Hello! First time making use of the boards, but I'm not here to ask the question of, 'what's the best monster by spell level', well, it is, but in a different manner.
I am playing in a Ravenloft game adapted to Pathfinder, and my character has recieved some form of evil power boost(possibly not the right name for it) due to the caravan we attacked not being as evil as we thought.
My Conjurer is now immune to mind affecting effects, and more importantly, is no longer bound by the summon monster list in terms of what he can summon.
The number on the left is the Summon Monster Spell Level, and the one on the right is the CR limit for that spell.
I - quarter-half
II - 1
III - 2
IV - 3-4
V - 5-6
VI - 7-8
VII - 9-10
VIII - 11-12
IX - 13-14
As you may guess, CR limit is now by boundary for choices, and everything in the bestiary is fair game(Outsiders, dragons, animals, constructs, etc). Only restrictions I was given beyond CR was that I could not choose to add templates to creatures when I summon them, which also means no more Fiendish/Celestial animals(though I can use the base critters), and I cannot customize any feats or spells the creature has already. There has been hints dropped by the gm at rituals/powers that can be discovered in the future to raise this limit, but right now this is what I have to work with.
My Conjurer is currently level 6, and I have scouted the CR 2 list fairly well, but we will be level 7 soon and thus I was hoping to get opinions on my better options for both below and above CR2(and in it if you have an idea I may have overlooked).
While I have played a lot of Pathfinder, I have rarely GMed it and thus my need to go further than the summon monster list into the bestiary as left me rather unprepared.
You should pay special attention to the SLAs of all the creatures, maybe even write up a list of alll of them, because your summon monster effectively becomes a HUGE goldmine for ulitity spells from outsiders.
A list of what you get out of only the cr2 cratures:
know direction
speak with animals
dancing lights
prestidigitation
stabilize
detect evil
daylight
cure light wounds
protection from evil
detect chaos
command
make whole
protection from chaos
detect magic
feather fall
levitate
locate object
spider climb
hide from animals
purify food and drink
commune with nature
deathwatch
bleed
mage hand
open/close
inflict light wounds
heat metal
shocking grasp
snare
sleep
detect law
obscuring mist
charm person
suggestion
This is INSANE for a single spell and it gets even worse on higher CRs.
On top of that you get to summon undead and constructs, who have situationally extremely useful immunities.
It should have been an obvious consideration, but I somehow failed to consider the breadth of SLAs and spells I now have available to me via summons. Which is made worse by the fact that thanks to communal mount(or the heightened version thereof) and Alter Summoned Monster, I can have these things around for hours on end.
Thank you for the reminder.
Next Game session is tomorrow night, anything else I should look for besides SLAs?