I had an interesting PC concept brought my attention and I'm curious what you all think on the matter.
The concept is thus:
A player has created a new PC, a Forgemaster[3] | Summoner[1] who is interested in being the Magic Item Creation monkey of the group. His concept is that he wants no part in actual combat, as you could totally be killed doing that, so stays in town while his Eidolon does all the heavy lifting.
He plans to accomplish this by crafting an item to grant a continuous Unfetter spell effect for his Eidolon. The only issue I see there is that he couldn't use the 'Life link' ability, but that doesn't seem to be a deal breaker.
He will still retain the Eidolon special ability by a similar name called 'link', which is handy as he can remain in constant mental contact with his Eidolon from wherever he is. (most likely in town still.)
Using the UMD skill he plans to use lots of scrolls and Wands, with little to no failure due to buffing his Chr, using skill boosting items, and taking 'skilled' for the +8 UMD racial bonus.
So far no real issues at all with this build as this is a fairly standard use for an Eidolon.
Here is where I'd like to hear some feedback from you all.
1.) Would the summoner earn full XP, or any XP for that matter, for engaging in fights he wasn't "physically" present for, even though technically it is his summoned creature involved in the fight? This is assuming the summoner is "mentally" involved in the fight. Directing the Eidolon, providing advice, dictating where and who to attack etc.
Is there a RAW rule saying he shouldn't earn XP in this scenario? I can't think of one off the top of my head, but would love to hear if anyone has an opinion either way.
And as a follow up, if the summoner IS mentally involved in the fight, does that mean he can't earn a full days crafting pace as he is no longer resting in town, does purely mental actions disrupt this?
Feel free to drop your 2 cents, or cite RAW at me. Thanks!
yes, I agree, the catching up aspect will be a hurdle. An interesting side note on that is using teleport, or other travel magic, as the Eidolons UMD is very high, should get it back, or darn close, the next day when it is eligible to return.
The Summoner also has access to Lessor Restoration thanks to Forgemaster(cleric), and plans to forgo sleep while the Eidolon is not dead. So he may start the day, and every day, erasing his fatigue status from not sleeping via magic. Keeping his Eidolon active at all times.
Edit: I don't actually see under item creation where he needs actual sleep in the amount of 8 hours to perform crafting.
I'm a strong believer in the principle that if you don't put your character at risk, you don't gain XP.
In that situation, the worst that happens is that the Eidolon gets banished for a day.
I would not allow this under ANY circumstances. There is no amount of negotiation which would make this playstyle kosher or even fair.
Opinion noted, but by RAW I don't see how it's not valid or your word kosher.
Fair or unfair could be + or - depending on the game itself though, I'll give you that.
Why not skip the middle man and just make it an unfettered eidolon? A link to the bestiary entry can be found right: here. This is an eidolon without a master (usually due to a freak occurrence when the last one died). This has advantages and disadvantages for the eidolon.
The immediate advantage is that, if you allow it to build up racial hit dice instead of levels, then it gets full HD compared to a normal version. This means it has full BAB, the normal number of level up feats, more HP, and skill points. The disadvantage is that it doesn't get as many evolution points or available evolutions (the difference is small, and most of the good combat evolutions are available). It also obviously lacks a master with one of the best spell lists in the game.
Of course, there would also be some problems that need houseruling. The first is that it could easily be banished with a spell and just be gone. Another problem would be that it would not normally be possible to resurrect it. But both of these could be easily solved if you simply switch its type from extraplanar outsider to native outsider (which, due to the fact that this type is for creatures that "have mortal ancestors or a strong connection to the Material Plane", it can be easily handwaved as part of the unfettering process).
You might also want to keep the increases to natural armor, strength, and dexterity from the eidolon's base statistics board since it might end up weak in comparison to the PC's otherwise. After that though, it should be somewhat close to balanced, due to the loss of some evolution points and the summoner's spells, but the addition of full hitdice and the benefits that brings.
Overall, this solution allows the player to play an eidolon, but avoid both the dangers of having a vulnerable summoner and the difficult logistics needed for that long distance relationship that has been suggested. Whether you want to allow the party to keep a forgemaster NPC for magic item creation is up to you.
@lemeres That looks more monster npc to me, and may invalidate a lot of what he wants to roleplay, which is having his crafter PC working up a storm in town at his shop, but still be an active, and pretty useful psuedu-spellcaster in the adventuring group.
Though "I" do like that unfettered Eidolon, I forgot about those. I don't think that's really the direction the PC wants to go in. I almost see this as a power step down for the player, how is effectively playing a level 1 Eidolon in a level 4 party arrangement.
Just suggesting a way to make an "eidolon adventurer" that allows a free creature that has the advantages of being an evolving monster. I'm sure that some would quite enjoy the experience of playing as a monster facing monsters without the hassle normally found in the two character nature of the summoner class.
But I can somewhat understand how the player wants to play a hard working smith, but cannot find the time to do that within the average adventure party.
Also: whoops, didn't notice that the unfettered eidolon already had a mechanics for increasing its natural armor and str/dex. It seems fairly much in line with the base statistics table, at least at the earlier levels where it would be more sorely missed. With the better BAB and hp from more hit dice, the extra point of str/dex and +2 natural armor would not be too troublesome.