Cyclops have the ability to automatically select the result of any die roll, once per day. This is a very good ability, and gives the GM many options to alter the encounter one way or another. Logically it would best be used for an important save, or to threaten a critical hit. Did I mention that this was a very good ability?
Here is where it really starts to push the limits- Cyclops is on the Summon Natures Ally 5 list. With SNA 7 you can get up to 3 Cyclopes. If you have Augment Summons, these creatures are no joke. Hand out a couple of scythes, and things start getting out of control. ("Ahhh, but they aren't proficient!", you might say, but they aren't proficient with the greataxes they are listed with, and that never stopped them.)
Now throw in a cleric with the Aura of destruction ability or a few oils of Bless weapon. And you have all critical threats confirmed. So you have 8d6+40 for each cyclops, no rolls, no saves, no SR.
Note 9d6+21 stock crit damage.
So, I'm thinking of limiting the Flash of insight to defensive use only for summoned cyclops, what does everyone think?
EDIT: Oh yeah, I also forgot about Power Attack! And you might as well throw great cleave and fighting defensively in there as well.
Augmented, Power Attack with Scythe 8d6+64
Regular, Power Attack with Greataxe 9d6+39
If you get 5 of them, that is something like 370 average damage with no rolls for anything but damage.
Yawar: Traits: A humanoid possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).
• Proficient with all simple weapons, or by character class. -SRD
Every creature is proficient with every weapon and armor listed as wearing in their entries, so their proficients with their Battleaxes.
Also Cyclops mare kinda squishy against CR 9 opponents so they would be easily disable if left for the front line so they work most like single target spell that can take a couple hits so buffing the cyclops is not really really the best choice most time.
At last, a cleric activating the destruction ability in the front line is a risky gambit and buffing a summon is not really.
Humbly,
Yawar
PSDT: note that nastier effects are achieved by summoning 1d3 Tigers, followed by Enlarge Animals if you're feeling naughty.
If you get 3 of them with summon nature's ally 7, that means you're getting 3 critters as a 13th level caster. With their flash of insight, that means they might manage to get one good round in apiece before the monsters you face decimate them. I'd argue their flash of insight ability actually makes them great for summoning, as you don't expect much of your creatures except to soak up damage. At least now they can dish a little out.
Oppps. I meant to say that you can get up to 5 of them with a SNA 7. If they are augmented, they would have 85hp each. A few are capable of dishing out hundreds of points of damage in the round that they appear. 1 round is all they would need to put just about any creature on the ropes, with really nothing that creature could do about it.
I don't know. There is something about being able to choose a critical hit that pushes the boundary between cool ability, and gamist exploit. In the hands of players, this ability is just too open to exploitation in my opinion.
Also, sorry Yawar, but animal growth is now single creature. Even if you could get all three boosted up, you still need a clear area for 3 Huge creatures to charge, and actually succeed on the attack rolls. With the cyclops, it is all guaranteed. Nothing to roll but damage.
They still have to confirm the hit. I brought 3 of them in for CoT, and the dice gods betrayed me with 2's and 3's. Even when I critted the monster it just beat my cyclops down. Granted things would have been easier with normal rolls, but it is not as bad in practice as it seems.
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It is a good idea for a summons but they really aren't capable of dishing out hundreds of points of damage in the round they appear.
If you assume the oil is applied in advance or you have a cleric with the destruction aura in the party there are still 5 large rather heavy scythes to sort out before they appear which can be a challenge by itself. If you figure a round prepping the weapons, a round summoning, a round of them equiping, they charge and assuming the enemy is still an obvious target and hasn't destroyed you while you are sorting this out the cylclopses get their mass attack in.
Getting 5 summons in that get guaranteed hits is pretty decent strategy, the rest seems pretty challenging to pull off consistently.
Yawar: Traits: A humanoid possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).
• Proficient with all simple weapons, or by character class. -SRD
Enfasis in the bold.
Humbly,
Yawar
In principle, you're right, but at the level you can afford a vorpal weapon, I think there are other tactics to achieve the same.
Also: what if the dragon is flying (what every clever dragon would do)?
Ruyan.
also keep in mind that page 210 of the core implies that Summoned creatures are specific creatures. That would mean that Per day abilities of a summoned creature don't recover if you summon that creature more than once during the same day.
So while that massive hit is nice it's still a once per day thing.
Give a vorpal weapon o Cyclop