I'm working on options to streamline the process of dealing with summoned Minions and Rivals. Right now, if you call up a minion, you could potentially summon something as weak as a kobold, or as effective as a fleshripper, statwise. For Rivals, you could get anything from a Gang Leader to a Dragon Hybrid or Ironbound (using only examples from RoT). I'm trying to figure out what would be a fair compromise to use as a baseline for summoning creatures.

Here is what I have so far. I'd like your thoughts on the base templates, and on the specific creature type templates as well. Thanks for any input you provide!

Summoning Templates

Templates

These are the basic templates used when summoning creatures with a Conjure skill check. When you summon a creature, use the entries under each creature category to see how to modify the template.

If a Triumph result comes up on a Conjure magic skill check, your summoned creature(s) benefit from the Empowered feature listed under their entry. An additional Triumph may be used to add Adversary 1.

Minion

Skills (group only): Brawl , Resilience, Vigilance.

Attack: Brawl; Damage 4; Critical 4; Range [Engaged]

Rival

Skills: Brawl 3 , Perception 2, Resilience 2, Vigilance 2.

Attack: Brawl; Damage 6; Critical 3; Range [Engaged]

Grand Summon (Rival)

Skills: Brawl 3 , Perception 2, Resilience 2, Vigilance 3.

Attack: Brawl; Damage 8; Critical 3; Range [Engaged], Vicious 1

Notes: Silhouette 2

Elemental

Elemental creatures usually appear as humanoid creatures comprised of their specific element, but they can take nearly any shape. Air and Water elementals frequently take no specific shape.

You may choose what type of elemental beings you wish to summon. You may only summon elemental beings of one type per skill check. The profile for each type of elemental is modified as follows:

Earth

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Knockdown

Modifiers: +2 Wounds

Special: Immune to Knockdown

Empowered: Concussive 1

Air

Attack Type: Ranged (Medium) (use Brawn 2, Agility 3)

Effect: Manipulative

Modifiers: +1 Defense

Special: Immune to Immobilize, Flying (Hovering)

Empowered: Disorient 2, Stun 4 (lightning)

Fire

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Burn 1

Modifiers: +1 Damage

Special: Immune to fire damage

Empowered: Blast 4

Water

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Ensnare 2

Modifiers: +1 Defense, +1 Soak

Special: Immune to Immobilize

Empowered: Disorient 2, Ensnare 4

Undead

Undead creatures usually appear as animated skeletons, zombies, ghouls, or undead animals.

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Pierce 1

Modifiers: +2 Soak

Special: Immune to poison and disease

Empowered: Reanimate (if an Undead minion or rival is defeated, may spend 2 Threat from the attack roll to revive them at full health on their next turn)

Demonic

Demonic creatures usually appear as fiendish horned humanoids, wreathed in flames, wielding vicious weapons or huge claws.

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Burn 1

Modifiers: -1 Critical rating

Special: Immune to fire damage

Empowered: Hellfire (characters that begin their turn engaged with Demonic creatures suffer 1 wound)

Eldritch

Eldritch creatures usually appear as horrifying, amorphous entities with staring eyes, gnashing mouths, and lashing tentacles.

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Ensnare 2

Modifiers: +1 Defense, +1 Soak

Special: Immune to Coercion and fear

Empowered: Madness (Instead of rolling for Critical Injury inflicted by Eldritch creatures, you may choose to apply the Fearsome Wound result).

Beast

Beast creatures appear as normal animals. They can vary greatly depending on what creatures are summoned.

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Vicious 2

Modifiers: +2 Wounds

Empowered: Savage (+2 damage, Pierce 1, Vicious 2)

Plant

Plant creatures usually appear as mossy, vine-covered humanoids, animate trees, or seething masses of thorny vines or roots.

Attack Type: Melee

Effect: Ensnare 2

Modifiers: +2 Soak

Special: Immune to Coercion and fear

Empowered: Piercing Thorns (Instead of rolling for Critical Injury inflicted by Plant creatures, you may choose to apply the Hamstrung result).

Thanks for posting! I'm just getting to Summoning spells for my campaign setting and this is a great resource. I'll parse through and provide feedback if it seems like anything is out of whack but at first glance this looks solid.

Thank you for sharing this. This is the kind of stuff that makes my job as a GM way easier.

This looks really good. We'll start playing with it this week and I'll post an update once we get a good feel for it. I'm running Rise of the Runelords using Genesys/Realms of Terrinoth and our compilation of house rules has become extensive enough that we've got a compiled rules notebook at the table. I made up a PDF of your work (with attribution at the bottom) to add to our notebook that I'll share here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13bIoaltmxG4BpD_WtARYMe8ynyj93Fn1

On 7/3/2018 at 6:07 PM, JadeKraken said:

https  ://driv  e.google.com/open?id=13bIoaltmxG4Bp  D  _WtARYMe8ynyj93Fn1 

Link appears invalid

10 hours ago, geki said:

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Works for me but I miss copied it on my first attempt

This is an awesome idea, to the point that I really wish this had been included in the core game rules.

Some of the Rival abilities from the RoT book are ridiculous and can completely break encounters;

*Amylinheim Scion - When an enemy moves at medium range, it becomes immobilized. Indefinitely.

*Young Dragon - Fire Breath every round, ability to cast spells..... can summon additional creatures of its own?

*IronBound...

Yeah, getting a consistent power curve on creatures summoned would go a long way, Nice Work.

I really like these as base entries. They remind me a lot of how (Unchained) Summoners from Pathfinder build their conjured companion.

Your templates are a great addition. Thank you.

We used them for the first time this weekend and I found the Rival was too close in power to the PCs in the party. Considering especially that the caster can still use their actions to make an additional attack, I've decided to nerf it a bit:

Rival (Medium Summon = 2d)

Skills: Brawl 2y, Perception 1y2g, Resilience 1y1g, Vigilance 1y1g.

Attack: Brawl; Damage 5; Critical 3; Range [Engaged]

Silhouette: 0 to 1

Our conjurer uses Primal and asked about more differences between Animal choices so I've worked up the following:

Animal

Animals vary greatly depending on what creatures are summoned. Chosen effect’s and senses should be appropriate to the animal summoned.

Effect: Vicious 2

Modifiers: +1 Soak & Survival 2

Special: Choose One Ability:

· Camouflage (add 2 Boost to Stealth checks in a natural environment)

· Minion Pack Tactics (when using the assist maneuver or brawl action add 1 Boost per minion)

· Pack Tactics (when using the assist maneuver, add 2 Boost instead of 1)

· Flight (must move each turn to stay aloft) & Dive Attack (if above the target, may close from medium range to engaged with a single move action and gain disorient 1 on brawl check).

· Trample (if takes a maneuver to move closer to a smaller Silhouette target before attacking, it gains 1 Boost to its attack check and deals +2 damage)

· Grapple (add ensnare 1 to brawl attack)

· Mount (Can be ridden by creature 1 silhouette smaller and add 5 to Carrying Capacity)

Choose One Sense:

· Acute Hearing (add boost die to perception and vigilance checks involving hearing)

· Scent (add 2 boost dice to survival and vigilance checks when conditions are favorable)

· Night Eyes (Remove one drawback die in dimly lit conditions, but add one when in full daylight)

· Eagle Eyes (add boost day to perception checks made at ranges beyond short)

Empowered: Savage (+2 damage, Pierce 1)

Thoughts are welcome!