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*This system may be too generous. +3/4 levels may be appropriate, limiting its use to low level control spells only.*

There is a reason delayed blast fireball is a higher level spell than fireball, aside from the damage. It's the same reason that you can only have one Contingency spell active at a time and why the Rune of Contingency is so f*~!ing expensive to purchase. Trading preparation for action economy is extraordinarily powerful.

Something to look into is changing this system from an archetype into metamagic. What has to be balanced for this system to be fun is that a wizard will either use this system to bypass per-round casting limits by stacking sigils into a tight space and forcing enemies through it, or be completely useless in a fight that they were not prepared for. This dichotomy is very tricky to manage as a DM whose other players are geared towards more sudden, unexpected combat situations. If you're playing game that requires over the top preparation such as a stealth-based black-ops campaign where preparation is par for the course then this won't be so much of an issue. That being said I would have the system work like this:

Sigil Spell:
You imbue a symbol with a portion of your arcane power. Once placed, you lose the spell slot as if the spell was cast. Each sigil takes up a "sigil slot" that covers at least a 5 foot square, up to the area of the spell whichever is bigger. Casting a Sigil Spell adds +2 spell levels. Sigils last 1/2 CL hours (minimum = 30 minutes) after being cast or concentration, which ever is longer. When a sigil expires the magic diffuses and it has no effect. Sigils have an weak aura. You can be damaged by sigils that you cast.

Persistent Sigil Spell:
Increase the duration of you sigil spells by 100%.

Remote Sigil Spell:
You may us Trigger: Command Word at from up to 300 feet away through any obstacle.

Sigils may use one or more conditions to activate:
Command Word: more than one sigil can be linked to the same command word
Proximity: Anyone will activate a sigil that has this trigger
Individual: identified by adding their blood to the material components of the spell
Individual: bearing an Arcane Mark chosen when the sigil is set
Spell: When another spell is triggered or cast.

EXAMPLE: if you wanted to set up a Hungry Pit trap. Then you could cast a Hungry Pit Sigil in a 10x10 area and two Hydraulic Push Sigils on a on the other side of the door, an Open/Close Sigil on either side of the Door, and a Hold Portal Sigil on the floor next to the Hydraulic Push Sigils. The hydraulic pushes are Individual: Blood triggered, the Open/Close are Spell: Hydraulic Push Triggered, the Hungry Pit is Spell: Hydraulic Push Triggered.

The target walks up to the door, it opens automatically. They are Bull Rushed through the opening into a Hungry Pit. Door closes behind them and is locked magically. At Level 15 hungry pit last 15 rounds, they will be dead before the door opens.

Cost: Blood, 2 Level 2 Spells (Open Close), 3 Level 3 Spells (Hydraulic Pushes and Hold Portal), 1 Level 7 Spell (Hungry Pit)

If you don't want to spend a 7th level spell slot or you don't have one to use then you could ready an action to cast Hungry Pit when the door begins to open. If you don't have or want to use Hydraulic Push then you could have a Fighter Bull Rush the target through the doors and set the triggers to Proximity and Blood: Fighter. The sigils allow you to resolve the rest of the encounter through preparation instead of through relying upon casting a multitude of spells at one time.


I've always been a huge Summoner fan and am always looking for how to make the class balanced and fun both technically and thematically. I think that this approach has the same goals that I do, but I think that it loses some of the flavor of the class with how the combat evolutions section is set up. My favorite mid-late game eidolon build is a constrictor so let me use that as an example.

Primary Evolutions:
Bite + Bite
Increased Damage
Gore
Grab
Reach (Bite)
Large
Skill: Sneak
Fly (Magic)
Shadow
Constrict
Poison

This is a 16ft (longer if you can convince you GM that your eidolon doesn't look like a slug, 32ft standard with Enlarge Person) snake that can fly, hide in the shadows, reach down from the cieling and pull a victim into Constrict. With a standard action attack, Greater Grapple, and Rapid Grappler I get 3 grapple checks per turn in addition to the attack. My Bite Damage is (2d6 +1.5 x STR mod) . This increases to (3d6 + 1.5x STR mod) for grapple checks since I will also take Deadly Grappler. My full round damage is 2d6+1.5 x STRmod + 3(3d6 + 1.5 x STRmod) without any elemental attack evolutions. Add in an item enchanted with Silent Table that my eidolon wears/ has tatooed, the Nightstalker monster feat, and the feat Lunge and I can pull someone into a dark corner of the ceiling and strangle them to death without anyone even knowing my eidolon was ever there. This is why I love eidolons. With the ability to call my Eidolon to my side and a great Bluff skill, I can sneak a 15 ton snake into any place I want by calling to my side once I'm inside.

Me: No sir, I don't know what happened to the High Priest of Darkness, he just walked into the great hall through that door, I swear.
Lieutenant: Hey I found his focus he must be...Oh m--

You combat evolution system is balanced in that it doesn't favor one style over another, but at the same time it removes the rewards that come from picking thematically appropriate evolutions that stack together to create a truly awesome eidolon. I think that the system has potential, balancing combat evolutions in the same way that Fighters as a class are limited in the number of combat feats that they take. But it lacks access to the fluff that Unchained tried to give it and the the original allowed you to create for yourself.


This system is awesome for roleplay potential and immersion. It also allows purple to use their back stories more extensively as what they've done in the past can be useful later. The biggest balancing factor in skill substitution is that a skill like Profession or Craft is a narrower and possibly deeper pool than skills like Knowledge. Characters without an academic knowledge of natural history may be able to tell that a dangerous thing is in the water and may be able to pass Knowledge checks about speed, but unless they've had direct contact with it before their Knowledge about it's weaknesses should be inaccurate to showcase it's second-hand nature.


In many ways this is the equivalent of the synthesis summoner, a very overpowered concept. In addition to granting a Druid access to Eidolon evolutions they remain full casters and the ability to cast while in beast form can be gained easily with Natural Spell Feat. This form also negates one of the core weaknesses of the summoner in that if caught unprepared out normally takes ten rounds to transform. I would not allow this in game.

As an alternative I would work with the player to create multiple stages of a "Spirit Animal" that they create and to which they are permanently limited to for the purpose of transformation.


First, this is an Artifact level item. Raise undead in that level of area is a huge effect with possibly game breaking effects. Consider that the area affect by this spell is 2/3 of a mile across. In that space hundreds of dead could be in loosely packed graveyards. In mass graves or battlefield scenarios it would not be unheard of for thousands of bodies to be available per casting. With a half full staff the wielder could seek out these sites and raise the biggest army the world had ever seen, one that doesn't require food or rest.

If the staff is a historical item, then this matters little. If an active piece, then the question needs to be answered: What's stopping the undead any that's sure to already exist in huge numbers? The top five battles of the American Civil War caused 165,000 casualties alone. That would be a huge Amy with dozens of staff charges to spare.

If this staff does exist then many people will look for it. In the process of using it they will raise hundreds or thousands and kill thousands more. Since bodies are destroyed when the spell ends and people are likely to die because their first couple casings will probably be test runs with low HD minions this world will be one without large sets of graves. Through necromancy or fear most bodies will end up as ash or dust.

Some closing questions to think about:
How does the holder know where all the raised dead are if they're scattered across 7,000,0000 square feet?
Does it require anything to organize a force this big?
Have you read the book Way of Shadows and it's sequels? There is a really cool concept for an undead army there. I'll explain it in another post.

TLDR: Cool but could be overwhelming.