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This thread, the second in a series, is to list the summoning options of the new Summon X spells in the Bestiary and discuss their relative merits. This time, Summon Fey, available only to Occult tradition casters.
Summon Fey (Level 1+):
Level 1: Mitflit(-1), Sprite(-1)
Level 2: Pugwampi(0), Grig(1), Jinkin(1), Naiad(1)
Level 3: NONE
Level 4: Dryad(3), Unicorn(3)
Level 5: Pixie(4), Satyr(4), Redcap(5)
Level 6: Elananx(6)
Level 7: NONE
Level 8: NONE
Level 9: Gimmerling(12)
Level 10: NONE
Lots of gaps! But I actually like some of your level 1, 4, and 5 options.
Spell Level 1 options
Mitflit(-1): At this level he's fine as a combat buddy. Bane spell if you want clunky access to it.
Sprite(-1): He flies, can do fire damage to things weak to it, has one use of color spray. Sure, why not at this level?
Spell Level 2 options
Pugwampi(0): The unluck aura is no joke, 20', DC 16 (must pass twice!) or everyone in range must roll twice and take the worst on everything. Definitely a good way to screw with ranged attackers or saves of a cluster of enemies.
Grig(1): 1d8 sonic ranged attack, if that's useful to you, has a one action 30' radius debuff that can make things flatfooted/slower, and even slow 1 on a crit fail. Not too bad.
Jinkin(1): No. Combat status are average, no special abilities.
Naiaid(1): No. Unless you need a casting of Charm, Create Water, or Tidal Surge. Which you don't.
Spell Level 4 options
Dryad(3): Brings 3x4th level Charm, a Suggestion, and some Sleep and Entangle spells. I could see one as a possibility.
Unicorn(3): Good typed damage, ghost touch, and a two action charge give this a potential melee niche against lower level threats you're facing, but you mostly want this for 2x3rd level heals or neutralize poison or maybe the detect alignment(good).
Spell Level 5 options
Pixie(4): Surprisingly solid! At will Invisibility(4th), a Dispel Magic(3rd), and Pixie dust arrows can actually lead it to consistently charming weaker foes and making you the object of their affection (check with your GM about the level for Incapacitation purposes, I'd treat it as 4th, but it might be 1st). Plus a memory loss, sleep, and mental damage option, but you don't care about those except maaaybe the first if you have some captives you need to blank about the fight they just lost.
Satyr(4): 4th level charm, sleep, suggestion, and fear, but he's a bard with inspire competence, inspire courage, and triple time. Setting him up to inspire courage and fire a shortbow every round doesn't sound like a great use of a 5th level slot, and the spells can be had a level lower from the Dryad. Probably a pass.
Redcap(5): No. A capable melee combatant for its level, but that's four levels behind you.
Spell Level 6 options
Elananx(6): It's a fire kitty. Immune to fire, can do fire damage on a bite, and has pounce (single action stride and strike). Only medium, so not much of a flesh wall. Minimum of five levels behind you. No spells. Skip.
Spell Level 9 options
Gimmerling(12): Small, but has a 15' radius of difficult terrain, so some crowd control potential. It has a cool auto disarm ability after a successful strike, but the whole thing requires three actions, so only when hasted as a summon. I guess a bard with Allegro could maybe buddy team one of these at high level, but a very gimmicky 9th level slot use, to say the least.
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For Bards Satyr is a way to do 2 compositions in one round without harmonize feat.
Isn't this rule a problem for some of the fey spellcasting?
"A summoned creature can’t summon other creatures, create things of value, or cast spells that require a cost. It has the minion trait. If it tries to cast a spell of equal or higher level than the spell that summoned it, the spell fails and the summon spell ends."
Good catch. I think it only applies to the Dryad charms. Go up to Pixies at 5th level if you want that effect.
This time, Summon Fey, available only to Occult tradition casters.
Nethys lists it as Occult and Primal.
And considering their ties to nature and the fact that fey bloodline sorcerers cast from the Primal list, this spell not being Primal would be… weird.
This time, Summon Fey, available only to Occult tradition casters.Nethys lists it as Occult and Primal.
And considering their ties to nature and the fact that fey bloodline sorcerers cast from the Primal list, this spell not being Primal would be… weird.
Copy and paste error from my Summon Entity post.
Shouldn’t the Grimple also be on the level 1 list? At low levels, an AOE sickening effect sounds like it should be pretty good.
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Satyr are really useful even highest levels. It allows primal casters to use bard's buffs and bards to cast 2 composition spells (like inspire defense + inspire courage) spells at same time. Even being easily to kill, due the good range of inspire courage you can keep it far away from danger and still able to buff you and your allies.
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Way I read it, level 1 Summon Fey gives access to the level-1 creatures. Level 2 Summon Fey gives access to level-1, level 0 and level 1 creatures.Would level 1 spell give access to level 0 creature as 0 is 1 below the spell level?
Not how it works. The spell is pretty clear in its description for level 1 : "you summon a common creature that has the fey trait and whose level is –1".
Heightening the spell increases the max level of the summoned creatures. Level 2 Summon Fey has a max level of 1 for creatures, so you get creatures of level -1, 0 and 1.
I’m interested in fey that aren’t in the OP and how they stack up. The later example of nuckelavee demonstrates there are probably some not on this list, including from APs. Thanks for posting this! I’ll try to add some thoughts after looking at other Paizo published options.