[Summoning] Is summoning specific spirits a nerf, buff, or neutral?


Homebrew and House Rules


Historically, I haven't been a big fan of Summoning magic, so I've never allowed Summoners. I've been watching a lot of Fairy Tail lately, though, and I think I'm warming up to the way summoning works there. For those who don't watch the show or read the manga, celestial wizards have specific spirits they summon, and they have contracts and relationships with these spirits, who have their own personalities. In Fairy Tail, spirits have keys, and whichever wizard owns the key is master of the spirit.

I want something similar, but not a direct copy. I won't be using keys, but I like the idea that a summoner has specific spirits that they have contracts with. The change I propose is thus. For any spell that summons a creature, you have to have a contract with that creature. This means a spirit gets access to the materiel plane at least a few times a month, with which to do as they please (Spirits can't travel to the material plane themselves. A mage has to open a gate for them.). In exchange, they will assist in combat when needed. In game terms, this means that when a spellcaster learns or writes down a spell that summons any sort of creature, they have to write down a specific creature. DM fiat can allow this creature to be one not normally on the list for that spell, but it will be of the same CR as the creatures on the list, and it will not have any class levels. Write down the stats of this creature. You may do this three times. These three creatures are the only ones you can summon with that spell. Spell like abilities work the same way (So, a Summoner using the Summon Monster class feature has to pick specific creatures. They do get to have a separate list for each level of the class feature they have, but they cannot have one list for the class feature and another list for the spell of the same name, even if they are multiclassers). All summonable spirits are intelligent and able to speak and understand speech, and they have emotions and personalities. If you mistreat a spirit, it may eventually turn on it's master. If a spirit is "killed", it desummons for the remainder of the encounter, but will recover. When a spellcaster gains a more powerful version of the same summoning spell or ability, they can advance a spirit to meet the appropriate CR of the more powerful version, and that spirit now counts against the limit for that CR (so, a CR 5 spirit that becomes a CR 7 counts against the CR 7 limit, not the CR 5.). The lower level slot can be immediately filled with a new spirit of appropriate power. Any summoning spell or ability that summons more than one creature at a time is banned. In the case of spells like Summon Monster that can summon either one or multiple creatures, only the use that summons multiple creatures is disallowed.

What is the likely effect on game balance with this?


A mage who summons specific entities is one of the relatively few character archetypes that proves difficult to implement using Pathfinder rules (because of the way summon monster spells conjure generic projections that aren't actually creatures). Your homebrew ideas look really interesting! I think you might find it to be a significant weakening of summoning overall, though. Essentially, this paradigm restricts the summon monster list to a much narrower range of choices, which lowers its overall versatility; in addition the possibility that maltreated spirits might rebel makes it a riskier ability, as you no longer want to summon creatures up into obviously suicidal situations. Also, intelligent spirits with personalities are basically NPCs, which introduces the risk that a player's interactions with their summoned spirits could "hog the spotlight" during games. Things to consider if you're attempting to make contractual summoning work.

A couple other thoughts. First of all, I've never used these third-party supplements myself, but Radiance has a series of books that revolve around making pacts with particular spirits -- could be just what you're looking for! Pact Magic Unbound, Vol. 1 In fact, this might be your best bet if you're looking for a character whose primary theme is contractual summoning.

Within existing Pathfinder rules, however, you might also find a couple of things useful.

  • While summoning magic doesn't bring real creatures to the Material Plane, calling spells do exactly this. Planar binding or planar ally calls a creature of a certain type to the plane -- and it can be a specific individual if you know that individual's name! This is the primary means of requesting aid from outsiders via contracts and building relationships; every time you call a creature, you must convince it to cooperate.
  • Along the same lines, true names are pretty important in Pathfinder -- they're like sigils carved on the essence of outsiders. This is particularly tricky if you're dealing with devils, but you can bend most outsiders to your will if you can locate the secret of their true names. A special case is the True Name wizard discovery, which grants you access and control over a specific outsider.
  • Speaking of devils, if you're into making deals of the Faustian variety, there's a template for that: the Devilbound Creature template, for those who bargain their souls in exchange for infernal power. A very specific kind of pact, but perhaps you could make a Celestial-Bound template modeled on this one.
  • Finally, there's always the option of reflavoring existing abilities without a great deal of mechanical alteration. Perhaps an oracle character's divine spells are actually the work of pact-bound spirits who flicker briefly into the Material Plane when beseeched by their mortal caller. Eidolons, with their ambiguous origins, would be perfect for this kind of dynamic (though a summoner only has one eidolon, which might not work for your purposes). An unsworn shaman binds themselves to different spirits on different days; you could develop personalities for the spirits with which they commune, even if they're not summoning those spirits into the world.
I know firsthand the appeal of playing a character who builds relationships with their summoned entities (in a wacky homebrew RPG, I once played an elementalist whose first summon was an efreet with a major inferiority complex. Good times). It definitely adds more complexity to a character than is typical for Pathfinder, but it could be rewarding to give one of these ideas a shot. Or hey, try out your homebrew rules for an adventure and report back to us with how they work!

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Genie Bound Noble

My take on a more specific summoner.


I'm doing something similar for my next game but with a few extras

1) When you learn a new summoning spell you make a contract with a creature from that list.
2) you can use research to discover other contracts.
3) you have a relationship score with your contracted summons. Treat it nice and the score goes up, treat it as a mine detector and it goes down.
4) at 0 it no longer answers your summons
5) at 10 you get to add the advanced template to it
6) at 20 you get to add a lesser template of your choice
7) at 40 you get to add a major template of your choice


Technically speaking, it's a nerf (Though a welcome one). It remove's the variability and diversity that a single spell has. Wizards who like to abuse summons (send them out to trigger traps, use as nothing more than meat shields, or packmule their gear) will probably dislike the roleplay that is going to occur of such actions. On the other hand, it gives so much more flavor to the game and immersion.


I've been using a similar concept for some time, among other fixes for problem magic, though my "summons" do bring real creatures like in 1e and 2e AD&D.

One of the first things you may notice is your PCs suddenly may begin roleplaying with the summons outside of the context of combat.

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