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The more I play Broodmaster and find new questions, the more I have to conclude that nobody else has really played Broodmaster, because I can't find anybody asking these questions. Having multiple eidolons gunks the rules up so much when altering the already complex Summoner rules. So I pose the following questions in the hopes that somebody can give me a good text-based interpretation.
1) Skill points are split between eidolons. A normal Summoner's eidolon gets 6+int skills per HD (in other words, 4, per the chart). If a Broodmaster has 2 eidolons, one with 8 int and one with 7 int, does he get 5 or 4 skill points per hit die?
2) The number of eidolons is variable, because Large Brood is an evolution. As an evolution, you can choose to either repurchase or not repurchase it every time you level or cast Transmogrify. What happens to non-reassignable stats assigned to Eidolons 3 through 8 when you choose not to have more than 2 Eidolons? By non-reassignable stats, I mean skills and feats. Do they just disappear? And to take the line of questioning further, if you give a feat to Eidolon 3, then Transmogrify down to 2 Eidolons, then Transmogrify back up to 3, is your Eidolon 3 the same as the one you previously lost (complete with the feat?), or is it a new Eidolon 3 built from the ground up?
3) Some stats must be split amongst all eidolons, such as armor bonus, Str/Dex bonus, and hit dice. Are these reassignable at level-up/Transmogrify, or once you give something a hit die, is it there for life? If it's there for life, does that mean a Broodmaster, once he's picked Large, can never NOT pick it without losing the HD invested in Eidolons 3 and 4?
4) The rules state: "Once a broodmaster decides on the forms and abilities of his eidolons, they cannot be changed until the summoner gains a level." Does this imply a Broodmaster has the unique ability to change his base forms upon level up?
5) Is it possible to gain and lose Large in order to reconfigure my brood composition? For instance, I have 4 small eidolons. I Transmogrify, don't pick Large, Transmogrify again, and pick Large, but now have 2 medium eidolons, or 1 medium and 2 small?
Thanks in advance.
An answer would be really helpful. I've come up empty on any precedent or past related questions. All I get is a bunch of threads on how much broodmasters suck and master summon is the way to go (which, while true, for some reason does not dissuade me from trying to play one)
Thank you, you charitable soul. I am actually looking forward to Boon Companion in the regular and the ironic senses.
Given the total lack of RAW guidance, I'm kind of asserting I can mess around at will and then it's a negotiation with the DM as to what happens to feats/skills on no longer existent eidolons. I can't imagine anybody would interpret a class to mean they lose core class features because they made a choice to shift some points around.
I was just praying that there was something even vaguely official out there, or perhaps a notionally standard way of interpreting it...or something. Still am, actually.
But hey, made it through 1.5 adventures in Carrion Crown (solo!) and still going strong. It's a mess of a class, but a beautiful mess.
I'd probably say that you can effectively rechoose everything related to your eidolons each level, even the things that most summoners can't. But that's just me.
Concerning the Broodmaster, when you acquire either Larger Brood and/or Huge Brood, can you pick different outsiders. Ex: your first two eidolons are Bralani, now when you get larger brood, do these eidolons have to be bralani or can you chose elementals, devils, etc. Also, can each individual eidolon be a different race or do they all have to be same.
With Boon Companion, I'm not sure it works like you think it works. Has it ever gotten FAQ'd? My future Pack Lord is dying to know.
The Pack Lord should be able to have one of his animal companions benefit from the Boon Companion feat, but no more -- in fact, it looks like a pretty good feat for a Pack Lord. However, the Broodmaster is out of luck, as that feat does not mention eidolons.
As for Transmogrify -- since the target is "your eidolon", I would assume that the spell only lets you change the evolution point expenditures (and no other characteristics) of one eidolon at a time -- so you would not be able to use this spell to gain or lose an eidolon. A further argument for that position is that you cannot change your eidolon's base form with this spell -- something you would have to do when chaning an eidolon between existent and non-existent.
But it appears that you do have more flexibility than the other archetypes in reassigning stats among different eidolons when you gain a level, since the number of eidolons that you have can change at each level -- and these stats would include things that other summoners cannot change.
The one point I am not sure about is the skill point distribution. Obviously the points given on the table are distributed among your eidolons, but do the individual eidolons get extra skill points for intelligence scores above 7? I could see a case being made for this one either way.
1) Skill points are split between eidolons. A normal Summoner's eidolon gets 6+int skills per HD (in other words, 4, per the chart). If a Broodmaster has 2 eidolons, one with 8 int and one with 7 int, does he get 5 or 4 skill points per hit die?
Ignore the chart. Assign the 6 skill points first and then apply each eidolon's int bonus or penalty.
2) The number of eidolons is variable, because Large Brood is an evolution. As an evolution, you can choose to either repurchase or not repurchase it every time you level or cast Transmogrify. What happens to non-reassignable stats assigned to Eidolons 3 through 8 when you choose not to have more than 2 Eidolons? By non-reassignable stats, I mean skills and feats. Do they just disappear? And to take the line of questioning further, if you give a feat to Eidolon 3, then Transmogrify down to 2 Eidolons, then Transmogrify back up to 3, is your Eidolon 3 the same as the one you previously lost (complete with the feat?), or is it a new Eidolon 3 built from the ground up?
Transmogrify works just as if you had gained a level but only in regards to evolutions chosen. The feats and skill points must stay the same when "split" into smaller forms or combined when "melded" into a larger form. Leveling up seems a special case for broodmasters though. See below.
3) Some stats must be split amongst all eidolons, such as armor bonus, Str/Dex bonus, and hit dice. Are these reassignable at level-up/Transmogrify, or once you give something a hit die, is it there for life? If it's there for life, does that mean a Broodmaster, once he's picked Large, can never NOT pick it without losing the HD invested in Eidolons 3 and 4?
"Once a broodmaster decides on the forms and abilities of his eidolons, they cannot be changed until the summoner gains a level." It would seem the answer is yes on level up but no on transmogrify. Transmogrify specifically mentions only evolutions. Yes, it may have been an oversight concerning the Broodmaster, but that is the way it reads.
4) The rules state: "Once a broodmaster decides on the forms and abilities of his eidolons, they cannot be changed until the summoner gains a level." Does this imply a Broodmaster has the unique ability to change his base forms upon level up?
I was going to say no simply because the transmogrify spell uses the same wording and the answer is no there. However, this line made me reconsider: "Each eidolon has it own base form and associated base statistics and free evolutions." So I would say that when gaining NEW eidolons, the broodmaster can choose base forms as he sees fit, but not when simply reconfiguring existing eidolons.
5) Is it possible to gain and lose Large in order to reconfigure my brood composition? For instance, I have 4 small eidolons. I Transmogrify, don't pick Large, Transmogrify again, and pick Large, but now have 2 medium eidolons, or 1 medium and 2 small?
Remember you can only transmogrify once a day; but the answer is yes, you can do this. It would work the same way as a a regular summoner removing or adding the Large evolution.