Summoner
About this class
Who needs to fight when you can have someone else fight for you? Summoners take many forms: some raise the dead, others conjure demons, while still others call on colossal eidolons to bring destruction down upon their foes. Some study and toil for decades before they are able to master this ability, while others stumble across it naturally, honing it as an afterthought. Regardless, they all mix knowledge and understanding with the raw and enigmatic forces of extradimensional realms to create or call their own personal bodyguards to aid in their quests.
This class has a pretty high cognitive load (you have to keep track of which types of creatures you have summoned or which upgrades you’ve given your summon) so I will eventually make a custom character sheet to help keep track of your summons.
Huge shout-out to Joseph Cittadino’s Necromancer whose Thrall mechanics I totally stole as well as Reddit user u/Quemedo whose Summoner provided a lot of inspiration for this class.
Domains
Arcana
Codex
Starting stats
Hope feature
Class features
-
Summoning
At the start of each session, place a number of tokens equal to your Proficiency on your character sheet. Spend a token to call a summon, which appears within Close range. They can look however you like and only you can communicate with them. They obey all your commands to the best of their ability. Summons can complete simple tasks (opening a door, picking up a light object) without a roll. Make a Spellcast Roll to have them complete a more complex task (attacking, sneaking). If your summon is targeted by an attack, make a Spellcast reaction roll against the summon's Difficulty. On a failure, the summon is destroyed. You can also dismiss your summon during your spotlight, which refunds the token or tokens used to summon it. Your summon stays with you, staying by your side unless told otherwise, until it is destroyed or dismissed. Mark a Stress to refill your character sheet with tokens, up to your Proficiency. At the end of the session, remove unspent tokens.
Class items
- A mineral of extra-dimensional origin or
- A book of summoning glyphs with a page ripped out.
Character questions
Background prompts
- How did you first discover the creatures you summon?
- You once summoned a creature that escaped your control. What happened?
- What mystery surrounding your summoning still eludes you?
Connection prompts
- What was the first creature I summoned in front of you and how did you react?
- What obsession or passion do we share?
- What question do you have that I've promised my studies could find the answer to?
Subclass cards
Printable via header menu
Caller of the Horde
Foundation
SPELLCAST TRAIT: Knowledge
Summon the Legion: You can have a number of active summons equal to your Proficiency. You can command them all together or individually. You can command them all to attack the same adversary with a single Spellcast roll, adding their damage together before comparing to the adversary's thresholds. The following types are available.
- Scout: Very Close, 1d4+2 physical damage. Gains advantage on tasks involving stealth and observation. Gains an additional movement type: flying or swimming. Difficulty: 14
-Melee Warrior: Melee, 1d10+2 physical damage. Gains advantage on tasks involving strength, besides attacking. Difficulty: 15
Caller of the Horde
Specialization
Expanded Summon Types: Add the following to the types of summons you can call.
Mage: Close, 1d6+2 magic damage. Gives you advantage on non-attack Knowledge rolls. Can fly. Difficulty: 16.
Ranged Warrior: Far, 1d8+2 physical damage. Gains advantage on tasks involving agility. If at least one is involved in attacking, gain advantage on the roll. Difficulty: 17.
Caller of the Horde
Mastery
Sacrifice Summon: When you or an ally is hit with a successful attack while within Very Close range of one of your summons, you can mark a Stress to make the summon take the damage instead. It is immediately destroyed and you do not get to make a Spellcast reaction roll.
Perfect Summon: Spend two tokens to summon the following type.
Paragon: Close, d12+2 physical or magic damage. Can communicate and gains advantage on tasks involving charisma. On a successful attack, spend a Hope to make the target temporarily Vulnerable. Difficulty: 15.
Caller of the Behemoth
Foundation
SPELLCAST TRAIT: Knowledge
Create Summon: You can only have one active summon at a time. Your summon begins with the following abilities:
Attack - Melee, d6+your level physical damage, using your Proficiency.
Difficulty - 15
Your summon can have a number of upgrades equal to your Spellcast trait. Pick one upgrade when you create the summon and spend a token to give the summon an additional upgrade from the following:
Increase its attack by one die size (up to d20), increase its range by one band (up to Very Far), its attacks deal magic damage, decrease its Difficulty by 1 (down to 13), gain an additional movement type: flying or swimming.
Caller of the Behemoth
Specialization
Expanded Upgrades: Spend a token to give your summon any of the following upgrades:
Spend a Hope to make an adversary hit by its attack temporarily Vulnerable, spend a Hope to make an adversary hit by its attack temporarily Restrained, allies (including you) within Very Close range of your summon increase their Evasion by 1 (stacking up to 4 times), the summon gains advantage on all non-attacking tasks related to a trait of your choice
Caller of the Behemoth
Mastery
Ultimate Attack: Once per long rest, have your summon perform its ultimate attack. Make a Spellcast roll against all targets within Close range of your summon. The summon deals d20+10 damage using your Proficiency to all targets you succeed against. This is considered both physical and magic damage. Name and describe this attack.
Summoner
Who needs to fight when you can have someone else fight for you? Summoners take many forms: some raise the dead, others conjure demons, while still others call on colossal eidolons to bring destruction down upon their foes. Some study and toil for decades before they are able to master this ability, while others stumble across it naturally, honing it as an afterthought. Regardless, they all mix knowledge and understanding with the raw and enigmatic forces of extradimensional realms to create or call their own personal bodyguards to aid in their quests.
This class has a pretty high cognitive load (you have to keep track of which types of creatures you have summoned or which upgrades you’ve given your summon) so I will eventually make a custom character sheet to help keep track of your summons.
Huge shout-out to Joseph Cittadino’s Necromancer whose Thrall mechanics I totally stole as well as Reddit user u/Quemedo whose Summoner provided a lot of inspiration for this class.
Domains
Arcana + Codex
Starting Evasion
10
Starting Hit Points
5
Class Items
- • A mineral of extra-dimensional origin or
- • A book of summoning glyphs with a page ripped out.
Summoner’s Hope Feature
Unlock Potential : Spend 2 Hope to give your summon an Experience with a bonus equal to 1+your tier. The summon retains this Experience until it is destroyed or dismissed.
Class Features
Summoning
At the start of each session, place a number of tokens equal to your Proficiency on your character sheet. Spend a token to call a summon, which appears within Close range. They can look however you like and only you can communicate with them. They obey all your commands to the best of their ability. Summons can complete simple tasks (opening a door, picking up a light object) without a roll. Make a Spellcast Roll to have them complete a more complex task (attacking, sneaking). If your summon is targeted by an attack, make a Spellcast reaction roll against the summon's Difficulty. On a failure, the summon is destroyed. You can also dismiss your summon during your spotlight, which refunds the token or tokens used to summon it. Your summon stays with you, staying by your side unless told otherwise, until it is destroyed or dismissed. Mark a Stress to refill your character sheet with tokens, up to your Proficiency. At the end of the session, remove unspent tokens.
Summoner Subclasses
Choose either the Caller of the Horde or Caller of the Behemoth subclass.
Caller of the Horde
Play the Caller of the Horde if you want to summon multiple creatures to aid you such as animals, elementals, or undead.
Spellcast Trait
Knowledge
Foundation Features
Summon the Legion: You can have a number of active summons equal to your Proficiency. You can command them all together or individually. You can command them all to attack the same adversary with a single Spellcast roll, adding their damage together before comparing to the adversary's thresholds. The following types are available.
- Scout: Very Close, 1d4+2 physical damage. Gains advantage on tasks involving stealth and observation. Gains an additional movement type: flying or swimming. Difficulty: 14
-Melee Warrior: Melee, 1d10+2 physical damage. Gains advantage on tasks involving strength, besides attacking. Difficulty: 15
Specialization Feature
Expanded Summon Types: Add the following to the types of summons you can call.
Mage: Close, 1d6+2 magic damage. Gives you advantage on non-attack Knowledge rolls. Can fly. Difficulty: 16.
Ranged Warrior: Far, 1d8+2 physical damage. Gains advantage on tasks involving agility. If at least one is involved in attacking, gain advantage on the roll. Difficulty: 17.
Mastery Feature
Sacrifice Summon: When you or an ally is hit with a successful attack while within Very Close range of one of your summons, you can mark a Stress to make the summon take the damage instead. It is immediately destroyed and you do not get to make a Spellcast reaction roll.
Perfect Summon: Spend two tokens to summon the following type.
Paragon: Close, d12+2 physical or magic damage. Can communicate and gains advantage on tasks involving charisma. On a successful attack, spend a Hope to make the target temporarily Vulnerable. Difficulty: 15.
Caller of the Behemoth
Play the Caller of the Behemoth if you want to summon a single, powerful creature such as an eidolon, golem, or demon.
Spellcast Trait
Knowledge
Foundation Features
Create Summon: You can only have one active summon at a time. Your summon begins with the following abilities:
Attack - Melee, d6+your level physical damage, using your Proficiency.
Difficulty - 15
Your summon can have a number of upgrades equal to your Spellcast trait. Pick one upgrade when you create the summon and spend a token to give the summon an additional upgrade from the following:
Increase its attack by one die size (up to d20), increase its range by one band (up to Very Far), its attacks deal magic damage, decrease its Difficulty by 1 (down to 13), gain an additional movement type: flying or swimming.
Specialization Feature
Expanded Upgrades: Spend a token to give your summon any of the following upgrades:
Spend a Hope to make an adversary hit by its attack temporarily Vulnerable, spend a Hope to make an adversary hit by its attack temporarily Restrained, allies (including you) within Very Close range of your summon increase their Evasion by 1 (stacking up to 4 times), the summon gains advantage on all non-attacking tasks related to a trait of your choice
Mastery Feature
Ultimate Attack: Once per long rest, have your summon perform its ultimate attack. Make a Spellcast roll against all targets within Close range of your summon. The summon deals d20+10 damage using your Proficiency to all targets you succeed against. This is considered both physical and magic damage. Name and describe this attack.
Background Questions
Answer any of the following, or create your own.
- • How did you first discover the creatures you summon?
- • You once summoned a creature that escaped your control. What happened?
- • What mystery surrounding your summoning still eludes you?
Connections
Ask one of the following, or improvise.
- • What was the first creature I summoned in front of you and how did you react?
- • What obsession or passion do we share?
- • What question do you have that I've promised my studies could find the answer to?
Discussion
Be thoughtful and kind.
Remember to be respectful. Comments are moderated and should add to the discussion.