What is the (average?) CR of the creatures for each summon monster spell?
Greetings, fellow traveller.
The lower spells usually give monsters with a CR of about 1/2 of the minimum caster level of the one casting the spell, i. e. SM 3 needs CL 5 and gives CR 2-3 monsters.
In the upper ranges, say SM VI+ the CR is ~1/2 CL + 3.
Ruyan.
So....
Summon Monster 1: CR 1/2
Summon Monster 2: CR 1
Summon Monster 3: CR 2
Summon Monster 4: CR 4
Summon Monster 5: CR 6
Summon Monster 6: CR 8
Summon Monster 7: CR 10
Summon Monster 8: CR 12
Summon Monster 9: CR 15
Does that seem about right?
I went and checked the Summon Monster lists, and that seems pretty close.
Now if only there were demons/devils/other fiends in the CR<1 range...
My own table compiled for adding new creatures and new summon <xxx> spells tells me:
(0th: 1/4 CR)
1st: 1/2 CR
2nd: 1 CR
3rd: 2 CR
4th: 3-4 CR
5th: 5-6 CR
6th: 7-8 CR
7th: 9-10 CR
8th: 11-12 CR
9th: 13-14 CR
(10th: 15-16 CR)
I reduce level of summon monster by 1 when the spell uses Duration concentraton, maximum 1 round/level and use some other modifiers to spell level thus using 0th and 10th positions in addition to 1-9.
Cool. I'm working on a base class version of the alienist, and it's going to have the ability to summon customized versions of some homebrew aberrations and/or outsiders. Kind of like mini-eidolons or astral constructs. So I need to make sure the framework monsters are balanced, and then can take on the customization and still be balanced.