Help for a new summoner

[drjheas]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to playing Pathfinder (and also relatively new to to table top rpgs in general). so I have read through the advanced players guide and the ultimate magic book and have decided to make a summoner. i have some questions about the Eidolon.

First, how exactly are the stats for Eidolon. Is it based on what type of Eidolon it is (biped or quadruped), or does it take the stats of the creature it is supposed to be.

Second, does the Eidolon have to be one of the ones listed in the ultimate Magic book.

Sorry if these are dumb questions but i'm just confused on this. any help is appreciated. thanks

[Durngrun Stonebreaker]

The eidolon uses the stats in book (similar to animal companions). The eidolons in ultimate magic were just suggested builds to give you an idea of how you can create different creatures.

[Finlanderboy]

You start with the type, Quadruped, biped, or serpentine. Then you give them evolutions, skills and feats as described on the chart in the advance players guide. It is like building a second character.

Durngrun is right about the ultimate magic examples.

The Summoner is an easy class to make powerfull.

[MC Templar]

Summoner is a relatively poor choice for a new player. With the eidolon it is the single most customize'able classes in the game, which means a lot of moving parts and a wide variety of game rules that interact in interesting and potentially counter-intuitive ways.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, I play a summon in a game and it is one of my favorite classes and characters that I've ever played, it is just one of the more complex classes out there.

[lantzkev]

I disagree with Mc Templar, it's a very easy to play class, and simpler really than most casters.

The creation of your eidolon is very straight forward, specifically starting at lvl 1.

at lvl 1 you have at most 5 evolution points (and you'll really only have 3, because who wants to be a human and waste two feats on the pet?)

You pick one of the three base forms, then pick 1-3 evolutions that you can have.

My girlfriend plays one and knows absolutely jack, but she wanted a purple pegacorn (pegaus that's a unicorn) and the only class that'd let that happen mechanically is the summoner.

Lvl 1 we gave her quadruped, a gore attack, and mount.

Summoners only know two spells, so enlarge and rejuvinate eidolon...

One thing to note about summoners, they are able to wear light armor, so use that chain mail!

[drjheas]

Cool thanks for the tips guys it cleared some stuff up for me. thanks.

[Menelmacar]

The thing about summoners is, if you don't want to rely solely on your eidolon you also have to keep in mind what creatures you can summon and what they are able to do.

If you don't, you can really slow the game down. We got a druid in our group who is just too lazy to print out statblocks for his Wild Shapes. That alone makes us spend a lot of time on him chosing his shape and thinking about his possibilites in combat.

While the amount of Wild Shapes in the beginning isn't that big, Level 3 Summoners already have a huge amount of possibilites. On top of that you also have to think about their placement and things like that. Would it be better to summon more monsters of a level below my maximum?

Of course, if you want to stick to your Eidolon you don't need to think about that stuff, but you will perform way under what you can achieve.

[wolfman1911]

I think a summoner has the potential to be the most fun class to play, but also the most intimidating because of the sheer customizability. These pages might help you craft a summoner, especially the one about Eidolons.

Eidolon Features
Summoner Class Features
Summoner Spell List