The new best use for a summon spell - Bone Croupier

[manbearscientist]

The APG has come out with a new addition to the summon spells: Animate Dead. One of the the options available for the 5th level version of Animate Dead is Bone Croupier.

At first glance, this bony gambler looks like a relatively standard summon with a niche theme. They have a couple interesting spells for espionage purposes in discern lies, mind reading, and illusory disguise. Decent skills that fit the theme, but a poor attack and Speed.

But the Bone Croupier has another trick up its sleeve in its unique abilities:

[url]Change of Luck Free Action (divination, misfortune, occult) Frequency once per day; Trigger A creature within 30 feet of the bone croupier attempts a check that uses a d20, but hasn’t rolled yet; Effect The bone croupier pulls on the threads of luck that bind all things. Instead of rolling its check, the target automatically gets a failure.[/url]

So once per summon, you can guarantee that a creature fails a save. There are endless uses for this. Obviously you can make sure a tough boss takes full damage from a damaging spell, but this way better when used to guarantee a debilitating effect. There are numerous spells that a boss would hate to take the failure effect of:

* Enervation
* Confusion
* Slow/Hideous Laughter
* Stinking Cloud
* Earthbind vs fliers
* Blindess/Paralyze (for success effects)
* Fear
* Hallucination

But you can also combine this with other summoned monster effects that otherwise would not have a chance of landing due to their low DCs. Many monster effects lack the incapacitation trait, even if they are similar to spells that have that trait.

Here are some summon examples that can be summoned at 5th or below:

* Pugwampi: Unluck Aura (roll twice, take worse)
* Various poisons and diseases (drained 1, sickened, etc)
* Blindheim - Spotlight (blinded 1d4 rounds)
* Wight - Drain Life (increase drained value by 1, up to drained 4)
* D'ziriak - Dazzling Burst (dazzled 1 minute
* Basidirond- Basidirond Spores (Hallucinations)
* Cloaker - Infrasonic Moan (Nausea - Sickened 2 + prone, Stupor clumsy 1, stupified 1)

Repeated Bone Croupier summons can be used to extend poisons or other save per turn conditions. Additionally, they can be used defensively to deny one attack or skill check. Finally, it can be used to finish off any creature hit by a save or die effect such as Vorpal, Phantasmal Killer or Scare to Death though these usually have the incapacitation trait.

[Moppy]

Thanks for doing all the work to list all the interesting interactions.

If you can guarantee a failed save, even the first 1st level Color Spray is dangerous. Stunned 1, blinded for 1 round, dazzled for 1 minute.

[Taedin]

Still, I assume this wouldn't override the Incapacitation trait (cuz that would be opening up a WHOLE can of worms) so any creature of 2nd level or higher 'failure' counts as a 'success.' So guaranteed dazzled for 1 round, not quite as amazing. If you were to pair this with an appropriately heightened Color Spray though, then you'd get the fun stuff. :P

[manbearscientist]

Taedin wrote:

Still, I assume this wouldn't override the Incapacitation trait (cuz that would be opening up a WHOLE can of worms) so any creature of 2nd level or higher 'failure' counts as a 'success.' So guaranteed dazzled for 1 round, not quite as amazing. If you were to pair this with an appropriately heightened Color Spray though, then you'd get the fun stuff. :P

Correct, incapacitation is always applied last. Against higher level foes (3+ in the case of a level 1 color spray), you'd just inflict dazzled. That said, Command is another level 1 spell that can be used to good effect. Command - Run Away forces an opponent to flee for one action on their next round. Give that they probably will return to the fight, this is as good as getting rid of two actions. Also really solid against spellcasters, putting them out of range of most spells and pretty much wasting their turn.

[QuidEst]

Yeah, I definitely feel like Paizo should be blanketing AP creatures in "uncommon" tags just like they do with items.

[Mark Seifter]

If you think this is too good to be true, you are right. The croupier is in an AP backmatter for the one volume of Extinction Curse that hit during a design team and design lead transition, and should be uncommon (at bare minimum, the ability is likely also too unfair against the PCs as well when you throw these in as minions to a bigger threat at higher levels). I highly recommend not using or allowing it as a summon (and being very careful using it as an enemy too) until we have a way to officially correct this.

[QuidEst]

Mark Seifter wrote:

If you think this is too good to be true, you are right. The croupier is in an AP backmatter for the one volume of Extinction Curse that hit during a design team and design lead transition, and should be uncommon (at bare minimum, the ability is likely also too unfair against the PCs as well when you throw these in as minions to a bigger threat at higher levels). I highly recommend not using or allowing it as a summon (and being very careful using it as an enemy too) until we have a way to officially correct this.

While you're at it, I think Extinction Curse's undead revenant circus animals were recommended as the best Summon Animal options at certain levels (since they're common and kept the animal trait). It's a bit of a weird feel for the spell.

[RicoTheBold]

Mark Seifter wrote:

I highly recommend not using or allowing it as a summon (and being very careful using it as an enemy too) until we have a way to officially correct this.

Bone croupier with fixed text confirmed for Bestiary 3. (Kidding, but obviously this is how things like this have been addressed in the past).

Thanks for the quick feedback on this, though.

For the broader audience, it's also worth noting that it presumably wouldn't be allowed for PFS even after future sanctioning, since the chronicle sheets explicitly specify what you can take from them.

It's really nice how great all the different mechanisms to address this kind of issue, such that it's immediately identifiable as a balance problem that slipped through the cracks due to extenuating circumstances.

[manbearscientist]

Mark Seifter wrote:

If you think this is too good to be true, you are right. The croupier is in an AP backmatter for the one volume of Extinction Curse that hit during a design team and design lead transition, and should be uncommon (at bare minimum, the ability is likely also too unfair against the PCs as well when you throw these in as minions to a bigger threat at higher levels). I highly recommend not using or allowing it as a summon (and being very careful using it as an enemy too) until we have a way to officially correct this.

That makes sense. I just came across it while creating a broader summoning resource (basically, a tool to find unique abilities and creatures that best fit certain niches) and it really stuck out from the pack.

[Mark Seifter]

Yep, I already had this on our list to address a month ago after seeing it mentioned in a summoning guide online.

[HammerJack]

I know there's been similar summoning advice suggesting that people summon unique bosses from PCS scenarios, since the creatures written for those scenarios tend to have no rarity tags.

[rainzax]

On the bright side, for Divine Tradition, both Summon Celestial and Summon Fiend come online @ Caster Level 9th as a 5th level spell.

[andreww]

You could just make it a reaction and then it doesnt really matter for summoning.

[andreww]

HammerJack wrote:

I know there's been similar summoning advice suggesting that people summon unique bosses from PCS scenarios, since the creatures written for those scenarios tend to have no rarity tags.

This doesnt work in PFS as they have no sanctioning document allowing players to use them. For a home game everything is up to your GM so expect not to be able to use things well out of whack.

[HammerJack]

andreww wrote:

HammerJack wrote:

I know there's been similar summoning advice suggesting that people summon unique bosses from PCS scenarios, since the creatures written for those scenarios tend to have no rarity tags.

This doesnt work in PFS as they have no sanctioning document allowing players to use them. For a home game everything is up to your GM so expect not to be able to use things well out of whack.

I know it doesn't work in PFS (but this isn't a PFS forum thread). I wouldn't allow it in my home game. But it's still something I've seem people telling strangers to try in their home games, in exactly the same way as suggesting the Bone Croupier, here. And it's another aspect of the same issue (creature goes into AoN, and has no rarity assigned to it).

[Unikatze]

Necro post. He's gotten fixed in book of the Dead.