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As part of DMDM's Guide to Planar Binding, I want to include an appendix on creatures that you can call and bind. Since there are a lot of outsiders, it's a big chunk of work. So I'm looking to crowdsource it.
Let's start with Lesser Planar Binding, which lets you summon and control outsiders of 6 HD or less. Here follows a partial list of targets. It's heavily weighted towards evil outsiders, because it grew out of my Guide to the Diabolist. You'll notice it's in order from lowest CR to highest; within a CR, it's alphabetical. Please feel free to either amend or expand existing entries, or create new entries (but in the same format, please, for consistency). If this works out, I'll post the other two spells later.
Many thanks in advance,
Doug M.
* * * * *
So, you have your circle drawn, your sacrifice ready, your nervous apprentice close at hand... it's time to start conjuring and binding! Here I list some of the outsiders you're most likely to conjure up. This is by no means a complete list; consult the pfsrd for more. An asterisk (*) means a creature that's a devil – a Diabolist can use Infernal Charisma against it.
There are three statistics you have to think about here: Spell Resistance, the creature's Charisma, and it's Will save. Its Will save is what it uses to resist being called in the first place, its SR will resist your spells, and its Cha can both get it out of the circle and be used to defy you. Remember, the more times it can defy you, the more rolls it gets to escape! So you want to win those Cha checks.
Lesser Planar Binding: Who You Gonna Call?
Lemure* [CR 1, SR 0, Will +0, Cha 5] -- The lemure is feeble, stupid, and has no useful skills or SLAs. If you’re playing a Diabolist, summon one of these at your initiation to start your career and then never bother again. Everyone else, don’t bother ever.
Imp* [CR 2, SR 0, Will+4, Cha 14] -- These little guys have their uses, but for a creature of their CR they're actually pretty hard to call and bind. Go with a zebub devil instead – they’re dumber and creepier, but are easier to conjure and make better scouts.
Gaav* (Host Devil) [Cr 3, SR 0, Will +0, Cha 8] -- These guys are pretty easy to call and bind, but for combat purposes the bearded devil is just going to give you much more bang for your buck.
Zebub* (Accuser Devil) [CR 3, SR 0, Will +1, Cha 12] -- The zebub isn't terribly bright, but it has at-will invisibility, at-will teleport, +15 stealth (the imp, for all its other fine qualities, has no stealth), whispering wind for reporting back, and a variety of useful SLAs including that weird Infernal Eye thing. Summon these guys regularly for use as spies and scouts -- in particular, if your party doesn't have a rogue, you want one of these flybabies bobbing invisibly down the dungeon corridor in front of you. Despite their low CR, they'll stay at least occasionally handy well into higher levels.
Hell Hound [CR 3, SR 0, Will +1, Cha 6] -- Fairly easy to summon, and their low Int means they're not too hard to please -- if you regularly give them meat and stuff to burn, they should be happy. If you're just getting started with planar binding, or you need to call up a lot of monsters fast with a high chance of success, go with these guys. A pack of them can be fun, but their low CR and lack of useful skills or SLAs means that before long you'll be moving on to bigger and better monsters.
Hound Archon [CR 4, SR 15, Will +5, Cha 12] – The hound archon is a respectable melee combatant, but his Aura of Menace makes him particularly attractive… it’s always a good debuff, but at this level it’s particularly nice, since a lot of low level foes will fail the save and then have trouble hitting him. If you're facing a bunch of mooks, consider turning him invisible: his Aura still works, and it will be very difficult for them to hit him and shake the debuff. He’s also one of the lowest CR creatures that can teleport, giving him wonderful tactical flexibility. And he’s got constant detect evil and magic circle against evil, and can throw aid spells all day long, meaning you and your allies should always be walking around with +1 to hit and an extra 8 or 10 hp.
Ukobach* [Cr 4, SR 15, Will +7, Cha 13] -- These little pyromaniacs are Paizo, but 3.5, not PFRPG -- they showed up in Pathfinder #25 (Bastards of Erebus) and have never been converted. Check whether your DM will allow them. A specialized tool, call these if you want to burn stuff down. Note that they're unusually "friendly" for devils, and may show up with gifts or information.
Barghest [CR 4, SR 0, Will +7, Cha 14] -- Call one of these when you need to get rid of a body.
Shae [CR 4, SR 0, Will +7, Cha 17] -- A decent bodyguard and scout for a creature of its CR. The Barbazu is much more powerful, but the shae is not inherently malicious, and has great stealth and some decent SLAs.
Barbazu* (Bearded Devil) [CR 5, SR 16, Will +3, Cha 10] -- These guys are your go-to, meat and potatoes devils for your first few levels of conjuring. They're relatively easy to conjure and bind: once you overcome their SR, their lowish Will save and weak Cha are unlikely to present problems, and you can raise the odds still higher by giving them something to kill (+2 on the Cha check). A single bearded devil is only CR 5, but four of them are CR 9 and a group of six is CR 10, so you can have squads of them running around into the low teen levels. They have respectable hp, AC 19, and the ability to dish out large amounts of damage quite fast. They're the lowest CR devils with at-will teleportation, which means that for their CR they're incredibly flexible tactically; they can pop up next to enemy casters, swarm opponents who think they're safely distant across a chasm, your party rogue will always have a flank buddy, you name it. Once you're able to cast LPB regularly, you should always have a few of these guys hanging around. Print out a copy of their stat block... you're going to be using it a lot.
Catrina [CR 5, SR 16, Will +9, Cha 19] -- The catrina is a tough creature to call for its CR, so you'll really only call it for one reason: to kill some particular target. It's about the best assassin you can find at this CR. It has invisibility and greater teleport at will, so it can teleport to its target invisibly, gain surprise, and then use its Compel Condemned power to command a deadly kiss. That's basically a save-or-die, and you can boost the DC 17 save by buffing the catrina before sending it on its way.
Cayhound [CR 5, SR 0, Will +6, Cha 13] -- If the barbazu is just not a fit for you alignment-wise, consider a pack of these guys. They're not quite as tough, but they're respectable in combat. The cayhound has the Dimensional Assault feat, which means it can charge up to 80 feet by means of Dimension Door, ignoring everything in between. That's very nice for getting at enemy bosses and casters who are hiding behind a screen of mooks, or enemies who are on the other side of a pit or a wall. Also, as a Medium creature, the hound can be ridden by a Small rider -- and it's been ruled that if your mount uses Dimension Door, you still retain all your actions. So if you're a small sized caster, you can drop a rank or two in Ride, call up a cayhound, and have unparallelled tactical mobility. The hound bamfs you wherever you need to go, you rain death upon your enemies, and next round the hound takes you somewhere else. The hound can't be grappled or Dimension Anchored (although you can -- take care) and its Dimensional Agility feat means that it can Dimension Door and still take a move or swift action.
Lar [CR 5, SR 0, Will +5, Cha 13] -- There aren't a lot of LG outsiders accessible with this spell. Fortunately the Lar is a good one. It is naturally invisible and is able to possess and animate objects of up to Large size. If its host is destroyed, it takes a bit of damage but can promptly possess another object next round. Since large inanimate objects are CR 5, this makes the Lar sort of like a continuous Summon Monster V spell as long as there's a steady supply of stuff for it to inhabit. Oh, and it can also throw DC 17 suggestions all day long -- pretty sweet. (Note that this can combine with its possession power in interesting ways. Put a lar in your desk, and everyone who sits down across from you gets hit with a suggestion every round.) Oh, and when you're not out adventuring, it has a bunch of SLAs it can cast to make your home more comfortable. If you're LG or close to it, put one of these guys in a suit of armor or something and keep it close at hand.
Nightmare [CR 5, SR 0, Will +3, Cha 12] -- There are two reasons to call up a nightmare. One is if you want to travel to the Outer Planes, as the nightmare can Plane Shift itself and one rider once/day. This is quite risky, since you have to travel alone and you can't come back home for a full day. But if for some reason you really need to go, this is the fastest way to get there. The other reason is, of course, to lend it to the party antipaladin, cavalier, or other steed-crazy fighter type. It's a great way to thank the party tank for standing next to you all those times. A few levels later you can offer him the chance to trade up to a cauchemar -- see below.
Umbral Shepherd [CR 5, SR 0, Will +8, Cha 15] – These guys are creepy but full of interesting possibilities. They can possess bodies as if by magic jar… in fact, they have to do so, because once conjured they quickly wither and die (d6 damage/round) without a body. Note that this means that, once called, you can kill an umbral shepherd simply by keeping it in its circle for a few minutes. In theory, this could make it easier to bind. In practice, your DM might rule that a creature of pure evil that serves the god of suffering isn’t going to just roll over for some schmuck mortal caster. In any event, if you’re going to call one, make sure you have a suitable host body ready for it. Once in the body, the shepherd is an excellent servant; not only can it hop from body to body, but it has a nasty Con-damaging touch attack.
Shadow Mastiff [CR 5, SR 0, Will +5, Cha 13] -- Give it a dog collar and cast Darkness on the collar. Voila: the mastiff now has 50% concealment, turning it from a mediocre melee combatant into a very good one. The mastiff's other useful trait is its bay, which can panic everything within 300 feet, but does not affect evil outsiders -- or you, if you make sure to expose yourself to it every morning before breakfast. The evil outsiders exception means the mastiff makes a nice mascot for you and a band of devils.
Venedaemon [CR 5, SR 16, Will +8, Cha 21] – For a CR 5 creature, the venedaemon is remarkably difficult to deal with: good will save, spell resistance, and a really high Cha. And after all that, you get a creature that’s basically a 6th level sorcerer with better hit dice and some immunities. It’s almost useless in melee and it doesn’t have particularly useful SLAs. Unless you have some really specific need for a daemon – someone has to swim through an acid-flooded underground tunnel, or some such – it’s probably not worth it.
Yamah [CR 5, SR 0, Will +7, Cha 20] -- Also hard to call, but at least you get a decent combat creature with an interesting debuff ability: the yamah can cast dispel magic as a touch attack, all day long. This ability would be awesome if it didn't require the relatively fragile yamah to wade into combat. It's still pretty good. If you know you're going to be fighting something with buffs, call up two or more of these butterfly-winged outsiders and have them dispel, dispel, dispel.
Note that if you want to wait a bit, you can call and bind multiple nightmares and have each member of your party riding one.
Lantern archon [CR 2, SR 0, Will +0, Cha 10] -- eternal laser bolts at your foes. Their aura of menace is weak (DC 13), but they can teleport and fly, and their rays attack touch AC and penetrate all DR. Plus, while they're only 2 HD, you can summon three of them with a single casting, and their gestalt ability allows nine of them to combine into a really nasty monster.
Janni (Genie) [CR 4, SR 0, Will +4, Cha 13] -- An excellent taxi service and universal translator. True neutral so can probably work with anyone; won't upset the paladin the way a nightmare will.
Foo Lion [CR 4, SR 0, Willl +4, Cha 6] -- A pouncing goon. Easy to summon, plenty of damage, some handy physical defences but vulnerable to enemy magic.
tonyz wrote: Lantern archon [CR 2, SR 0, Will +0, Cha 10] -- eternal laser bolts at your foes. Their aura of menace is weak (DC 13), but they can teleport and fly, and their rays attack touch AC and penetrate all DR. Plus, while they're only 2 HD, you can summon three of them with a single casting, and their gestalt ability allows nine of them to combine into a really nasty monster. Don't forget their At-Will Aid, similar to the hound archon in use but better since lower HD. I had a summoner who would summon 3 or more of these with a single summon monster 4 use and had them using aid on party members every round, most effective psuedo-healer I've ever seen. They also have an impressive DR 10/good for their size and Truespeech
That said though, would it be more
Are we talking about all possible outsiders to summon or only the ones from the list? If all, then here are some other sub-6HD creatures.
Ja Noi Oni [CR 5, SR 0, Will + 3, Cha 14] Serene Fighter means these guys get to reroll will saves, so probably not the best idea to planar bind them, but they are flying shapeshifting magical regenerators and so they have many uses
Yamabushi Tengu [CR 5, SR 16, Will +4, Cha 16] This guy is a flying shapeshifting regenerator with better spell like abilities, such as Glitterdust and Dimension Door. He comes with a +1 Kusarigama, and a built in silence ability with Steal Voice.
Spirit Oni [CR 2, SR 0, Will +4, Cha 15] You can wear it as a mask!
Psychopomp, Nosoi [CR 2, SR 0, Will +4, Cha 16] these tiny birds are very good at talking to the dead. They can fascinate undead creatures (and living creatures) they also have a +7 to profession scribe
Psychopomp, Ahmuuth [CR 4, SR 15, Will +8, Cha 12] At will summon a bunch of owls. Comes packaged with a +1 returning undead bane dagger (but only when they hold it, drat) and Locate Creature. These guys are super good at fighting Ghosts. +10 UMD
Psychopomp, Catrina [CR 5, SR 16, Will +9, Cha 19] This is a tough tough bind but comes with speak with dead at will, tongues, UMD +10, 3/day major image, and telepathy. 30 feet aura of Calm Emotions. DC 17 Dominate but only to give her/him a smooch. If you give her/him a smooch for 3 rounds you die regardless of hitpoints.
A Gloomwing (Will +5, Cha 10) can make a small army if you're confident you can control its tenebrous worm spawn. Even if you can't, it's a low-HD creature that can pump out lots of CR 8 creatures if you can keep it hidden. Stash it with a few dozen Small animal corpses somewhere deep within enemy lines and your enemy's in serious trouble.
Dandasuka Rakshasa [CR 5, SR 20, Will +6, Cha 15] -- the description says they're spies and assassins and this time it's right. They can sneak and lie, change shape and read thoughts, bleed damage and sneak attack will be handy for an assassin. While their actual spellcasting is insignificant you can hand them wands or scrolls to use. Hard to bind though and they are worrying psychos.
Raktavarna Rakshasa [CR 2, SR 17, Will +4, Cha 14] -- subtler spies or just good security. Raktavarna can change into small objects for disguise and can let their master use their senses at any distance, even across planes. Commune as an SLA may be useful. Not for combat use.
Umbral Shepherd [CR 5, SR 0, Will +8, Cha 15] -- They have Magic Jar. When not possessing anything they're incorporeal. You should be able to find a use for these.
Aghash Div [CR 4, SR 15, Will +7, Cha 18] -- A bunch of useful at-will SLA's such as bestow curse, spectral hand, dimension door and minor image. The save DC is a little light on bestow curse by the time you can planar bind but with a few of them on your side at least one curse is likely to stick.
Shepherd and Catrina are already covered, I think, and the Shepherd dies when it's not possessing anything unless it's on the Shadow Plane.
Apocalypse Locust [CR 6/MR 3, SR 0, Will +6, Cha 15] -- This beautiful creature is the ultimate tank for this level. With a DR of 5/epic only Paladins and the alike are likely to get through it.
Do note however that it is a Mythic creature and thus it can surge its saves and charisma checks. And some GM's might not allow it just because of the Mythic abilities.
tonyz wrote: Note that if you want to wait a bit, you can call and bind multiple nightmares and have each member of your party riding one. Not everyone is going to invest ranks in Ride, but fair enough.
Quote:
Lantern archon [CR 2, SR 0, Will +0, Cha 10] -- eternal laser bolts at your foes. Their aura of menace is weak (DC 13), but they can teleport and fly, and their rays attack touch AC and penetrate all DR. Plus, while they're only 2 HD, you can summon three of them with a single casting, and their gestalt ability allows nine of them to combine into a really nasty monster. Hm, three of them could work pretty well, actually. Good catch. I'll also note that they can teleport (unusual in a CR 2 creature), meaning they can deliver long-distance messages and fetch items from home base. They'd make great dungeon scouts -- float ahead, light the place up, teleport back if you see anything interesting. There are a lot of tactical possibilities here, too: stay up in the air and out of reach, force powerful opponents to make three Aura of Menace saves, if it fails one teleport away so it can't shake off the debuff.
Doug M.
avr wrote: Janni (Genie) [CR 4, SR 0, Will +4, Cha 13] -- An excellent taxi service and universal translator. True neutral so can probably work with anyone; won't upset the paladin the way a nightmare will. Not sure about the taxi service, "Ethereal Jaunt, one hour duration" with invisibility thrown in to boot make this pretty much your ultimate scout and spy at this CR.
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Foo Lion [CR 4, SR 0, Willl +4, Cha 6] -- A pouncing goon. Easy to summon, plenty of damage, some handy physical defences but vulnerable to enemy magic. You'd want to summon two at a time, for the Paired Protector thing.
Doug M.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Not sure about the taxi service, "Ethereal Jaunt, one hour duration" with invisibility thrown in to boot make this pretty much your ultimate scout and spy at this CR.
Quote: 3/day—invisibility (self only), plane shift (willing targets to elemental planes, Astral Plane, or Material Plane only), speak with animals From the Astral Plane you can get to most other planes fairly easily. I'd rate it higher as a scout if it had a decent stealth skill, +6 skill & invis. 3/day could be iffy in cases where you need to spend a length of time scouting and you need to see things - visibility from the ethereal is poor.
Pairs of Foo Lions would get the free protection from evil which is nice, true.
EgakuDrew wrote:
Ja Noi Oni [CR 5, SR 0, Will + 3, Cha 14] Serene Fighter means these guys get to reroll will saves, so probably not the best idea to planar bind them, but they are flying shapeshifting magical regenerators and so they have many uses
Yes, definitely. This guy is in the same weight class as the bearded devil in terms of melee; they're almost identical in terms of AC and damage output. The devil has teleportation and Power Attack, but OTOH if you get two of these guys they can use the Outflank feat together. Also, the JNO can shapeshift into your halfling valet or whatever and follow you around town. Mind, it's RAW that they get cranky if they go very long without killing something.
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Yamabushi Tengu [CR 5, SR 16, Will +4, Cha 16] This guy is a flying shapeshifting regenerator with better spell like abilities, such as Glitterdust and Dimension Door. He comes with a +1 Kusarigama, and a built in silence ability with Steal Voice.
If you've read the draft Guide, you'll notice that one of the cheesier tricks is calling an outsider and then killing it for its gear. Hey, 1,000 gp resale value! Anyway, yes, this is a pretty respectable backup caster.
Quote:
Spirit Oni [CR 2, SR 0, Will +4, Cha 15] You can wear it as a mask! By the time you're high enough level to cast LPB, this guy will be pretty worthless except for the +2 Perception bonus. I guess that's nice enough? He's really intended as a familiar.
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Psychopomp, Nosoi [CR 2, SR 0, Will +4, Cha 16] these tiny birds are very good at talking to the dead. They can fascinate undead creatures (and living creatures) they also have a +7 to profession scribe
Another familiar. You could call up three of these if you're going on an undead hunt.
Quote:
Psychopomp, Ahmuuth [CR 4, SR 15, Will +8, Cha 12] At will summon a bunch of owls. Comes packaged with a +1 returning undead bane dagger (but only when they hold it, drat) and Locate Creature. These guys are super good at fighting Ghosts. +10 UMD
Kind of a specialized tool, but okay. (And having up to six owls whooshing around is a nice effect.)
Doug M.
Ipslore the Red wrote: A Gloomwing (Will +5, Cha 10) can make a small army if you're confident you can control its tenebrous worm spawn. Even if you can't, it's a low-HD creature that can pump out lots of CR 8 creatures if you can keep it hidden. Stash it with a few dozen Small animal corpses somewhere deep within enemy lines and your enemy's in serious trouble. Now that is just sick. Good one!
Doug M.
Soulsliver [CR 2, SR 0, Will +2, Cha 13] -- An excellent spy and infiltrator in locations with mirrors, or using mirror men as guards.
The mirror in the bedroom of your enemy or the magic mirror in the treasure chamber become open doors for your called soulslivers (knowing the Irriseni Mirror Sight spell would be useful here.)
avr wrote: Dandasuka Rakshasa [CR 5, SR 20, Will +6, Cha 15] -- the description says they're spies and assassins and this time it's right. They can sneak and lie, change shape and read thoughts, bleed damage and sneak attack will be handy for an assassin. While their actual spellcasting is insignificant you can hand them wands or scrolls to use. Hard to bind though and they are worrying psychos. Yeah, this little guy is respectable. The catrina makes a better one-shot assassin, but his shapechanging and mind reading makes him a better spy. Another creature that can walk around with you all day long.
Quote:
Raktavarna Rakshasa [CR 2, SR 17, Will +4, Cha 14] -- subtler spies or just good security. Raktavarna can change into small objects for disguise and can let their master use their senses at any distance, even across planes. Commune as an SLA may be useful. Not for combat use. You call up one of these to give it as a present to someone, so you can spy on them and then possibly send something more powerful after them.
avr wrote:
Aghash Div [CR 4, SR 15, Will +7, Cha 18] -- A bunch of useful at-will SLA's such as bestow curse, spectral hand, dimension door and minor image. The save DC is a little light on bestow curse by the time you can planar bind but with a few of them on your side at least one curse is likely to stick.
Nice one! Although it's only CR 4, the at-will spectral hand/bestow curse combo make this guy worth calling up. As you say, call up several of them and have them just throw curses. It's RAW that they're motivated by a compulsive hatred of beauty, so call them if you're facing a high-Cha opponent.
Doug M.
Ipslore the Red wrote: Shepherd and Catrina are already covered, I think, and the Shepherd dies when it's not possessing anything unless it's on the Shadow Plane. Yes, the Shepherd is sort of like a poor man's Shadow Demon. Still pretty handy for a CR 5 creature, though.
(It's part of what I love about the Planar Binding spells: there's almost no limit to what you can do with them. Somewhere there's an outsider that has a mix of powers that will be oh, so useful to you.)
Doug M.
Dapsara [CR 4, SR 15, Will +8, Cha 15] A level 5 bard with loads of utility.
Everyone within 20 feet of her has a beefed up Magic Circle Against Evil and Lesser Globe of Invulnerability effect, which means they're immune to fireballs, lightning bolts, and stinking clouds, amongst other things.
She can use Alter Self at will and communicate with animals and anything that has a language.
Arm her with a glaive to support the party's frontliners, or have her hang back with the party's spellcasters and archers. She doesn't need to attack with the glaive, but reach AOOs and Aid Another goes a long way.
She has four arms, two of which are Ghost Touch, so might as well give her a masterwork light shield.
She has several immediate action SLAs that save allies from poor rolls.
And last but not least, she grants the entire party +2 attack/damage with inspire courage.
Castilonium wrote: Dapsara [CR 4, SR 15, Will +8, Cha 15] A level 5 bard with loads of utility.
Everyone within 20 feet of her has a beefed up Magic Circle Against Evil and Lesser Globe of Invulnerability effect, which means they're immune to fireballs, lightning bolts, and stinking clouds, amongst other things.
What?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/angel wrote: An angel possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry). http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/angel wrote: Protective Aura (Su) Against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures, this ability provides a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saving throws to anyone within 20 feet of the angel. Otherwise, it functions as a magic circle against evil effect and a lesser globe of invulnerability, both with a radius of 20 feet (caster level equals angel's HD). The defensive benefits from the circle are not included in an angel's statistics block.
tonyz wrote: Note that if you want to wait a bit, you can call and bind multiple nightmares and have each member of your party riding one.
Lantern archon [CR 2, SR 0, Will +0, Cha 10] -- eternal laser bolts at your foes. Their aura of menace is weak (DC 13), but they can teleport and fly, and their rays attack touch AC and penetrate all DR. Plus, while they're only 2 HD, you can summon three of them with a single casting, and their gestalt ability allows nine of them to combine into a really nasty monster.
Unless I am missing some special ability or feat, it can't be done with lesser planar binding. That spell explicitly targets single outsider with 6 HD or less. Only regular and greater versions allow conjuring multiple creatures.
Drejk wrote:
Unless I am missing some special ability or feat, it can't be done with lesser planar binding. That spell explicitly targets single outsider with 6 HD or less. Only regular and greater versions allow conjuring multiple creatures.
You're right -- LPB is one creature only. It's the higher level PBs that allow you to call multiple creatures.
Doug M.
the Diviner wrote: Apocalypse Locust [CR 6/MR 3, SR 0, Will +6, Cha 15] -- This beautiful creature is the ultimate tank for this level. With a DR of 5/epic only Paladins and the alike are likely to get through it.
Do note however that it is a Mythic creature and thus it can surge its saves and charisma checks. And some GM's might not allow it just because of the Mythic abilities.
I'm not going to include Mythic creatures. I do play with the Mythic rules, but I don't think they are as well thought out as they should have been.
And, as you say, this thing is the ultimate tank: it's just ridiculously better than anything else you might call with Lesser Planar Binding. Right now, the spell offers a really intriguing mix of options. There are several creatures competing for the role of tank; I think the barbed devil wins by a nose, but you could make a case for at least three others, depending on the exact mix of tactical abilities you're looking for -- and there are several other creatures that, while weak in melee, could conceivably outgun the barbed devil by using ranged attacks, save-or-suck SLAs, and so forth.
But toss this guy into the mix, and all those interesting choices become moot: you call an Apocalypse Locust, because it's just obviously better than anything else. Even putting aside issues of game balance, that just seems less fun.
Doug M.
Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Don't forget to include a safety warning about not summoning in a sewer while under the influence of Yellowcap mushrooms.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned tieflings and aasimar. Planar binding proper wizards has been rather useful in my experience.
Any advice on getting these various creatures to cooperate and, you know, not kill you in your sleep?
Tiny Coffee Golem wrote: Any advice on getting these various creatures to cooperate and, you know, not kill you in your sleep? Planar Binding compels them to obey you. Of course, intelligent creatures can come up with ways to twist your instructions -- they're not mindless automata -- and you're not allowed to give them impossible or "unreasonable" instructions.
The RAW leaves a lot of room for interpretation. My take on this is, you want to work with the grain -- don't order the creature to do things against its alignment, do give it tasks that suit its nature. I discuss these issues in more detail in my Guide to Planar Binding (drafts, still a work in progress, so feel free to comment).
Guide to Planar Binding, Part 1
Guide to Planar Binding, Part 2
Also, if you're interested in building a planar binder character, check out the Guide to the Diabolist (comment thread over here). It focuses on the Diabolist PrC, but much of the discussion -- especially the parts on feats, skills, and magic items -- would be of interest to anyone planning to bind outsiders on a regular basis.
Doug M.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Quote: Plus, while they're only 2 HD, you can summon three of them with a single casting, and their gestalt ability allows nine of them to combine into a really nasty monster. Hm, three of them could work pretty well, actually. Good catch.
This doesn't actually work. Lesser planar binding explicitly gets only one creature. (And when you do start using planar binding to get three 4-HD gophers instead of one 12-HD monster, keep in mind each needs its own magic circle.)
Ross Byers wrote: Douglas Muir 406 wrote:
Quote: Plus, while they're only 2 HD, you can summon three of them with a single casting, and their gestalt ability allows nine of them to combine into a really nasty monster. Hm, three of them could work pretty well, actually. Good catch.
This doesn't actually work. Lesser planar binding explicitly gets only one creature. (And when you do start using planar binding to get three 4-HD gophers instead of one 12-HD monster, keep in mind each needs its own magic circle.) Was caught several posts up thread.
Castilonium wrote: Dapsara [CR 4, SR 15, Will +8, Cha 15] A level 5 bard with loads of utility.
Everyone within 20 feet of her has a beefed up Magic Circle Against Evil and Lesser Globe of Invulnerability effect, which means they're immune to fireballs, lightning bolts, and stinking clouds, amongst other things.
Wow, this is great. Not as tanky as some, but probably the single best all-round companion so far. (And another one that you can walk around with in public.) Good one.
Doug M.
Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Hmm, the Dapsara lacks the Aura entry the other angels have though?
On second check both the Dapsara and Iophanite lack the Aura entry, and both are from Inner Sea Gods. Mistake while creating the statblock for them or do they suffer from not having the aura, not even a lesser one like the Cassisian? They also don't seem to have the increases for the aura in their AC, the others all have a +4 deflection vs evil (except the Cassisian who has a +2)
Interesting. That would downgrade her from "Top notch" to "Very Good" IMO. -- Note that a bunch of these angels will be showing up for the later versions of these spells.
Doug M.
The burleev is effectively a 5th level sorcerer with DR, SR, and variable immunities. If you can get one with a customized spells known list, it's as useful as having a 5th level sorcerer at your beck and call, and then a bit more.
Milo v3 wrote: I'm surprised no one's mentioned tieflings and aasimar. Planar binding proper wizards has been rather useful in my experience. Don't think I'd allow this, myself. You could get a tiefling or aasimar under RAW, but they'd be the plain vanilla CR 1 versions.
Doug M.
Personally, I don't allow calling (Native) Outsiders with planar binding or planar ally. It feels against intent to call something else from the material plane.
Ross Byers wrote: Personally, I don't allow calling (Native) Outsiders with planar binding or planar ally. It feels against intent to call something else from the material plane. Well, the spell's language says "to lure a creature from another plane", so you could argue that native outsiders are exempt. OTOH, the spell's language also says you can target "elementals or outsiders", and the latter category certainly includes native outsiders.
Thinking about it, you have two texts: "creature from another plane" (which would include non-outsider inhabitants of other planes, like plants or constructs) and "elementals or outsiders" (which would include native outsiders). A third interpretation would be that *both* texts apply, meaning only elementals and outsiders that are also from another plane.
That might seem reasonable... but even so, questions would remain. It's canon that there are aasimars in some of the Upper Planes, for instance. So could you call an aasimar from Heaven? It's a creature from another plane, and it's an outsider. For that matter, what if you cast Planar Binding while on another plane? Or, if you wanted to be really annoying, a demiplane?
-- Honestly, the Planar Binding spells are not very well written. AFAICT the Pathfinder version is pretty much the one written for 3.0 back in the last century. It has a lot of fuzzy bits. So, discuss with your DM before trying anything clever. Meanwhile, I think I should probably include native outsiders for completeness' sake.
Doug M.
Ultimate Magic states that you can call native outsiders with planar binding*, but not while on the material plane. I may have brought this up in one of Muir's other guide threads.
The PRD wrote: There is one group of outsiders that it is more difficult to bind: the native outsider. A native outsider cannot be called and bound from the Material Plane. In order to call any outsider, it must be on a different plane from the binder. Native outsiders (or other outsiders currently manifesting on the Material Plane) can only be called and bound by spellcasters on a different plane. A magnificent mansion is probably the most ghetto way to do this conveniently (rope trick isn't big enough!), though you still have a problem if the target wins the opposed Charisma check, since the mansion has a finite duration.
But yeah, if you've got your own demiplane, than you can start abducting oni, kami, tieflings, etc., at your leisure, as long they fail the save.
Muir, you may also want to note which creatures are actually servitors (like the dapsara angels) - i.e., they work for a specific god(dess), and abusive calling might draw unwelcome attention.
* Note that what answers Planar Ally is entirely up to the caster's diety's (i.e., the GM's) discretion. The caster can certainly make a request, but the request isn't binding.
Douglas Muir 406 wrote: -- Honestly, the Planar Binding spells are not very well written. AFAICT the Pathfinder version is pretty much the one written for 3.0 back in the last century. It has a lot of fuzzy bits. So, discuss with your DM before trying anything clever. Meanwhile, I think I should probably include native outsiders for completeness' sake.
Doug M.
Fair enough. I had a thread somewhere where I suggested breaking planar binding into more specific spells, because part of planar binding's fuzzy bits have to do with needing to cover so many Outsiders.
Anyway, Oni and Rakshasa can still kind of make sense (they are Outsiders that happen to not be extraplanar, as opposed to mortals with just a little bit out Outsider traits). But Tieflings and Aasimar have class levels: there is no 'ordinary creature of its type' to call. You if you want to call an aasimar or tiefling NPC from an outer plane, you probably need a name. That preserves the role of specific planetouched NPCs (like those in the Pathfinder God articles) without letting binding wizards build them like cohorts, or deciding that you can just abduct tiefling rogue 1s from all over the world.
Zhangar wrote: Ultimate Magic states that you can call native outsiders with planar binding*, but not while on the material plane. I may have brought this up in one of Muir's other guide threads.
No, I was not aware of this. Thanks for the clarification!
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Muir, you may also want to note which creatures are actually servitors (like the dapsara angels) - i.e., they work for a specific god(dess), and abusive calling might draw unwelcome attention. Are there any others besides the dapsaras? It's strongly implied but not actually stated that the Umbrals are servitors of Zon-Kuthon... anyone else?
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* Note that what answers Planar Ally is entirely up to the caster's diety's (i.e., the GM's) discretion. The caster can certainly make a request, but the request isn't binding.
Yeah, I've contemplated a separate Guide to Planar Ally. This started off as an innocent little 5-page guide to a fun prestige class. It's now a 25 page Guide to the Diabolist, a 20 page draft Guide to Planar Binding, and probably about 30 pages of appendix to that. So, maybe not just now?
Doug M.
Ipslore the Red wrote: The burleev is effectively a 5th level sorcerer with DR, SR, and variable immunities. If you can get one with a customized spells known list, it's as useful as having a 5th level sorcerer at your beck and call, and then a bit more. The Venedaemon is probably more viable, unless you're specifically trying to avoid calling something Evil.
There's also something appropriate about a magician binding the personification of magical death.
Ross Byers wrote: Ipslore the Red wrote: The burleev is effectively a 5th level sorcerer with DR, SR, and variable immunities. If you can get one with a customized spells known list, it's as useful as having a 5th level sorcerer at your beck and call, and then a bit more. The Venedaemon is probably more viable, unless you're specifically trying to avoid calling something Evil.
There's also something appropriate about a magician binding the personification of magical death. Agreed, but it also has slightly higher SR, a Will save +3 higher, and a Cha score 5 higher than the burleev. It's probably still worth it, since its spellcasting, defenses, senses, and movements are objectively superior to the burleev's. If you're not confident of your chances, if you can't use a daemon, or if you really need a Nethysian survivor, I suppose the burleev is more convenient.
I think there are only, like, three Chaotic Evil creatures on this list so far, if that. Kinda a gap in my book, considering how many drow summoners I'd expect to exist.
Fair enough. Looking at Paizo demons with 5 or 6 HD, there's the abrinkandulu, the brimorak, the schir, the hala, the vescavor swarm, and the thoxel. I think the last two on that list are the most promising -- the swarm because it's a swarm, and the vescavor because it's a melee brute that's particularly strong against groups of enemies.
Mind, the swarm is pretty dumb (Int 4) and it's canon that the vescavor is lazy and insubordinate. In fact, demons generally are much more likely to have obsessions and other issues that would make them hard to command or control. Reasonable enough, right?
Anyway. If anyone wants to write these guys up (along with any weaker demons that might be interesting or useful -- I suppose the quasit ought to be in there) please go ahead.
Doug M.
Ooh, I forgot the vermlek. Disgusting, but despite being only CR 3 it could be handy. Added to the list.
Doug M.
I can't actually find the thoxel, though the others look promising.
The mehrim seems pretty good, too—handy options on Summon, Dispel Good, Protection from Good, and Dispel Magic (and all at a higher CL than the brimorak), and some excellent melee attacks. The disease is only really useful against PCs, but it looks like a handy creature to stock up on if you're going to be fighting good foes.
The thoxel is in Sword of Valor, the second Wrath of the Righteous module, on page 86.
Good point about the mehrim!
Doug M.
azer 2 hd 12 wisdom 9 charisma +6 in any 2 craft skills hardworking and most of the time fine with waiting out their enslavement palner bind a bunch of them and open up a factory= profit.
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