Eidolon as a beast of burden


Rules Questions


I have a summoner in my campaign that uses his incredibly strong eidolon as a beast of burden. The eidolon is very strong and he straps all manner of treasure on the thing so it is laden with all manner of weapons, chests, etc. then dismisses it so he can travel out of the dungeon and when he arrives at his home base he calls it back and insists that all the material will still be on the eidolon. Being a manifestation of the summoner, would mundane objects remain with the eidolon when it goes to its own plane or is he doing something that cannot be done? Where do eidolons really go and are they in stasis?


Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

Eidolons are outsiders which have no shape or form until their aspect is summoned, it's sort of why they like being summoned. but everyone ignores this anyway since it isn't clear, so just ask your GM.

Scarab Sages

Gear worn by the eidolon does not travel with the eidolon. Magic items equipped to the eidolon remain on the material plane. So would all the treasure.


I don't see any RAW saying the summoner can not take the items with him, and it is easier to say he can for ease of play.


My groups use 'Bag of Holdings' or 'Portable Holes' to transport their treasures. What is the problem ?

It looks legal by RAW so let him do it. Think over other solutions like a good market economy. Who buys 20 orcish full plates ? Maybe one platemail is good for reselling but 20? Who needs a giant hide armor or a giant longsword? What about an old rusty chest with blood on it from its previous owner? Would a shopkeeper of a small town buy 'useless' items for x.000 gp ?

Even in video games shopkeeper have a limited budget and they dont buy everything.

With that in mind the player will stop collecting everything .. be sure.


There have been a few threads about this...

Summoner errata?
Oldest thread on the issue
Confusion with summoning
Most heavily 'marked for faq' thread here

Backstory:
I'm doggedly tracking the issue in case there's ever an official answer, but right now there seems to be a consensus that letting the eidolon keep its gear is easier, and with exploits either way, the easier option is the better option.

The 'multiclass summoner thief' exploit where a thief sneaks in, summons his eidolon, loads it down with loot and then dismisses the eidolon with the loot is a little bit of trouble. Of course the local authorities will only have one thing to go on... Big friggin summoner symbol on one of the suspects can be a problem. Bigger problem with not allowing it is the semantic counter exploit detailed below.

During the 2nd playtest it was written that gear would drop, but that language never made it into the final published material... While society play rules that it drops... Here's the counter exploit so you have an idea of why they're probably hesitant to make a non-society-play official-ruling on the matter. The trouble is when we summon something like an eidolon or a pit fiend, they start using language like 'you're not summoning a pit fiend... you're summoning the *aspect* of a pit fiend... Problem with that is If the summoned creature is an aspect of the pit fiend, why does he show up with his stuff with him... And when he's banished does his grear drop... if he's 'killed' does his gear drop... or does it go back from whence he came. Banishing pit fiends to get vorpal weaponry? Does a lillend drop their harp? Talk about a WBL nightmare (not that I care about wbl, but a lot of people do). Or if you're the kind of person that argues 'the gear you give an eidolon isn't considered theirs', it becomes fiat semantics about 'what counts as gear and what doesn't'

If we hand the pit fiend a rhinoceros beetle. Is that now his loot?
If he stabs it and it dies... is that now his loot?
If he then uses it as a tongue piercing... now is that his loot?
If his vorpal weapon disappears when he's slain or banished, then really it wasn't a vorpal weapon... It was an 'aspect of his vorpal weapon' functioning somehow as a vorpal weapons still.... though actually safe with him in hell the whole time?!?!?
Could I then planeshift to its plane, give it stuff and now its gear comes and goes with it?


TLDR: So for now the belief is that paizo isnt going to make a hard ruling on it, leaving it up to players and tables to choose for themselves if the eidolon can take its stuff when it goes. Letting them keep their stuff and bring it back with them seems the easiest best way to go so far. And it doesnt benefit paizo to make an official ruling on this one. I'd personally prefer they don't.

Our table lets the eidolon take its stuff with it but has one caveat to it... They cant leave anything behind... EVERYTHING they take with them comes back every time. The eidolon cant 'leave behind' stuff at its liesure... Due to the fact that time based effects do not dissipate or progress while the eidolon is 'in its home plane' our theory is that the eidolon's home plane is one where time does not exist, so it has no 'time' to equip/unequip itself before the next time it's summoned. Permanent demiplanes work better for transplanar hidey holes.

Only 6 more weeks till this issue's 4th year anniversary woohoo!

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