Summoner

The summoner borders on a world between humans and animals, mortals and planes. She makes pacts with extra-planar creatures, commands armies of beasts, and calls forth the powers of animals to aid her. While not all understand the mind of the summoner, all respect her power.

Adventures: Summoners, although they fit well into general society, prefer to be on the move. The more places they go, the more creatures they can meet. Summoners also generally have other, more personal motives in their life they may adventure for.

Characteristics: The summoner, unlike the druid and ranger, does not have a special bond to nature. Instead, she enjoys the pursuit of knowledge, especially about animals and outsiders. She is a mildly potent spellcaster, but usually uses her power over summoned allies to fight. When push comes to shove, however, she is not afraid to fight alongside her companions.

Alignment: Summoners can be of any alignment. However, their closeness to nature and the variety of creatures they deal with tends to draw them towards neutrality.

Religion: Summoners usually enjoy loose identification with Ehlonna or Obad-Hai, or Firith. The vast array of different beings they deal with in their adventures, however, means any kind of strong alliance will probably be troublesome.

Background: A summoner often started refining her powers as a sorcerer, or training as a bard, to find she had a talent for conjuration. She may also have been a druid who found the hermetic lifestyle was not to her tastes.

A very few summoners are trained professionally to serve in the military, usually as part of a mounted forces regiment.

Races: Summoners are usually human, and occasionally gnome, halfling, or half-elf. The racial prejudices that exist in elves and dwarves usually direct them away from this class, and half-orcs don't mix well with magic.

Other Classes: Summoners get along well with most everyone. They don't always get on with illusionists, since they consider them to be "show-offs", with no substance to anything they do. They relate best to rangers, druids, and sorcerers.

Game Rule Information

Class Skills

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A summoner is proficient in all simple weapons and light armor. She is also proficient with shortbows, longbows, whips, and nets.

Spells: Summoners cast spells from the summoner spell list. She casts these spells without needing to memorize them beforehand or keep a spellbook. The summoner receives bonus spells per day for Charisma, but not a bonus to the maximum number of known spells. To cast a spell the summoner must have a Charisma at least equal to 10 + the level of the spell. The Difficulty Class of a saving throw against a summoner's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the summoner's Charisma modifier.

Bonus languages: At level 4 and every 4 levels thereafter, a summoner gets a free language. This may be any language at all, except for secret ones (such as Druidic).

Summon: Every two levels, summoners can create an empheral bind to a creature with CR less than or equal to her caster level. They can than summon this creature a number of times per day based on table S-4 below.

A creature that is summoned from another plane does not die while called away; see page 96 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. However, a creature called from the same plane can be killed. Depending on how well the creature likes the summoner, they do what she tells them. However, no creature that can die should be more loyal than the equivalent of a charm person spell.

If the creature voluntarily failed their save to be bound and does not wish to be summoned, they may make a save again to not be summoned. However, the empheral bind should alert the caster to the fact the creature does not want to be summoned beforehand. If the creature passes this save, it is still bound, but may not be summoned for the rest of the day (unless it wishes to be).

If the creature failed its initial saving throw, it has no say in the matter. It is summoned, and performs with the same loyalty as a being summoned from a summon monster spell. It may make a save once a year to try and break the bind, with a cumulative -2 penalty each year. The being feels no inherent allegiance to the summoner when not summoned, and in fact may plot against her.

If a summoned ally dies because it was summoned, it may not be replaced for a month. If it dies of other causes, it may be replaced immediately. A summoner may also dismiss her binds by using the empheral dismiss spell. This creature may be replaced immediately; however, the dismissee may never be bound in such a manner again by the summoner (but can still be the target of her empheral binds).

Creatures summoned remain for 1 round per level plus Charisma modifier.

Tables

Summoners choose their spells from the following list:

0 level—dancing lights, detect magic, empheral bind, empheral dismiss, ghost sound, mage hand, read magic.

1st level—animal friendship, animal trance, calm animal, charm animal, mount, spider climb, summon monster I, summon nature's ally I, unseen servant

2nd level—animal trance, bull's strength, cat's grace, charm person, hold animal, speak with animals, summon monster II summon nature's ally II, summon swarm

3rd level—fly, phantom steed, razgar's dust warriors, summon monster III, summon nature's ally III, water breathing, web

4th level—dimension door, evard's black tentacles, giant vermin, lesser planar ally, locate creature, summon monster IV, summon nature's ally IV

5th level—animal growth, contact other plane, dismissal, insect plague, mordenkainen's faithful hound, summon monster V, summon nature's ally V

6th level—animate dead, planar ally, summon monster VI, summon nature's ally VI, teleport

7th level—creeping doom, drawmij's instant summons, summon monster VII, summon nature's ally VII, teleport without error

8th level—banishment, greater planar ally, summon monster VIII, summon nature's ally VIII

9th level—elemental swarm, shambler, summon monster IX, summon nature's ally IX, teleport circle