When a summoned monster is given a template like celestial or fiendish. Does that creature gain the ability to understand celestial, infernal or any other corresponding language? I thought I read somewhere that it does , but I can't seem to find anything to verify it.
It doesn't.
The celestial template did give animals an int of at least 3 in 3.5, thus enabling them to understand languages. It isn't so anymore.
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What's less clear is if the summoned animals know any "tricks" so that you can control them with Handle Animal. If not then you could only use Handle Animal to "push" them at DC20. Based on the spell descriptions, summoned monsters will attack your foes, but it isn't clear to what extent if any you can direct those attacks without a way to communicate. This can be one advantage of summoning the sometimes seemingly inferior outsiders such as hound archons, azatas, etc
My Summoner is a gnome and sometimes uses Speak with Animals to get summons to do what he wants. Our games are pretty lax about controlling summons, companions, etc. I'd expect that there's a lot of variation from table to table though and wouldn't even be shocked to find out there are DMs who insist on controlling summoned monsters themselves (and perhaps even have them make tactical blunders which hamper the PCs)
Yeah that with tricks is a really gray area. We (in our group, so not saying this is RAW) treat them as trained for Fighting, which means they know the tricks attack, down and stay. So pushing is most commonly required for attacking supernatural creatures.
I wonder if the templated animals themselves would count as supernatural creatures. Either way I'd say that they attack your enemies even if they're supernatural since the spell description says that they do so.
I guess that some DMs might see requiring Handle Animal checks to make the summoned monsters attack as a balancing factor on the potentially crushing power of stuff like the Celestial Dire Tiger. I'd worry that it might make the action economy of summoning too expensive or at least push folks towards summoning intelligent monsters. Having Druids summon all elementals and giants instead of tigers and elephants seems a little dull somehow.
IMHO it isn't unclear at all.
They know no tricks, as they are the stated animals from the bestiary with a template. Neither the animals from the bestiary nor the template gives them any tricks.
So to make the animals do anything other than attacking the nearest enemy, which they will always do unless otherwise commanded, you either need to speak with them (speak with animal) or use Handle Animal to push them (a DC 25 check, not 20 ;) ). The "Push Animal" is a full-round action. Yes, that means, by strict RAW, that a summoned animal will attack an enemy the first round it is out, unless contained somehow.
I don't know how to command those creatures on the Summon Monster list that hasn't got any intelligence.
There's a reason both Linguistics and Handle Animal is a class skill for Summoners.
I wonder if the templated animals themselves would count as supernatural creatures. Either way I'd say that they attack your enemies even if they're supernatural since the spell description says that they do so.
Do you mean this line?
"It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability."I think it's a case of specific vs general here, and whether a spell dealing in many different creatures or a general rule dealing in a small subset of creatures is more specific is a gray area.
I tend to think that "to the best of it's ability" includes psychological limitations, but I can see the argument for it not to (especially since the animals summoned are not normal animals).
If there's some other part that explicitly says the animals can attack supernatural beings I've missed that, and cannot see it now either, though I tend to "not see the forest for the trees".
Yeah I was wondering what all a summoned spider or any other animal could be capable of doing, other than attacking. Without spoken commands.
I was very disappointed that Ultimate Campaign touched on almost all the various ways a PC could "own" another creature but didn't touch on summons at all.