Recently I've discovered the joy that is summoning creatures. I used to regard it as a waste of time compared to other spells and the lack of any immediately awesome selections coupled with incredibly short duration.
Then I discovered the Lantern Archon, and now I love using Summon Monster V with my Cleric to summon 1d4+1 of these guys and then cast Blessing of Fervor on them.
That gives me 3 ranged touch attacks per Lantern Archon. And I've roped the party Witch into memorizing the spell as well so we can cast it together to give me even more archons.
Problem is they kind of bog down combat. So I need ways on keeping their actions absolutely as quick as possible. Suggestions?
Also: Totally not relevant question, but is it possible to get a Lantern Archon into my service permanently? As far as I can tell the only way would be to be a level 20 Conjuration specialist wizard (not a feasible option).
Well, if you and the witch summon enough of them they could Gestalt into a single creature (equivalent to a powerful air elemental if I remember correctly).
Well, if you and the witch summon enough of them they could Gestalt into a single creature (equivalent to a powerful air elemental if I remember correctly).
That is essentially trading 9 archons for 1, since it only gets the attacks of 1 archon. Also takes a full round to do. It's a huge trade down imo.
If lantern archons are what you use, it is quite enough to abstract them. At least until the AoE spells start flying or someone decides to whack the archons. Simply make the attacks and be done with it. For even more efficiency, colour code the dice so you can roll one d20 and the proper damage dice of a certain colour and do all of them at once.
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I've been summoning monsters since my first character, and if there is such a thing as the holy grail of token-mastery, I've yet to find it. However, I do have some suggestions on how to improve the speed with which you take your turns, when you've got summons out.
Point number 1 - highest priority with a fuppin' bullet, is HAVE. THE. STATBLOCK. HANDY. Don't go flippin' through the Bestiary every time you need to summon a creature. Have your laptop glued to the creature page, or have a printout. Which ties into point number 2.
Point number 2 - is to KNOW. YOUR. SUMMON. Get an idea of what creatures you like to summon (in your case Archons) and sit down with the creature's statblock and read, until you comprehend. Know what attacks or tactics you prefer using with said summon and make sure you KNOW the mechanics of said at/tactic, OR have a reference close by so you can quickly find out.
Point number 3 - USE. TIME. EFFICIENTLY. Learn to listen to the combat, and what's going on, while simultaneously deciding what actions your tokens will take. "if enemy #5 doesn't go down this round, my 2nd Archon is gonna try to waste him". Start practicing this kind of thinking every time you are not called upon to take your turn. Sure the actions of the enemy and your fellow adventurers can change what you'll be wanting to do, but if that's the case deal with it then. Use your time when you are not taking turns to plan your tokens' actions.
Point number 4 - DON'T. JUGGLE. DICE. If you have a dice-roller use it. If you have a dice-macro system use it. If you do use dice, either because you have no electronics at your game-table, because you like to throw dice(who doesn't?) or because your group prefers dice to be rolled openly, don't juggle them like you are mixing a drink. Pick up the die. Throw it. Note the effect. Next token.
In regards to getting a Lantern Archon permanently, you can become a 20th level conjurer, in which case you get to have one summoned monster permanently summoned. Or you can use planar binding spells for a less-than-permanent-but-still-quite-long-duration Lantern Archon. Alternatively you could try to strike a deal with one. Archons are sentient creatures and lovers of good stuff, so if you too are a lover of good stuff, perhaps you could ask one if he wanted to come with you.
Hope it helps. Have fun summoning :)
-Nearyn
Yeah, at our table when you start having several summons present they are usually divided up evenly across the players at the table acitng on their characters turn to break up the flow of turns more evenly so one person isn't dragging on forever.
Put the important stats on a note card, make copies if you're going to have others help you run them.
These are the two biggest things that have helped make it feel like one player isn't taking all the time and everyone gets to enjoy the summons on the field.