Summoned creature and swallowed corpses

[kalanafein]

Hi, first post here :) English is not my native language so sorry if what I write is not entirely correct.

While playing with my friends, the DM sent against us 2 summoned creatures.
One of the summoned creatures killed and swallowed one of our pcs before being killed.
The DM said that the corpse of the pc (along with all his equipment) disappeared with the summoned creature corpse, but that does not sound right. I've tried checking various sources but I haven't found a clear official answer.
Of course the final decision is for the DM to make, but sometimes if we can show him sources that clearly contradict what happens he is willing to change it.

Thanks for the help!

[Hebitsuikaza]

Well...

Rule #1 is that the DM call is final.

So... in the world you are playing, when summoned creatures return to their home plane, whether dead or not, they return with whatever is inside of them.

In generally, I think that since usually when people travel across planes, they bring their clothing and immediate personal possessions with them and that includes anything they picked up while on that plane... generally speaking, so I think it would be odd if the contents of the stomach didn't go along with them.

Of course, I suppose a different group could be playing in a different world where "summoned" creatures aren't really called from another plane of existence but instead constructed entirely out of magical energy-- in which case the term "summon" wouldn't technically apply (although I have seen it used in such contexts). In a world like that, the creature would pop out of existence in a show of magical sparkles or something.

[Cardinal Chunder]

Yeah...Rule #1 GM call is final.

However...I think your GM is being a total jerk and deliberately going out of his way to screw the players over.
Did he say that Summoned creatures could do this from the beginning?
Did the creature have the "swallow whole" special ability or did it kill the PC and then started to eat them feet first?
Did the Summoner command the critter to swallow/eat the PC or did it ignore the "attack as best as it can" line in the spell?

And your English is fine!

[kalanafein]

@hebitsuikaza
Yes, I fully agree that the DM call is final, I've been a Dm myself so I entirely understand that point.
It's just that from what I know about summoned creatures, what happened did not seem right (assuming a corpse can be treated as an item, if I cast summon monster as a 1st level wizard, and give an item to the summoned creature, when it is dismissed it takes the item with it? Seems too powerful for a first level spell)...

@cardinal chunder
Well, it's kinda the first time we fight against summoned creatures, so we never spoke about what they can and cannot do.
I'm guessing the creature did have the swallow whole ability, since it was quite big, with at least 6 tentacles on its mouth and basically all the attacks it made it tried to grab us with the tentacles and take us to its mouth (some innocent bystanders were eaten the same way).
We did not see the summoner until the end of the fight, so we don't know what he ordered the creature to do.
Thanks about my english ;)

[Cardinal Chunder]

What was the creature?

EDIT: As both a player of a summoning wizard, a summoner and a GM I have never seen this played that way and nor would I ever. Its screwing over players.

[kalanafein]

Our knowledge rolls failed, so we don't know what it was. Personally I've never heard of something like this. From the description the DM gave us seems it was some kind of slug/squid, completely transparent (we could see its innards). When it was summoned and then killed, it appeared/disappeared in a puddle in the ground (that was not there before nor after the summoning). The damage it made was not acid related, just crushing (at least while fighting outside it. The only one who was swallowed was already dead when it happened).

[Simon Legrande]

Cardinal Chunder wrote:

However...I think your GM is being a total jerk and deliberately going out of his way to screw the players over ... As both a player of a summoning wizard, a summoner and a GM I have never seen this played that way and nor would I ever. Its screwing over players.

Come on, man. You can't call every player death a jerk move by the GM just because it happened in a way you don't like. Sure everyone is entitled to their opinion, but a jerk move? Sometimes PCs die, sometimes in horrific ways, that's the game.

To the OP: the rules about summoned creatures have no clearly defined statements about what happens to anything they swallowed (at least as best as I could find). That leaves this circumstance totally within the GM ruling. However, this might be a good FAQ candidate to see if you can get an official ruling from the dev staff.

[Horselord]

As summoning is not seen as evil, with most people agreeing the summoned creature doesn't die when it is "killed", it just goes home (compare to calling), summoning is like casting Astral Projection backwards so that a creature is astrally projected to you. At least, that's how I've rationalised it. So when a creature vanishes, it dematerialises and leaves whatever it didn't appear with (i.e., any part astrally projected vanishes).

Summoning (CRB 210):

A summoning spell instantly brings a
creature or object to a place you designate. When the spell
ends or is dispelled, a summoned creature is instantly
sent back to where it came from, but a summoned object
is not sent back unless the spell description specifically
indicates this. A summoned creature also goes away if it
is killed or if its hit points drop to 0 or lower, but it is not
really dead. It takes 24 hours for the creature to reform,
during which time it can’t be summoned again.
When the spell that summoned a creature ends and
the creature disappears, all the spells it has cast expire.
A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning
abilities it may have.

Astral Projection (CRB 244):

School necromancy; Level cleric 9, sorcerer/wizard 9
Casting Time 30 minutes
Components V, S, M (jacinth worth 1,000 gp)
Range touch
Targets you plus one additional willing creature touched per two
caster levels
Duration see text
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes

By freeing your spirit from your physical body, this spell allows
you to project an astral body onto another plane altogether.
You can bring the astral forms of other willing creatures with
you, provided that these subjects are linked in a circle with you
at the time of the casting. These fellow travelers are dependent
upon you and must accompany you at all times. If something
happens to you during the journey, your companions are stranded
wherever you left them.

You project your astral self onto the Astral Plane, leaving your
physical body behind on the Material Plane in a state of suspended
animation. The spell projects an astral copy of you and all you wear
or carry onto the Astral Plane. Since the Astral Plane touches upon
other planes, you can travel astrally to any of these other planes as
you will. To enter one, you leave the Astral Plane, forming a new
physical body (and equipment) on the plane of existence you have
chosen to enter.

While you are on the Astral Plane, your astral body is connected
at all times to your physical body by an incorporeal silver cord. If the
cord is broken, you are killed, astrally and physically. Luckily, very
few things can destroy a silver cord. When a second body is formed
on a different plane, the silver cord remains invisibly attached to the
new body. If the second body or the astral form is slain, the cord
simply returns to your body where it rests on the Material Plane,
thereby reviving it from its state of suspended animation. This is
a traumatic affair, however, and you gain two permanent negative
levels if your second body or astral form is slain. Although astral
projections are able to function on the Astral Plane, their actions
affect only creatures existing on the Astral Plane; a physical body
must be materialized on other planes.

You and your companions may travel through the Astral Plane
indefinitely. Your bodies simply wait behind in a state of suspended
animation until you choose to return your spirits to them. The spell
lasts until you desire to end it, or until it is terminated by some
outside means, such as dispel magic cast upon either the physical
body or the astral form, the breaking of the silver cord, or the
destruction of your body back on the Material Plane (which kills you).
When this spell ends, your astral body and all of its gear, vanishes.