Is it legal for a synthesist to get the Large evolution (which gives +8 Str bonus, among other things), and then casting Reduce Person on himself (which only gives -2 to Str bonus), thus netting a +6 to str, and still staying at medium size so he can move around in tight areas just as well as other medium humanoids?
IIRC it says that while fused you count as both your creature type and Outsider, and whichever is worse for you applies. That would mean no you can't use Reduce Person because you are an Outsider, not a humanoid.
Reduce person gives both benefits and penalties so it is neither inherently a "bad" nor "good" effect. It's not being an Outsider that makes Outsiders immune to Reduce Person and other spells that target Humanoids but rather the fact that they are not Humanoids. A Humanoid Synthesist fused is both a Humanoid and an Outsider so being a Humanoid makes them a qualified target for Reduce Person and also being an Outsider is a non-issue.
If you cast it to give yourself a bonus, it will not effect you because you are whichever type is worse. It is cast on you to buff you, it will have no effect. If it is cast on you as a debuff, you are effected. It says whichever is worse for the synthesist, so context applies.
FAQ states that you can cast spells that's normally not intended for outsiders to still work, due to the Share Spells ability of the eidolon. That part wasn't what I was concerned about.
My main concern was that the Large evolution gives +8 str bonus and an increase in size, while Reduce Person gives -2 str penalty, and a decrease in size. Essentially I'm getting a +6 bonus while my size stays at medium. That was the part that I'm curious about.
no because they are both size effects, size bonuses cant "stack" so you choose either to be large or small, in the case you cant choose not to be big as it is a constant effect of the evolution.
so no you cant cast reduce person as i read it.
TheSideKick wrote: no because they are both size effects, size bonuses cant "stack" A size effect is not a size bonus though.
Actually they do stack. Large evolution isn't a size changing effect like enlarge person or righteous might but rather a defined characteristic when you evolve your eidolon at level change.
This means your Eidolon is naturally large all the time. Reduce person would apply the effects to it just as if you used it on a large humanoid like a giant. Just as a fire giant with reduce person would be medium size with a 29 str so would your eidolon be medium size but with an effective +6 bonus to str.
ArmouredMonk13 wrote: If you cast it to give yourself a bonus, it will not effect you because you are whichever type is worse. It is cast on you to buff you, it will have no effect. If it is cast on you as a debuff, you are effected. It says whichever is worse for the synthesist, so context applies. It gives you both a bonus and a penalty. It isn't objectively "better" or "worse" either way. Also, consider wording and how they always skirt around mechanical terminology involving creature type.
That having been said, I think the idea behind that phrase is that if you are able to adversely affect either Humanoids (or whatever type the Summoner is) or Outsiders, you can do so. Hold Person on the Summoner prevents them from moving the Eidolon so the whole unit is paralyzed. It would have been a better idea, however, to state that beneficial effects and size changes must be able to affect both types in order to be effective. In that case, Reduce and Enlarge person would work because they are size changes and non-size changes that grant both bonuses and penalties are covered under granting bonuses rather than using a subjective term like "worse" because how can you tell whether an effect that gives both a penalty and a bonus is "worse" or "better"? The spell certainly doesn't know.
You guys are missing a very important point of Summoners when you are saying you can't use reduce person... Summoners CAN cast spells that normally target humanoids on their Eidolons. They can cast any spell on them regardless of whether it would normally effect their creature type. (Ok, it does have to be a Summoner spell.)
additionally, the Large evolution is not a polymorph effect so that doesn't stop it either.
On a related note, you can use Enlarge Person to become size Huge.
Or once you have a Huge eidolon become Gargantuan
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