Hello all! I'm in the process of developing an epic level boss who is an evil Summoner. I'm going to have him fighting a pretty big group of lvl20+ PCs, so I'm considering placing him at or around lvl35 or more. Maybe lvl40. That part is irrelevant.
What, specifically, I want to know is if there is a published or largely accepted guideline for progressing a Summoner beyond 20th level. To be perfectly clear, I am looking for answers to the following questions:
1 ) Is there a way to continue adding to the Summoner's eidolon after lvl20?
Note on this: Nevermind the boss for this one. It's more a question of "is playing a Summoner in a campaign that is going to progress beyond 20th level worth the player's time and effort? would the eidolon become more and more worthless and/or outdated/outclassed as encounters above and beyond lvl20 occur?"
2 ) Is there a set/published guideline or recommendation of actions for levelling a Summoner beyond 20th?
3 ) If multiclassing is an absolute necessity, what is recommended? What might complement a Summoner?
Note on this: I particularly am enamored with the idea of a Synthesist, toying with the idea that the character in question is ruthless and doesn't mind at all if his lifelong eidolon companion is harmed or even killed.
Any and all input on this would be greatly appreciated as I mull. Thanks in advance!
By the way the post is written, I assume you are the DM in this case.
1) Not much if we're being honest. I'd consider adding templates personally. That or you follow 3.5 and advance it as you would based on the progression of the chart adding to hit dice, attack, saves, natural armor, and evolution points. There is a pattern so it wouldn't be that hard to figure out how the numbers should go if you really wanted to.
2) Nothing I'm aware of. Paizo has stayed away from epic in general and the only thing in the core or dm guide on the matter at all suggests allowing the character or creature to multiclass into another class or prestige class. The other option is adding mythic tiers to the summoner which could work but does up the power rather significantly and very quickly at that.
3) My personal suggestion depends on the summoner in question, but I've just recently built something similar in a gestalt game that used summoner and swashbuckler. Makes picking a fight with either a nastier position to be in (and due to already needing charisma you have a fair amount of panache to play with). As the eidolon doesn't advance in this scenario I would toss a complete templates on it to help.
Thanks, both of you! You've definitely resolved the issue I was running into. Brick wall town, sometimes, to be real. ahahaha