Minimise use as combatants and maximise the use of skill mastery and complimentary evolutions. An eidolon for all seasons. This one wall climbs, picks locks and disarms traps. This one is a lore master, this one is a...etc.
Alternately, if you do plan for a combat route...wolfpack tactics. Tripping bite quadrupeds. Possibly teamwork feats. They will be relatively fragile, so never have them match up 1 on 1. 2 on 1? 4 on 1? muuuch better.
I had an idea for a thieves guild leader with multiple specialized eidolons. spies, etc.
I just realised something. If you make the maximum number of eidolons (8), there won't be enough evolutions to give all of them even 1 evo point. You'd have to take Extra evolution at least 3 times to make it work.
I'm sorry what?
Last I looked by the time you cna make 8 eidolons you had a lot more than 8 evolution points.
I just realised something. If you make the maximum number of eidolons (8), there won't be enough evolutions to give all of them even 1 evo point. You'd have to take Extra evolution at least 3 times to make it work.I'm sorry what?
Last I looked by the time you can make 8 eidolons you had a lot more than 8 evolution points.
You do need to pay for the large/ huge evo.s though. Together, they cost 10 evo. points. If you did it immediately at 13th level when the ability becomes available you'd be left with 8 eidolons and 7 evo. points, assuming you didn't take the feat to get more. Still, by next level you can give them all a 1 point evo. If you only take Extra Evo. feats, you would have enough to give them all flight (2) by 14th level (26 total). Go go magical air-force!
2: The Merchant/Craftsman.
Similar to the Pimp but less leaving you like you need a shower. AS many Small sized eidolons as you can make. Give them Skilled (Profession whatever) or (Craft whatever). By 13th level , when you can have 8 of the them, I think you'll be making about 80g a week based on an average roll. And of course they'll be able to help you if you decide to go the Craftsman route by the Aid Another action.
Does this remind anyone else of Santa Claus?
Honestly the first time I saw Broodmaster the first thing that came to mind was "team work feats" Serious you can exploit the crap out of them with 2 or 3 eidolons with reach, combat reflexes, paired opportunist and outflank.
|
With a Broodmaster you probably want to look at which things multiply by getting multiple eidolons, and which things don't. Hit Dice, skill points, Feats, armour / Str / Dex bonuses, evolution pool, and maximum number of natural attacks are all divided between the brood eidolons. That suggests your eidolons are going to end up with individually low hit points, for the level of play your Summoner is at, and that things like Feat-intensive builds are likely to be right out. With skill points being shared out there's little benefit from the point of view of making your brood into skill monkeys - as a vanilla single eidolon with all those skill points is gaining as much, or more (only one set of Ability Scores to boost, which effects its skill totals). Situations where many hands make light work (such as the Craft and Profession examples noted by posters above) are the only real exceptions to the rule (you and two eidolons can get three days work done per day), although it's conceivable that a situation where you need to pick multiple locks at the same time may crop up (although it's hardly commonplace...).
What you do get is base forms and their associates Ability Scores and free evolutions for each of the brood, BAB and base saves equal to any other eidolon and, essentially, more actions per turn for your character as a whole. It's a grey zone in the text, but it also appears as if you get the stuff from the 'special' column on the standard eidolon table (darkvision, evasion, etc.) for all the eidolons in the brood.
With Hit Dice (and hit points) as well as armour and other bonuses spread between the brood, not to mention being small sized if you want to get as many of the little darlings as possible, it seems that keeping these guys away from front-line melee is the first order of the day. Unfortunately eidolons don't get any free Weapon Proficiencies or ranged attacks, so it's going to be tricky, but it seems that going sneaky and ranged is the way to play 'em.
Of course the serpentine base form is best for Dexterity, which is what a small, sneaky, ranged eidolon will be looking for, but we then immediately hit a snag: the eidolons of your brood share their maximum number of natural attacks, which at level 2 (when you first design your initial two brood eidolons) is a limit of 3... and the serpentine base form has two free natural attack evolutions. Nothing seems to suggest you can simply choose not to take the free evolutions (although many DMs, I suspect, would happily let you drop them, or just turn a blind-eye to the four natural attacks two small serentine eidolons have together), and nothing suggests you can delay taking the second of your brood eidolons until after level 2, so RAW you can't take the serpentine base form on both eidolons. (In a similar manner, to get two biped brood eidolons, at least one has to pay an evolution point to replace its two free claw attacks with one slam evolution - a situation unique to the slam evolution it appears).
In any case, take two serpentine base forms if you're allowed, otherwise one serpentine and one quadruped are your best bet for a Dexterity-based brood. Spend your 4 evolution points on giving each of your brood the limbs (arms) evolution so they can both hold stuff. For their skills, make sure each takes maximum ranks in Stealth and Use Magic Device. Now you're looking at the basis of your brood's power: spamming wands of scorching ray (or similar) in devestating volley attacks! Spending the brood's Feats on giving them Simple Weapon Proficiency expands your ranged attack options, but at one Feat per brood member, that eats up a lot of Feats quickly. Note that wands don't take up 'magic item slots', so the Summoner and his whole brood can all use them at the same time. With a full brood of eight small eidolons, the Summoner could have a volley of 8 shots of 4d6 damage scorching rays going on - or 32d6 worth of damage from his brood each turn, plus whatever he's doing too. Of course the vanilla Summoner could have a huge pouncing eidolon with 5 natural attacks by then, so that volley of scorching rays may not be all that impressive anyway...
Making the eidolons with the biped base form is cheaper, evolution point-wise, in the long run, but you lose out on Dexterity. Still, it may be worth it to spend the evolution points elsewhere (such as the skilled (UMD) evolution for each of 'em).
To be honest, this build is probably better off varying the wands the brood members use - the basic point is, at the end of the day, you're getting up to 8 extra spells cast per round on top of what your Summoner is doing. Here's hoping he's got enough ca$h to pay for all those magical sticks...
That's the basis of the best use I can think of for the Broodmaster... besides pure fluff, of course... ;)
P.S. Now that I think about it, technically it's impossible for the broodmaster to ever take the '8 small eidolons' option, because eidolon / brood maximum natural attacks top out at 7, and every eidolon has at least one natural attack from its base form... Yeah, I see some need for errata on this one... :/
P.S. Now that I think about it, technically it's impossible for the broodmaster to ever take the '8 small eidolons' option, because eidolon / brood maximum natural attacks top out at 7, and every eidolon has at least one natural attack from its base form... Yeah, I see some need for errata on this one... :/
It isn't necessary to actually have a natural attack. Most humanoids don't. It'll just have to use unarmed strikes or weapons to fight.
|
|
It isn't necessary to actually have a natural attack. Most humanoids don't. It'll just have to use unarmed strikes or weapons to fight.
The humanoid base form automatically gets two claw attacks as free evolutions. It can exchange them for one slam attack for the cost of an evolution point, but it can't simply choose not to have them, as far as I'm aware - unless there's been some errata on that point?
ProfPotts, what you've written gives me a mental image of 7 (or 8) midget eidolons wandering around with wands.
Call 'em your 'Time Bandits' or your 'Seven Dwarves'! Actually, Snow White as a Broodmaster Summoner with seven small eidolons sounds kinda' neat... ;)
It isn't necessary to actually have a natural attack. Most humanoids don't. It'll just have to use unarmed strikes or weapons to fight.The humanoid base form automatically gets two claw attacks as free evolutions. It can exchange them for one slam attack for the cost of an evolution point, but it can't simply choose not to have them, as far as I'm aware - unless there's been some errata on that point?
My bad for using the wrong terminology.
I was referring to the other humanoid races like 'human' or 'dwarf'. What I meant to say that there are plenty of things in the game without a natural attack. No, there isn't a RAW justification for eidolons without natural attacks, but there isn't anything in the RAW forcing you to have one either. The Eidolon Brood ability just says you divide the attributes up and leaves it at that. You'll also not that in the example given on the SRD Broodmaster Entry that one eidolon receives a feat and one doesn't. I am not aware of any errata, though, just going on the rules as presented (or RAP, for you RAW vs RAI folks).
|
|
What forces you to take natural attacks for your brood eidolons is the fact that each of them has a base form, and everything that usually comes with the base form (such as free natural attack evolutions). What you divide between them isn't natural attacks per se, it's maximium allowed natural attacks. Yes, the Broodmaster is a confusing archetype, to say the least (although I'm guessing it looked pretty easy to understand sitting in the same chapter as the Synthesist!).
You could also resolve the issue by having 6 small and 1 medium eidolon.