A large pile of statted out critters to save time from thumbing through the beastiary would be really useful. Especially if they have stats for augment summoning included. :)
Thanks for the comments.
BotS does contain creature sheets showing standard stats as well as separate stat blocks pre-modified by common summoning feats, such as augment summoning, Advanced Summoning (which allows one to summon a creature with an additional 2 hit dice), etc.
The Pathfinder version is already in the works and should be out around November 1.
The book of the summoner – I give it 2 of 5 stars.
1) It adds new, modifies some old, and re-prints other material. It unfortunately does not identify which items are what! Without that, the re-printing material obscures what the book does have to offer, making it a burden rather then a resource. Because of this, this book leaves you needing the core books in addition to it, making the re-prints a complete waste of time.
2) The races use the 3.5 level adjustment mechanics, which is specifically not used in pathfinder. The level adjustments are +2 to +4. These races would be better replaced with templates, letting the gm decide how they interact within a campaign.
3) The classes are a terrible mess! The divine summoner is simply the cleric with extra feats (to use the alternate summoning mechanic in the book). This is not the only example of this (there are 3 write-ups of wizards: petitioner, the summoner savant, and the wizard conjuration specialist). A paragraph or two could have taken care of these variants instead of treating them as new classes with new names, which is sadly typical of this book. The animal shaman is an illogical addition, simply a reminder that the APG totem variant druids summon totem animals quicker then normal. The tables & class write-ups do not always match (see petitioner & scribe scroll).
The holy guard and abnoba class are decent additions, though the write-up of the holy guard’s summoning ability needs re-wording and the abnoba chart forgot to include the domain bonus spells. The summoner class is just an APG duplication, instead of the authors applying the bonus feats required for the class to use the same system suggested for other summoners. Instead, the summoner class gets no support to use the system the book of the summoner introduces!
4) The book adds one new skill, but it is poorly written up. The concept is good (knowledge summoning), but the text implies it acts as knowledge planes and allows a roll to identify creatures that are summoned. One wonders, if the above is true, why any character would take knowledge planes over or with this skill. It also fails to identify which core & base classes would have this as a class skill.
5) There are 43 feats for summoning, although there are only about 15 feats, followed by 3-15 copies of the same feat with slight variations. Reducing these feats to ones that allow the taking of the feat multiple times (such as is done with weapon specialization or spell focus), would simply the table & make it far easier to read. This would also give the feat system flexible (allow for new templates). The feat descriptions vary from the tables (such as the advanced summoning chain showing 2 levels, while the write up 1 level).
The feat concept, if clearly called out, could have negated the need for re-writing classes. Roughly stated - the classes capable of casting 6th level or higher summoning spells receive a ‘summon’ feat at 1st level and an additional one at every 5 levels. The initial feats determine what template(s) are applied to the creatures summoned. Casters who are focused on summoning/conjuring (conjuration specialist, classes able to spontaneously cast summon spells, and those with the summoning domain or the summoner class) gain a ‘summon’ feat at 1st level and 1 for every 3 levels.
6) Spells and spell lists - a waste of space in the worst way. The re-printing of core spells is incomplete (it has detect magic but does not have lightning bolt). Since the spell casters who would use this book could cast both spells, the re-printed spells will represent only a small percentage of spells a GM or player will need. Since that means a different book will be needed to list the rest of the spells needed, this partial re-print serves no purpose. If the authors limited themselves to printing spells that have been modified, I would have understood. Not denoting what spells are new or modified leaves the spells section an awful morass.
Several spells are simple variants of existing spells, modified to allow for a wider range of alignments. For example, the spell blessed weapon (a variable alignment version of bless weapon) allows for more alignment range then the paladin spell list. Having 2 spells with almost the same name is clumsy and can easily result in confusion – I think making a flexibility to the holy guardian class to permanently alter the spell list to accommodate their alignment would have taken far less space and made the list directly useable with the alternate anti-paladin class.
Among the spells added are 0th level summon monster/natures ally/etc. This is poorly applied – a cantrip that can summon ½ CR creatures an unlimited number of times a day is unbalanced for lower level casters.
7) The summoning tables are a mixed bag. The biggest problem is balance (see summon monster 0), unfamiliar items (I have not been able to locate the rabid dog noted in summon monster II), and lack of clarity. As noted in #5, feats, this section should call out the alternate system for summoning, but the tables do not take this into account. The fiendish or celestial option listed with the summon monster table does not support the feat option of summoning lawful, for example. The summon undead spell suffers the same problem as the 3.5 versions (multiple intended). Summoned creatures made from templates, this spell requires careful preparation of summoned undead, requiring a lot of preparation or an extremely slowed down game.
8) Magic items chapter was, for me, of no use. Some new magic items are written up, but a slew of existing magic items are re-printed. The cost for scrolls and wands, repairing magic items, and so much more unoriginal material is a waste of space and effort to read. There are some new magic items, and I have no problem with them taking space, but the re-printing of magic items has the same problem as the re-printing of spells – mixing the old material with altered and new makes it terrible hard to cull information from it. If the author felt the repeat material essential, a separate chapter or sub-chapter would have been appropriate, but not this massive dump of mostly chaff.
9) The supplemental rules guide is informative and it does offer some useful alternatives to the existing rules. This is a matter of taste and I found it of moderate use.
10) The monster advancement and universal monster rules eat up 37 pages. I feel this should have been streamlined rather then a simple re-print of material. As advancing monsters information is included in the bestiary, where most creatures needing modification would be found, I find the placement of that material here a waste of space. The templates section is more useful, as it allows the book user to directly apply these templates to the monster re-writes included at the end of the book.
11) The creature reference sheets are also a mixed bag, like the rest of the book. This should have been the best part of the book, but information was irregularly applied. For example, the astral deva was written up in 4 stages (regular and augmented by 3 feats). Next is the silvertip dire bear, with no listing of the effects of feats.. The dire lion has 2 listed, while the dire rat has 6. The creatures should have had the base write-up, followed by the results of applying the augment feats (which can be applied to any summons spell). The inclusion of celestial or fiendish for some summons but not others is a waste of space. The template section should be available as an adjunct to take these into account, rather then the random application (chaos dire rats, not fiendish, for example), is of limited use. The application of the augment feat is included with the astral deva but not the elementals. Continuity is this sections weakness.
12) The final section is eidolons, of which there are 3 write-ups. Sadly, this section should have had many more write-ups, as the style & goal of these beasts can vary widely. Given that this is the book of the summoner, I had assumed much better support.
Overall: not this book should have been less then half the size it is, which still would have left room for summoned creature and eidolon write-ups. The concept of feat driven summons and altered classes could have been given a much smaller and clearer write-up.
There is a decent amount of information that could be culled from this book, but the overload of re-printed data makes it too much effort to try. This book desperately needs to be re-written and reduced in size. It needs to be better focused and given continuity.
ReviewUm you do know this is NOT a Pathfinder product right? This is a DnD 3.5 edition product. So they couldn't have included anything from Pathfinder with it. I am not disputing your feelings or review of it. Only saying that you reviewed it as something it isn't.
It has the summoner from the APG as a reprint. It uses CMB/CMD. A quote from the book..."Pathfinder is a good system. It, like most things, can use a little TLC?an adjustment here and there, but it?s a great system. We offer some tweaks to the system in the never-ending effort to zero in on the perfect game system."
The image shown on the purchase page not match the pdf cover included with my purchase. The sale image says it is '3.5 compatible', but the pdf I purchased says it is "Pathfinder roleplaying game compatible".
Chief Technical Officer
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The publisher sells both 3.5 and Pathfinder RPG-Compatible editions of this product. This is the 3.5 version. You can find the PFRPG version here.
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The publisher sells both 3.5 and Pathfinder RPG-Compatible editions of this product. This is the 3.5 version. You can find the PFRPG version here.
Ah ok, the review threw me off. I guess they took some APG stuff and made it for 3.5 with this version then.
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Chief Technical Officer
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The publisher sells both 3.5 and Pathfinder RPG-Compatible editions of this product. This is the 3.5 version. You can find the PFRPG version here.Ah ok, the review threw me off. I guess they took some APG stuff and made it for 3.5 with this version then.
I think he must have been reviewing the PFRPG version, as a quick search through the 3.5 version does not turn up the word "eidolon" or the word "Pathfinder."