Eidolons and Objects

[KaptainKrunch]

So, I just finished the first night of a campaign I'm running, and I wanted to see what you all think of what happened...

There was an evil object that a religious cult was trying to secure, and the party managed to get a hold of it.

Long story short, the Summoner had his Eidolon grab the object in its mouth, and the Summoner dismissed the Eidolon.

The question is, would the object go back to the Eidolon's plane a la Equipment? Because it's pretty clear that you can equip your Eidolon. Or would the object drop to the ground as the Eidolon disappears?

Because the rules aren't very clear, I went ahead and had the Eidolon make a will save with a DC I pulled out of the air to see if the object goes back with him.

The Eidolon succeeded and disappeared with the object, ending the chase and making the cult members very frustrated.

I like how the decision turned out, because it was pretty funny. But what do you think the RAI on this would be?

[Jaryn Wildmane]

Well, since eidolons are summoned creatures, and summoned creatures sometimes come with equipment I think that technically he can come pre equipped. This may become important later on as your player may give equipment to his eidolon and having to summon it and then equipment could be labor intensive.

I think the will save is a good idea as you can rule that an eidolon needs to make an item bound to him before he can take something with him, and the will save can simulate that.

This was quick thinking on the players part, you should reward him with his victory over the cultist. However, where does his eidolon come from? Perhaps the object entering into the outer planes has attracted the attention of some powerful outsiders or and evil deity who will start pursuing the object.

[Maezer]

I generally go with all material the Eidolon has from the material plane, stays on the material plane when he is dismissed/banished or otherwise returned to his home plane. This was stated in the playtest version and they did take it out so I'd say its in the hands of the GM.

I really don't believe the Eidolon's home plane was meant to be used as a plane sized bag of holding with a 1 minute access time. And you are setting your self up for a lot of theft problems in the future. Not to mention excess dungeon stripping. As suddenly you can move anything the Eidolon can pick up to an infinitely large storage area. And then can bring it out anywhere.

[Mogart]

Maezer wrote:

I generally go with all material the Eidolon has from the material plane, stays on the material plane when he is dismissed/banished or otherwise returned to his home plane. This was stated in the playtest version and they did take it out so I'd say its in the hands of the GM.

I really don't believe the Eidolon's home plane was meant to be used as a plane sized bag of holding with a 1 minute access time. And you are setting your self up for a lot of theft problems in the future. Not to mention excess dungeon stripping. As suddenly you can move anything the Eidolon can pick up to an infinitely large storage area. And then can bring it out anywhere.

If this is the case, then how long does it take to re-equip an eidolon. There are apparently a lot of 6 sword builds for the eidolon, so does it take a move action per sword? How long does it take to re-secure a belt of strength to the eidolon? What about a ring? Let's assume a move action per item.

By the time the eidolon is fully re-equipped the fight is over or the Summoner is dead. This also puts extreme limitations on the use of the level 2 spell, Summon Eidolon, since you will be re-equipping the eidolon for at least 2-8 rounds depending on the generosity of your DM.

[Gjorbjond]

The house-rule my group uses: When you summon an eidolon, you designate equipment the summoner is wearing. The bonuses from the designated equipment are transferred to the eidolon. I think it works better than the "shared slots" rule and having to have the eidolon equip a bunch of items.

The only thing you have to worry about is weapons or items carried, which drop to the ground when the eidolon is dismissed and must be reequipped when it's summoned again.

[Maezer]

Mogart wrote:

If this is the case, then how long does it take to re-equip an eidolon. There are apparently a lot of 6 sword builds for the eidolon, so does it take a move action per sword? How long does it take to re-secure a belt of strength to the eidolon? What about a ring? Let's assume a move action per item.

By the time the eidolon is fully re-equipped the fight is over or the Summoner is dead. This also puts extreme limitations on the use of the level 2 spell, Summon Eidolon, since you will be re-equipping the eidolon for at least 2-8 rounds depending on the generosity of your DM.

Generally I'd round it to a minute to a re-equip the eidolon. Or in a situation where time matters, 1 round per item. A move to pick up the item and a move to don the item.

Nothing renders you Eidolon helpless until he's fully armed. Every Eidolon has at least 1 natural attack. You can choose to start equipping him, or just head into combat with his natural abilities. The fighter has to make the same choice if caught without his gear. Every heavy armor character take 40 rounds just to don his armor with help.

Your six sword eidolon has to spend 6 move actions to draw his six weapons even if they were carried, barring something that alters the standard rules ala quickdraw.

By the same token I am not going to let you steal gear from creatures you summon. You cannot summon an erinyes, disarm its bow, and then banish it, for an infinite supply of magic bows either. If an item comes from another plane, it stays with that plane unless its gated or called.

[Divergent]

Or you could just, you know, get pounce, charge, and draw all your weapons as a free action.