rob vaughn's page

I know you're all sick of questions about this class. I've looked high and low for the answers, I promise. I'm just getting into PFS, and don't want to make a bad first impression by trying to get around the rules.

It seems like people are assuming that you can just use a biped eidolon's feat to give it exotic weapon proficiency in some horrid weapon, and ignore the weapon training evolution.

My feeling is that you could do that by the RAW, but the spirit of the rules (RAI?) suggests that the designers wanted you to have to spend 2-4 points of evolution to get a weapon in your eidolon's hands.

This is backed up by the eidolon models (from Ultimate Magic, I think). The angel, bodyguard, centaur, and drider all spent 4 evolution points on weapon training to get to martial; if they could've just spent 1 feat on their preferred martial weapon or, even better, an exotic weapon, that seems like it would have been more efficient.

Has there been a ruling one way or the other?

Thanks!

I am an old LG vet looking to dip back into organized play via Pathfinder, and I'm intrigued by the summoner class. I have no interest in making a pouncing/rending quadruped or a large/slamming/pushing biped. Just an old Shaonti spirit with a spear that follows my character around and natters at him and gets into fights.

However, a little board-browsing seems to show that eidolons are being pimped out to the extreme, and that new player with summoner is often seen as a cheese monkey / loose rules interpreter / no fun. I don't want to make a bad impression, nor do I want to bring in a character that I think is interesting, but that everyone else has seen a hundred times already.

So, some advice from you regular PFS players. Do you roll your eyes when a player brings a summoner to the table?

And on a side note, if not: the rules are ambiguous about how to set up a biped eidolon to use a weapon. It seems like the spirit of the rules is that you'd have to use the 2-point weapon training evolution; but by the letter of the rules, couldn't you just use the eidolon's bonus feat on simple, martial, or exotic weapon proficiency? Or is that just the kind of cheesy thinking that causes the aforementioned eye-rolling?

Thanks for any thoughts & comments!