I have a PC who will be summoning monsters using Summon Monster I and [/I]Summon Monter II[/I]... yeah, my first Summoner... so, am I just limited to those in the CRB?
and Which elementals? just the standard four (Air, Earth, Fire, Water)?
Yes, you are limited to the monsters listed in the summon monster spells and Bestiary 1 elementals. Divine casters of some gods get monsters added to their summoning lists, and you can add creatures with feats like Summon Good Monster.
If you are the player, then you don't have to prep any monsters that you never intend to summon. There might be some that you don't like the alignment of (whether your class forces you to avoid them or not), and there might be others that are (in your opinion) completely inferior to the alternatives.
If you are the GM, you also don't have to prep anything. Just tell your player to come up with the stats for anything that he wants to summon.
A copy of the Pocket Bestiary should be adequate for initial summoning purposes.
If you are the player, then you don't have to prep any monsters that you never intend to summon. There might be some that you don't like the alignment of (whether your class forces you to avoid them or not), and there might be others that are (in your opinion) completely inferior to the alternatives.
If you are the GM, you also don't have to prep anything. Just tell your player to come up with the stats for anything that he wants to summon.
A copy of the Pocket Bestiary should be adequate for initial summoning purposes.
If you are the GM and your boss summons stuff, you have to prep the critters you feel like summoning :)
A really cool thing happened to me a couple years. I was running a game with mostly Newbies in it, 3 in fact were young girls (9-13 years old)... one running a Sorcerer (1st level, on her 2nd game). She has chosen "summon monster 1" as one of her spells... she picked them... anyway, they are in an encounter on a boat and she states she is starting to cast (and knows that it takes the entire round!) Summon Monster and when she finishes the spell and get's the monster she has the stats for all of them printed out - even the dolphin that she needed! And even knows that she still gets her full turn on the second turn! wow... impressed me.
People, if a 12 year old on her second game can do this - be this prepared... why can't us "old guy gamers"? I intend to do my part and try to be at least as prepared as the 12 year old on her second game!
People, if a 12 year old on her second game can do this - be this prepared... why can't us "old guy gamers"? I intend to do my part and try to be at least as prepared as the 12 year old on her second game!
Hey, I'm prepared. I have the stats for an eagle and a horse in my character folder. That's me covered until SM3.
Hmmm... still in my downloads, but I cannae seem to find the actual product: Player's Aid II: Monster Summoning Cards (PFRPG)
Really handy if you print 1d3 of your favorites.
I haven't played it yet, and presume I will have to do some of my own editing. Summoner's handbook has a few more options for templates beyond fiendish/celestial.
for smooth play print out 1)quick reference sheet of what you can summon and some abilities, 2)text only stat blocks of the monsters you can summon as that takes a lot less space than the original.
Alternatively there are cards or similar (electronic) play aids.
Have the source material on hand for reference.
As a GM I keep a folder with pages of creatures for CRB summons, familiars, mounts, and monster types/subtypes. That makes it easy.
If you are a dedicated summoner you'll look into; Spell Focus(Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Expand Summon Monster, Evolved Summon Monster, Versatile Summon Monster, maybe Acadamae Graduate, Superior Summoning.
Summon Good Monster/Summon Neutral Monster are list expansions.
Am I reading this right? Versatile summoning lets me apply the aerial template to summoned creatures, which gives them a fly speed?
So at high levels I could summon a Sharknado?
subject to table variation
why?:
this is really more a Rules thread thing... thus the spoiler.
Sharks are NN Large animal(aquatic){cannot breathe air} and via the Versatile Summoning Feat{PFS legal, MonSumHB p18}, Aerial template{PFS legal, MonSumHB p18&19} creatures gain the Air subtype. Shark meets the requirements of the Aerial template however in a strict RAW reading of the rules the template does not grant air breathing(surprise!) and thus summoning such a creature into air counts as a hostile environment thus is not allowed. With 2HD the shark will have a fly speed of 20ft making it a rather slow sharknado.
The breathing of air seems a trivial problem in light of the creature having the Air subtype (thus table variation) but the rules are the rules. Campaign Clarifications could clear it up. Campaign Clarifications for MonSumHB only addresses morphic savant.
Campaign Clarification request submitted 11/06/2017.
Additional Resources, on 11/06/2017
Pathfinder Player Companion: Monster Summoner's Handbook **
Archetypes: All archetypes on pages 6-8 and 16-17 are legal for play except the monster tactician; Bardic Performance: the performances on page 15 are legal for play Feats: all feats on pages 8-29 are legal for play except Augment Calling and Summon Guardian Spirit; Hex: the disrupt connection hex is legal for play; Magic Items: all items on pages 20-21 are legal for play except rod of giant summoning; Magus Arcana: all arcana on page 9 are legal for play; Monsters: the codex archon and ember weaver are legal choices for spells of the calling subschool; Spells: the spells on pages 22-23 are legal for play except alter summon monster and summon laborers; Traits: the traits on pages 10-11 are legal for play except Vile Domain.
