Sacred Summons feat and various alignment subtypes


Rules Questions


Is Sacred Summons implemented if, while multiple different creatures are summoned, at least one of them has its alignment subtype(s) matching the caster's aura or does it have to be the case for all of the summoned creatures?

- how come different creatures are summoned together isn't relevant here, assume a magic item allows to add one creature of a fixed kind to the summoning which isn't of the kind the caster has selected from the summoning list for this instance of the spell -


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The wording is unclear because the writer of sacred summons obviously didn't think of your scenario (it wasn't possible when written), but I'd think that if some of the summoned creatures would suggest a standard action casting time and some would suggest a 1 round casting time, you'll need 1 round to summon them both.


Quote:
When using summon monster to summon creatures whose alignment subtype or subtypes exactly match your aura, you may cast the spell as a standard action instead of with a casting time of 1 round.

In my opinion, the feat “triggers” if any of the creatures summoned satisfy the criteria. But mixed summons was probably never considered with this feat and probably don’t match the spirit of it.

Personally, I don’t find it to be overpowered to let it work. Sacred Summons is pretty situational.


Thank you, kind people!

I had read it this way as well, it works but wasn't taken into account when designed so shouldn't be taken straightforwardedly. Glad to see good will and open minds lending me a bit of their time^^


Unless it's actually possible to do this using published rules, its usefulness as a Rules Question is dubious, as the interpretation of said rule would be as homebrewed as the magic item in question. That aside, given the wording of Sacred Summons, I agree with Melkiador. As long as you are summoning at least one creature of the correct alignment, you are fulfilling the textual requirement of the feat.

Side rant: What bothers me more is that Sacred Summons kinda doesn't work at all:

Magic → Casting Time wrote:
You make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, version, and so forth) when the spell comes into effect.

How it gets played, I expect, is that once you decide to cast as a standard action, you're "locked in" to your choice, meaning that at least one pertinent decision is made at the beginning of the action.


Actually, given the nature of Sacred Summons, I see it more that when a Cleric or other Aura-bearing class casts a Summon Monster spell, if the Summons is of the proper alignment then the Divinities responsible for ensuring the spell goes off put a rush-order to get it out quicker compared to a normal Summon Monster or Summon Nature's Ally spell. Your character has invoked the spell and is now holding still, waiting for it to release (focusing on the spell) which is why you can be hit by effects and disrupt the spell - you're not chanting the entire time but you ARE trying to direct the spell.)

A similar effect would hold with a Quicken Summon Monster spell, but in this case it's a low-level summons that has an extra "kick" of power to encourage the PTB to push out the summons at that moment. Similarly, Mythic Archmages are able to use their innate divine nature (as a Mythic character) to "push" the spell to completion more rapidly.

Think of it as akin to an Amazon delivery. A Sacred Summons would be something that benefits from Amazon Prime delivery and is overnighted instead of taking several days to arrive.

In the case of some entities not meeting the criteria? You could rule that the entities for Sacred Summons show up after the Standard Action and can immediately act, while the other entities arrive afterward as they were not in the same "summons warehouse" - the character is still focusing on getting the Summons to arrive, even as part of the "order" arrives promptly.


The "Balanced Summoning" wizard discovery could be used to bring about this circumstance, btw.


blahpers wrote:

Side rant: What bothers me more is that Sacred Summons kinda doesn't work at all:

Magic → Casting Time wrote:
You make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, version, and so forth) when the spell comes into effect.
How it gets played, I expect, is that once you decide to cast as a standard action, you're "locked in" to your choice, meaning that at least one pertinent decision is made at the beginning of the action.

You could also see it as the feat lets you make your decision sooner if the selected creature meets the requirements. Thus your summon would be 1 round unless you exercised the option to select a sacred creature.

/cevah

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