It seems I failed on my last post regarding this as I worded the thread wrong. I am currently in search of a personality, background story, motives, for a master summoner. His statblock will be down below and I have some good ideas of what I might want to do with him, but the more ideas the better. Yes I know this class can ruin games, which is why, though I may be optimizing it, I will not play it out to it's full potential, so if we can refrain from the "Master Summoner OP" conversations that would be great as I am aware of a good majority and agree with them, which is why I need a character that limits himself. IF anyone could completely flesh out what this character should be I would be grateful. This is for the Rise of the RuneLords campaign btw. Thank you all, have fun, and here ya go,
Half-Elf Master Summoner
Half-Elf Summoner (Master Summoner) 1
CG Medium Humanoid (elf, human)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +2
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +2; +2 vs. enchantments
Immune magic sleep; Resist elven immunities
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee Spear +0 (1d8/x3)
Spell-Like Abilities
9/day—Summoning Mastery I (9/day)
Summoner (Master Summoner) Spells Known (CL 1):
1 (2/day) Protection from Evil, Grease (DC 15)
0 (at will) Mage Hand, Mending, Read Magic, Light
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 19
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 13
Feats City Born - Magnimar, Extra Evolution, Skill Focus (Knowledge [planes])
Skills Acrobatics +1, Climb -2, Diplomacy +7, Escape Artist +1, Fly +1, Handle Animal +8, Knowledge (planes) +8, Perception +2, Ride +1, Stealth +1, Swim -2; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven, Thassilonian, Varisian
SQ arcane training, eidolon link, elf blood, lesser eidolon, life link, share spells with eidolon
Other Gear Lamellar (leather) armor, Spear, Backpack (empty), Bedroll, Trail rations (7), 8 GP
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Training +1 CL for spell trigger/completion items for favored class, or use them as if 1st level.
Eidolon Link (Ex) Mental link allows communication over any distance, but share magic item slots.
Elf Blood You are counted as both elven and human for any effect relating to race.
Elven Immunities +2 save bonus vs Enchantments.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Lesser Eidolon A master summoner's class level is halved (minimum 1) for the purposes of determining his eidolon's abilities, Hit Dice, evolution pool, and so on.
The eidolon otherwise functions as normal. This ability replaces the summoner's normal eidolon
Life Link (Su) Damage that dismisses Eidolon can be taken by you. It weakens if not in 100 ft.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Share Spells with Eidolon (Ex) Your spells ignore type restrictions for Eidolon and it can receive your personal spells.
Summoning Mastery I (9/day) (Sp) You can summon monsters as a spell like ability, maintaining 1 even when Eidolon is summoned.
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Eidolon
Serpentine
CG Small Outsider
Init +4; Senses darkvision 120 ft.; Perception +12
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Defense
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AC 17, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +1 size, +2 natural)
hp 10 ()
Fort +0, Ref +6, Will +2
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft., climbing (20 feet)
Melee Bite (Bite) +1 (1d4-1/x2) and
Tail slap (Tail Slap) -4 (1d4-1/x2)
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Statistics
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Str 8, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB -1; CMD 13 (can't be Tripped)
Feats Deep Sight
Skills Acrobatics +5 (+7 to balance, +1 jump), Climb +7, Disable Device +3, Fly +6, Perception +12, Stealth +20; Racial Modifiers tail
Languages Common
Other Gear None
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Special Abilities
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Climbing (20 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Tail (Ex) Tail grants +2 Acrobatics checks for balance.
It started with the basket. A scraggly old man sat on dust-choked rugs beneath his cart in Magnimar, a reed to his lips. Most ignored him, as if he wasn't even there while a select few spied him but hurried on seemingly frightened. But you found the music eerie, yet alluring. "Come lad, find what you sssseeeek." He grinned through his haggard beard and his rotten teeth reminded you of a preserved skull in an alchemist's shop. Yet you swallowed and sat on the rug he indicated.
He handed you basket; the one that had been bumping and hissing in time with the music. He played again then, and the lid tilted. A wave of euphoria mingled with sickening fear as the cover lifted revealing a serpent within. But it wasn't a snake as you'd seen at the faire; no this was a CREATURE, in a serpentine form. IT was heavy and beguiling, but it's slitted eyes were black and it's head was wreathed in orange motes as if tiny candleflames danced in its scales.
"Do not be afraid boy" the creature hissed, despite the fact that its forked tongue did not speak. "I have a gift for you. Once given, it will bind us forever. The gift is power boy; I will make you hearty, fast; capable of resisting the darkness of this city and your own soul. You will see into other worlds and command what you find there..." The creature's eyes locked with yours "but you must SSSSSUBMITTT...." was that the man's voice, or the serpent's? Just as you turned and realized there was no man, a sharp pain stabbed through your hand. You turned back to find the glowing serpent retreating back to the shadowy depths of the container.
Your head immediately swam. "SSSSUBMITTTTT..." the word lingered with the notes of the reed, dancing through your brain like the fire on the serpent's hood. Your eyes blurred, the crowd passed ignoring you as they had the strange man. You toppled sideways then, to the cobblestones, the word echoing in your ears. And a single response escaped you as your breathing slowed and an otherworldly poison seized upon your organs. "Yesssss...." was the last thing you uttered before you died on the streets of Magnimar.
You were reborn days later, slipping in and out of fever dreams. You saw visions of serpents and felt pain as you'd never known before. But the you that had sat down on the dirty rug with the dirty man and the creature in the basket; that child was dead. You emerged transformed; recreated in the image of the summoner you would become.
Unfortunately for you, others still saw you as you once were. They didn't hear the songs of serpents from other worlds; they couldn't feel the venom in your blood, re-making you from the inside. But you knew it was real when you found your reflexes sharpening, your constitution growing stronger. You knew you could withstand pain that would make your cronies run crying to their mothers. Diseases that nagged at your squalid surroundings left you untouched.
You became a pariah among your peers. Your family feared you and the dreams you had. But they were not dreams but visions; the places the Serpent promised to show you. You found after a time you cared little for your so-called fellows shaking their hands at you and calling you names. You only solace was in the company of animals; most notably the reptiles amid the dealers in the market.
You spent most of your time among the market then. You learned to deal and haggle and speak as the merchants do. Your charisma and diplomacy won you friends of a different sort; adults and the learned folk of the city. In time you earned a place at University and left your foolish youth behind.
But it was here that the dreams were made manifest and the Serpent revealed himself. It was here at last where you had your final Becoming. It was here where your dreams became nightmares.
Hannah was a charming young girl and the most beautiful you'd ever seen. The gleam of Magnimar seemed to glitter in her dark eyes. You and she spent long evenings together; talking, caressing, and whiling away your time in the only way you every truly felt alive. The Serpent's voice admonished you in your dreams, warning you not to pursue her. You were destined for greater things than some mewling cow.
You were crossing the plaza at twilight when it came to pass. Hannah, waiting patiently as always on the steps of the temple as you exited the hall. You spied her, admiring the last rays of sunshine in her fiery hair. Then a wave came over you; a feeling you rarely felt any more as you'd turned from your fledgling powers to more mundane pursuits. As it stunned you momentarily there was a rearing whinny and a hearse came skittering around the corner. The horses, wild with fear, barreled headlong toward Hannah as she crossed the plaza to greet you.
You screamed and held out your hand. At once the feeling in the pit of your stomach changed and erupted from your mouth. There was a pain in your jaw and your vision was blocked by the Serpent disgorging from your throat. You heard a woman's scream and your vision cleared in time to find yourself in the path of the charging beasts.
The Serpent hissed and a slick of grease trailed after the arcane words issuing from your lips. The horses skittered in the slime and veered at the last moment careening into a stone façade. As the moment passed you found the Serpent, real and coiled before you, waiting. Just beyond you spied Hannah; her crumpled form on the plaza's stones, a pool of blood mingling with her perfect visage.
You ran and knelt beside her. The assembled crowd gave you your space. Their fear was once more directed at your strange powers but you cared little for it. Your poor Hannah was dead, the victim of a cruel fate. But then you heard a man from the crowd utter the words you've come to loathe more than anything in this world. "It was the damndest thing... a snake slithered up out of the sewer; came right at those beasts and startled 'em to run. Damndest thing..."
Since then you've made your way out of Magnimar. You've traveled a lonely road, bound for Sandpoint. It was the most distant outpost you could imagine where you might forget the tragedy of your sweet Hannah. The Serpent is with you now; OF you. It comes and goes, content to live (if it is truly alive) in your gullet of all places. But you have learned to temper your haughtiness with humility and in so doing you have found yourself welcomed back into the communities of mankind.
Hannah always urged you to be a better man and to use your gifts to improve the lives of others; the Serpent's only concern is power. You have tried to balance these and day by day you feel you are winning this fight. But the road is long and who knows what this alien thing inside you has in store.
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Check out 1001 summoner concepts here on the boards for some great starting points.
Personally I run my halfling MS eidolon as pure fluff i.e I never use it in combat, more as a personal asst/HR director complete with profession massuesse.
I got this idea from someone here online.
Eidolon:" I hate to bring this up, but a few of the lantern archons have been growing uncomfortable providing backup to the erinyes. Now I have a bralani azata on file who could do very well in her position. And his schedule has freed up recently.
I've tracked down some of his previous employers and all of them have given him glowing references, even the ones on the lower planes. I took the liberty of mentioning him to the archons and they are willing to work with him if you are. I can arrange an interview if you'd like."
Wow, that was detailed. Thank you Mark. I would have to modify it a little as several things don't tie in mechanically, but that was good. An I will check out the 1001 summoner concepts as that sounds like that is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
Let me preface this by saying I haven't read through everything in the above posts, theres a lot. However, I would recommend just go through the Ultimate Camapign's rules for character generation of background and such. If there is an option that you prefer to other options pick that, if not role to get a random result. This can help you to create an interesting character and as your write down traits of the character you may spontaneously get an great concept for who the character is and codify it into something great.
It happened for me when I made a drow fighter archer character that took the drow noble, improved drow noble, and greater drow noble feats and wanted to create a character that wasn't a duplicate of Drizz't in foundation. It worked out rather nicely.
Wow, that was detailed. Thank you Mark. I would have to modify it a little as several things don't tie in mechanically, but that was good. An I will check out the 1001 summoner concepts as that sounds like that is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
I just latched onto a few details from the PC above. His eidolon is a serpent; the stats he has; the skill of Animal Handling. He could also go a few other ways using the same details:
Freed slave who used animals to cover his escape; the plan was given to him by an otherworldly spirit he took with him by handing off a portion of his body and soul to let the creature ride his skin like a tattoo.
An alchemist's assistant who used to go to the market to procure different animals for his mistress' experiments. The lady used the distilled essence of pure summoning in an extract in order to awaken a serpent which got loose and murdered her; the poor assistant came into the lab and was bitten by the radioactive... I mean alchemically awakened snake and developed otherworldly powers including the ability to spray a goo from his wrists that congeals into a snake; it can also spin a funnel of protection around him and grease an area or weapon
A dark and secretive apprentice of hideous beings from other worlds...until they looked back. The crawling madness got inside his brain and so he poisoned himself with snake venom. The toxin interacted with the aberrant power in his body creating a vestigial limb from his back which can erupt and recede in times of stress. He has since concealed his identity traveling with a carnival as an animal trainer.
Before the boy was born his father was a great bounty hunter and urban ranger. Unfortunately he was also evil. The father was hired by a necromancer to hunt down and destroy a rare Serpentian Agathion which had been summoned to destroy the negative energy specialist. In the final confrontation the ranger was cursed by the Serpentian's bite. Years later his son was born and his heart softened; he finally cared about something other than himself. Unfortunately his son had a deformity; a serpent's head that grew beside his own. This creature was fated to one day consume the child it was bound to. The father repented, hunted down the necromancer and sacrificed himself to help the boy. Now a man, the summoner uses his powers to free himself and his father from their shared curse.
I was currently thinking that this character had a dealings with the elemental planes in his heritage, which would account for why he was able to become a summoner as he has lineage ties to the other planes. Seeing how many D&D character seem to always have extraordinary backgrounds, I wanted to keep mine fairly simple plain aside from a few moments that have greatly shaped my character. I'm thinking that the familiar be a representation of evil desires, as snakes tend to be throughout history. I'm thinking of some tragic accident (maybe involving a summoning ritual gone wrong) in which the character couldn't live with himself and so his eidolon was summoned/created from those feelings. I really have my eidolon acting as a scout/observer so it seems to make sense that my eidolon represent the crafty part of myself. If it helps any, my concept of this character's personality is inspired by a Law and Order: SVU episode involving a Football star who is a highly likable character, but due to some concussions in his football career, he is not all the way there and ends up disconnected from himself in a way.