. Ice Storm
6. Wall of Ice
7. Cone of Cold
8. Diamond Blizzard

Siren [Sonic, Mind-affecting]

Whether fairy, nymph or mermaid, Siren is the epitome of fey beguilement. Her song can entrance, bewilder, seduce - or drive to madness. Her avatars are found in deserted seashores and deep forests.

Requirement:

4 or more ranks in Perform.

Granted Power: Silent Voice.

A Siren summoner's voice is insuppressible by magical silence; he can speak, cast spells and be heard normally within silenced areas.

Spells

2. Ventriloquism
3. Shatter
4. Silence
5. Charm Monster
6. Mind Fog
7. Insanity
8. Power Word, Blind

The Swarm [Mind-affecting]

The Swarm embodies hives, anthills, termite mounds and other ultimate communities. Its avatars are clouds or carpets of insects, found in jungles and brushland.

Requirement:

non-good, non-evil alignment.

Granted Power: Hivemind.

As a free action, a summoner bonded to the Swarm can create a mental link between herself, one target creature, and all other creatures she is currently linked with. She can do this a number of times equal to her Charisma modifier plus one. Each creature she links with remains linked for a number of rounds equal to her summoner level plus her Charisma modifier. Creatures that wish to can attempt to resist the link with a Will save (DC 16 + the summoner's Cha modifier); a failed link still counts against the summoner's daily limit. This power cannot be used against any creature immune to mind-affecting effects.

The hivemind link provides three major benefits:

• When the summoner or any creature linked to her makes a skill check, they receive an akashic (competence) bonus equal to the number of other creatures linked to the summoner (including the summoner) that have at least one rank in the skill.
• The summoner or any creature linked to her can temporarily gain any one feat possessed by the summoner or any other linked creature, as a free action. A creature can do this a number of times equal to its Intelligence modifier during any given link. Prerequisites for borrowed feats may be ignored as long as they are other feats; a creature does not need Power Attack to borrow Cleave, but still needs 13+ strength. Borrowed feats are lost as soon as either the borrower or the lender leaves the link.
• Neither the summoner nor any creature linked to her can be flanked as long as another creature in the link is within sight.

Spells

2. Spider Climb
3. Web
4. Summon Swarm
5. Giant Vermin
6. Insect Plague
7. Control Weather
8. Creeping Doom

Titan [Earth, Strength]

Bearer of the heavens. Mover of mountains. Shatterer of the earth. Titan appears as a massively muscled giant, primitively dressed. His avatars are found in high mountains and earthquake rifts. He is proud of his strength, and will not submit to a weak summoner.

Requirement:

5th level or higher Summoner

Granted Power: Strength of the Earth.

As a free action, a Titan summoner may add an enhancement bonus equal to his level to his strength for one round per day. This is a supernatural ability.

Spells

2. Bull's Strength
3. Soften Earth and Stone
4. Wall of Stone
5. Righteous Might
6. Transmute Rock to Mud
7. Earthquake
8. Iron Body

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