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There's also a table in the bestiary stating claws are primary.

Actually, the bestiary chart for natural weapons lists claws as a primary attack. Combine this with jason's ambiguous post floating around on the boards saying eidolon claws are primary (ambiguous because he could be saying the biped's free claws, or all claws), and your summoner probably made a reasonable assumption that the claw attacks were primary.

How many summoner levels did he have? His eidolon probably had perception as a class skill and the Skilled evolution, granting +8 to Perception.

d20+LvL+11 makes for easy 19+ checks.

Do you have access to the Magic Item Compendium? If not, a nice chunk of the book where the developers start talking is about the fact that, essentially, almost all items are priced around this thought: "Is this good enough that, at this price, someone would have to seriously think about the choice between a +X stat item of the same price range?"

I wouldn't suggest raising the prices of things like +2 Cha headbands. Making them unavailable at certain towns, or not giving the players time to craft, sure, but not actually changing the prices.

Do Eidelons have the word eidelon stamped on their forhead, or is it summoners?

Both, in fact. The summoner has his on his forehead, and the eidolon's is somewhere on it's body.

Large and Huge stack.

Flexible Form [Eidolon]

Preq: Eidolon, 5HD
The Eidolon's form is constantly changing drastically. It is known for huge outburst of mutagenetic power. Every time the eidolon spends evolution points it may choose to leave up to 3 evolution points unspent. These points may be allocated temporary to evolutions with a full round action. These Points may not be spend on the Spelllike Ability evolution.

I really like this feat. You may want to clarify whether you mean for the eidolon or the summoner to take this feat. (Whether you must be a 5HD eidolon or a summoner who calls a 5HD eidolon)

This also solves the problem of where you can and can't take that Large sized eidolon - simply make those 3 points be the ones you spend on Large or not.

I was thinking of it like the ranger combat styles. One path lets you summon a more powerful eidolon, while the other lets you summon a less-powerful eidolon to be able to summon more powerful SM X monsters.

I also advocate the removal of both light armor prof. and the d8 HD.

At level 1, instead of automatically being given the Summon Monster SLA, a Summoner would be given a choice between two abilities.

Option 1: Summon Monster SLA (the 1min duration/standard action version) and the Life Link ability as it stands now.

Option 2: Merge Forms, Life Link without the ability to share HP, and a small number of bonus evolution points that can be spent whenever you use Merge Forms and leave when you end the ability.

(1) would get Merge Forms at 16th level as normal, while (2) would get the ability to share hp around level 10-12 and never gain the summon SLA.

(2)'s # of bonus evolution points would need to be small, but preferably would scale with level in some way. 1+1 every time you gain a new level of spells? 1 for every level where you would have gained a new Summon Monster level with the SLA? Something like that.

Opinions, thoughts, cantankerous flaming trolls?

I know a change like this isn't very likely, but it seems like a good idea to a sleep-deprived mind.

(Also, ignore typos. I'll come back and try to see if I made any tomorrow after I've slept.)

Edit:
Ok, I missed something critical. Merge forms would lose both the time limit and the ability to cast while merged (until later levels?).

Agreed. Nothing should ever take the fighter as a baseline for power comparison except another fighter

Wizard, Cleric, Druid, (to a lesser extent)Sorcerer - if the class can compare favorably with those, you have a good class.

Suggestion: Merge Forms should be a much lower level ability, with Life Link's 'share hp' bit being higher level.

I like it.

Which means that yes, if your DM said any feat you met the pre-reqs for was allowed, an eidolon is perfectly capable of having vow of poverty, though I can't remember if BoED said anything about having to actually get a share of the party treasure to give away to fulfill the feat's requirements.

Yes the Eidolon *is* the Summoners class and that for some people is a bad thing. Some people just don't like playing Buffy the Summoner as the focus is on the Eidolon and not the actual summoner. There is no need for the snark because someone doesn't like the direction the class has taken.

I don't like the class for that very reason but it doesn't stop me from playtesting it and trying to find a way for me as a player to use one. As it stands I will never want to play a Pokemon Master!

Which is completely understandable. However, I'm trying to figure out why everyone is obsessing over the summoner. Why aren't people RPing the eidolon? It's ridiculously easy to make the eidolon take the 'boss' role of the two, but people seem to be treating it as just the normal fire-and-forget summon monster X spell with a long duration - absolutely no personality or thought of its own.

You're not playing a Pokemon Master, you're playing a powerful outsider who's bound a mortal to his service.

I am honestly concerned that the Summoner's Eidolon steals the Summoners place of focus, and that it will make many people playing along with a summoner character, feel that their characters are very incapable - and that's never the point of the game.

See, this is where I think people are coming at the Summoner the wrong way. The eidolon isn't an animal companion, or a super-powerful familiar, it's the *core class ability* - much more so than the spells. In fact, trying to play the summoner class and complain that the 'summoner' itself isn't doing a lot is a lot like playing a druid - but focusing on the animal companion as the powerhouse of that duo. The druid simply isn't designed or intended to be played that way, much like the focus of the summoner is *not* meant to be on the 'summoner,' but on the eidolon.

What would you post if I started a thread complaining about how I couldn't get my druid's animal companion to shine when I compare it to my wildshaping, nature-spelling, druid? You might give me some tips on how to make the AC better, but most people would explain that it just wasn't going to work.

TLDR: The Eidolon *is* the summoner class, as much as *spells* are the wizard class. Saying it overshadows the summoner is like saying a wizard's spells overshadow his bonus feats.

I'm actually playing in a game now (level 4) where the eidolon is the main focus. I'm basically using the eidolon as the PC, and the summoner as a cohort. A *quiet* cohort.

I view Eidolon as something like psicrystals, being fragments of the Summoner's personality given physical form through sher force of the summoner's will.

In a game where elves are the dominant race, with humans being little more than slaves in the best of cases, my human summoner was able to finally escape captivity when a mysterious being suddenly appeared next to him as he was fighting his way past a group of guards, just as he's about to be killed, and gets him out safely. From there you get life on the run, learning how to voluntarily call the eidolon again, along with learning other ways to summon helpers and other spells.

Honestly, I would prefer if they went the other direction - get rid of the Summoner completely, making a PC class that has the eidolon abilities as class abilities.

Whether it be from binding outsiders to your body, or molding 'extra bits' for yourself out of ether, whatever works.

As it stands, I'm going to be taking a suggestion I saw from around on the boards - my Summoner isn't going to be the main force in the duo. The Eidolon is going to be the 'player character' so to speak.

Edit: To actually keep this post on topic, let me say this: If you reduced the eidolon's power that dramatically, you would have to increase the summoner's power. Either by giving it a better spell list, so it's not just a buff-bot who brings in a heal-less cleric, or giving it further abilities to make it's SLA summons more powerful.