What is the "fluff" of the Summoner class? Is their magic innate, learned or granted? And how do they get their Eidolon?
- Does a Summoner simply answer the door one day? "Hello. I'm your Eidolon. Where's my room?"
- Does a Summoner select an Eidolon? "Eidolon #3, if you had one wish for the future, what would it be?"
- Is an Eidolon formed, based on the Summoner's subconsciousness? "...What was I drinking?"
- Is an Eidolon formed, based on the Summoner's wishes? "Yes, I'll have three claws, wings... oh, and hold the anchovies."
Their power is definitely innate. They're a spontaneous caster and their summon monster is a spell-like ability.
The eidolon's abilities come from the amount of power the summoner can will it to have since the eidolon doesn't have to disappear and "come back" in order to be upgraded/changed. If you level as soon as you kill monster A, you can upgrade/change and attack monster B without breaking a sweat or losing rounds.
What is the "fluff" of the Summoner class? Is their magic innate, learned or granted? And how do they get their Eidolon?
- Does a Summoner simply answer the door one day? "Hello. I'm your Eidolon. Where's my room?"
- Does a Summoner select an Eidolon? "Eidolon #3, if you had one wish for the future, what would it be?"
- Is an Eidolon formed, based on the Summoner's subconsciousness? "...What was I drinking?"
- Is an Eidolon formed, based on the Summoner's wishes? "Yes, I'll have three claws, wings... oh, and hold the anchovies."
I've run a number of Summoners and each has had a different origin for his eidolon. The Master Summoner I'm running in Skull and Shackles has an eidolon that looks a little like a cross between a sea elf and a sprite. She can fly and breathe underwater (verrrrrry useful in a sea-going campaign). She's roleplayed as a fey/elemental spirit who was kind of an outcast from her kind and bonded with the half-elf who's mother had been raped by a human pirate and died in childbirth. She has aided him in learning to summon more and more powerful elemental creatures (he only summons elementals) and he in turn has taught her more and more about his world (she's even picked up the Sailor skill as she is fascinated by all the little things mortals must do to master something as simple as wind and sea). She is a mute though they can communicate telepathically, she is completely loyal to him and utterly fearless since she knows there is no way she can truly be destroyed on this plane. We play her something like a cross between Tinkerbell and River Tam on the ship, and many have begun to think of her as an unofficial mascot.
I've had another Master Summoner played as a lecher with his eidolon an exotic (to the point of alien) concubine and a Wild Caller who's ancestor had rescued a nature spirit and whom had been 'passed down' from Father to son ever since - the bond takes a long time to form, with the creature more and more 'in this world' as it does so, its physical form becomes more and more tailored to his new companion's specific needs.