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If an NPC is summoning a monster as a 1 round action, can I use spellcraft to know what monster they are trying to summon BEFORE it arrives? Or would spellcraft only be able to tell me that it was a summon spell?
I'd still need an appropriate knowledge check to know any details about the summoned creature.
More so, I'm asking if a successful spell craft check directed at an NPC that is in the process of a summon, would enable my PC to prepare for the summoned monster (like switching weapons to ones more appropriate to the arriving monster).
The summoner doesn't choose the creature until the creature is arriving, so you couldn't figure it out before you can see the creature.
The summoner doesn't choose the creature until the creature is arriving, so you couldn't figure it out before you can see the creature.
I thought that might be true, but I couldn't find a reference for it. You don't choose the target of the spell until you're done, but the creature you summon is the "effect", not the "target". I couldn't find any rule about determining the effect at the end of the spell (or otherwise).
Can you cite your source?
Based on my failure to find any rule for this, I would think it's really up to the GM to decide. In short:
"Pikachu, I choose you" puts the name of the creature up front and anyone observing (presumably with Spellcraft) would know what's being summoned.
Or
"I choose... Pikachu" puts the creature at the end and observers might not know what's being summoned until the end of the casting when it might be too late.
Or
"I choose to summon a creature from beyond" means there might not be anything observable to tell you what creature is being summoned until it appears.
I think a GM could choose any of these and be fairly within the rules.
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The only question I would have with that is the descriptor of the spell:
When you use a summoning spell to summon a creature with an alignment or elemental subtype, it is a spell of that type.
I don't believe this would allow you to determine the creatures being summoned, but would that descriptor not apply to the spell until it's being summoned?
As a separate note, when would one counter the spell: during the full round of summoning, or on the turn it would finish?
You make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, version, and so forth) when the spell comes into effect.
This to me says you pick which creature you're summoning when the spell comes into effect, since it's a pertinent decision.
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The only question I would have with that is the descriptor of the spell:
When you use a summoning spell to summon a creature with an alignment or elemental subtype, it is a spell of that type.
I don't believe this would allow you to determine the creatures being summoned, but would that descriptor not apply to the spell until it's being summoned?
As a separate note, when would one counter the spell: during the full round of summoning, or on the turn it would finish?
As I've read it, you don't select the creature when preparing the spell, but you do select it when casting the spell. That's why the creature's subtype applies to the casting of the spell.
As for countering, you can't counter it easily, as normal counterspelling requires using the same spell as a readied standard action. Since it requires a 1 round cast, normal counter-spelling doesn't work on summons.
There are feats, archetypes and even a prestige class to address this, but the stock version can't be counterspelled with normal counterspelling.
Though the way countering works, you'd have to ready an action to counter spells cast, then spellcraft when your readied action triggers, then cast the same spell as a counter.
You make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, version, and so forth) when the spell comes into effect.
This to me says you pick which creature you're summoning when the spell comes into effect, since it's a pertinent decision.
That's probably the line I was looking for but didn't find. I thought it was in there somewhere.
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The only question I would have with that is the descriptor of the spell:
When you use a summoning spell to summon a creature with an alignment or elemental subtype, it is a spell of that type.
I don't believe this would allow you to determine the creatures being summoned, but would that descriptor not apply to the spell until it's being summoned?
As a separate note, when would one counter the spell: during the full round of summoning, or on the turn it would finish?
As I've read it, you don't select the creature when preparing the spell, but you do select it when casting the spell. That's why the creature's subtype applies to the casting of the spell.
As for countering, you can't counter it easily, as normal counterspelling requires using the same spell as a readied standard action. Since it requires a 1 round cast, normal counter-spelling doesn't work on summons.
There are feats, archetypes and even a prestige class to address this, but the stock version can't be counterspelled with normal counterspelling.
Though the way countering works, you'd have to ready an action to counter spells cast, then spellcraft when your readied action triggers, then cast the same spell as a counter.
You can ready the same spell OR dispel magic as a counterspell, avoiding the full-round casting if you make the dispel check. Though I did get the answer I was looking for: the descriptor would apply when it was taking effect, not during the casting. Thank you :-)