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I'm about to play a summoner in an upcoming game and he's a bit of a know-it-all, annoying type who is always out to impress others with his arcane prowess. I want to make it a bit comical when he fails (a la Tobey from WordGirl for those of you who have kids), and so I came up with this class feature. I think it would be amusing to accidentally summon a dolphin or squid who just flops around on the floor for a round before returning to its home plane.
I'd be interested in any feedback, especially regarding balance. I haven't yet floated this by my GM.
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Erratic Summoning
Your emphasis on summoning your eidolon has left you somewhat erratic in terms of summoning extraplanar creatures to fight for you using the summon monster spell-like ability. At lower levels, there is a chance that you will accidentally summon a creature other than the one you intended. Occasionally, however, you not only get it right but summon a more powerful version of that creature. With experience, you gain mastery over the summoning process and become adept at summoning powerful outsiders.
Roll a d10 and refer to the table below – the result determines what creature is summoned. Random means a random creature from the appropriate summon monster list (reroll if the intended creature is chosen). This can even include creatures that cannot be supported by the environment (e.g., aquatic creatures on land). In this case, the creature does not attack and the spell automatically ends after one round. Intended means the spell-like ability functions as normal. Augmented means you summon the desired creature with a +4 bonus to Strength and Constitution, as per the Augment Summoning feat.
Level / Random / Intended / Augmented
1 / 1-5 / 6-9 / 0
2 / 1-4 / 5-8 / 9-0
3 / 1-3 / 4-7 / 8-0
4 / 1-2 / 3-6 / 7-0
5 / 1 / 2-5 / 6-0
At 6th level, you gain Augment Summoning as a bonus feat and never summon a random creature.
Ah. ... I need glasses, definitely.
I opened this thread because I thought the topic was EROTIC summoning.
Nevermind.
Too funny! Maybe it needs another title. :)
Balance is not very good. By level 6, the alternate ability is doing nothing but providing you with an additional feat.
To keep balance, I would make the chance of random summoning decrease more slowly, and I'd keep it so that you always have at least a 20% chance of summoning a random creature. As written, the ability is far too weak at level 1 [hardly anything for a high chance of failure], and far too strong at level 6 [something for nothing].
Lvl / Rnd / Int / Aug
1 / 1-3 / 4-8 / 9-10
2 / 1-3 / 4-7 / 8-10
3 / 1-2 / 3-7 / 8-10
4 / 1-2 / 3-6 / 7-10
5 / 1-2 / 3-5 / 6-10
6 / 1-2 / 3-4 / 5-10
7+ / 1-2 / - / 3-10
Additionally, I'd include this text:
You may not take the Augment Summoning feat. At level 5 you count as having the Augment Summoning feat for the purpose of prerequisites.
This makes it so that you always have at least a 20% chance of summoning a random, nonaugmented creature. In exchange for this flaw, 80% of the time the summoner benefits from Augment Summoning without having to take the feat.
Still not sure if this is balanced, and I mean that as in it might still be too powerful in the end. 30% failure chance might be more balanced.
Is this supposed to replace something? If not, by level 6, your version is "get a free feat".
For a summon-focused build, having this ability probably also frees up two feat slots, as otherwise you would take spell focus(conjuration) and augment summoning. Given that, I think I would still want a higher failure chance, even at high level.
Also, I agree with what Omelite said.
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No, this wasn't designed to replace anything, instead just to add an element of unpredictability. I see the point about it eventually giving you a freebie once you hit 6th level. Omelite's version seems better balanced.
Note that in many cases if you summon a random creature it may still be useful, just not what you had in mind. So I'm not that worried about a high chance of a random creature at the lowest levels, especially since the summoner can do this multiple times a day depending on his/her Charisma modifier.
This is why I solicited feedback. Thanks!